Windseeker Mechanical Questions

As we all are. Should be nice and insightful. It'd be GREAT if Mr.Dangler (hope that's spelled right) could magically show up on the site to answer any of our riveting, nerdy questions. :D

Two things came to me in my dreams lastnight.

1) in this pic you can see that the motor is just sitting on temp wood, I'm wondering if the motor will be lifted to the top of the tower once the last section is in. Most cable style elevators have the motors on the roof.

2) in this pic I think the rails are just guide rails to keep the gondola from twisting and as a third rail to provide power to the drive motors. I also think anti-roll backs will be installed to keep the gondola from falling while it travels up the tower and slow the descend.

I have been looking all night, but I couldnt find the webpage I read when this ride was first announced.

I remember when this ride was first announced that Mondial had a page up that explained the basic specs and operation of the ride. If I recall right the ride carriage will be counterweighted just like an elevator.

Also upon looking at the previous mentioned photos, a ride of this magnitude would certainly be 3 phase power due to its size and weight, so the thought that the "rails" on the outside of the ride being a "contact power" ride wouldnt pan out since there are only 2 rails instead of the 4 required for 3 phase, that is unless there are 2 other rails that i am not aware of. Also, I am not sure how far a power source like this would need to be out of reach of a human (both from the ground and from the ride) to be considered "safe" by state and OSHA standards.

Hmmmm, now that I think about it, our bridge cranes must be 3 phase then since they have 4 contacts.

Here are some pics I found on the Kings Island Facebook. look like a construction worker has been taking pics of the site and of windseeker, This first shot is a great shot of the rails we have been discussing. hopefully someone can make something of it.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/198452_1790889605236...4202_n.jpg

This next one shows the fins that almost look like LIM's hard to tell what it really is though.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/188552_1797628933715...8583_n.jpg

and this one is just a good shot from 300 feet up, good idea of what you will see from the KI Windseeker

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/196892_1797637293924...3914_n.jpg

The rails just look like a track to me that guide wheels will ride along on, nothing more. The ride vehicle will need something to guide its way up and down the tower, similar to what you find on Space Spiral

Wow, those are GREAT pics. Still trying to figure out what the single set of rail is for. Though I think it's safe to say the other rails are indeed guide rails.

I was thinking more along the lines of brake fins. Those look like the brake fins found under most coaster trains only a touch larger. ;) They dont appear to be the alloy clad ones you would find on a Lim powered device. They look to merely be blanchard ground for traction.

As for the single rail..... I got nothing.... Until Saturday that is! :)

Here is a good question, is the top of the tower 301 feet, or will the riders be at 301 feet. I kinda feel were going to be cheated by 10-15 feet :( lol

From the Press Release:

The new WindSeeker will be a 301-foot-tall tower that will spin riders nearly 30 stories above the Lake Erie shoreline.

Never said riders will be raised 301 feet.

I read through all of these posts, but the one thing I didn't see that I'm curious about is a fail safe for the actual seats that are hanging from the gondola. What is the backup protection since the seats are attached to a single metal pole?

If there were two metal poles attached to the main gondola at separate points, that would allow a secondary safety, but from the videos of the ride there is only a single point of attachment for the seats. A break at that point would cause a pretty rough landing below.

Any thoughts?

No different in theory than the single point seat attachement on Raptor, Mantis or Wicked Twisted.

There are two connections though, on each side of the train for each of the rides you listed. Unless you are talking about some other part, I am thinking of the chassis which is bolted on both sides. As far as the seats go, usually they have 4 (or more) bolts securing each seat to the frame.

I was wondering about the ride time on windseeker, the website says its 3 minutes, now does that include going up/coming down, or just the time spinning at the top?

They gave us an idea of how long it "should" take to go up the tower, spin then come back down. I think it was 30 seconds up, 2 minute spin at top, 30 seconds down.

That's definitely a wait and see question. Skyhawk was originally supposed to be a 2 minute ride. That quickly changed to 1 minute.

I wish Skyhawk would last longer than what it does. MaXair has a good ride cycle IMO.

Hopefully Windseeker's cycle doesn't change!

^I doubt it will change to be honest...I mean it'd almost seem like you go up, then immediately go down...I hope the length stays too...Same height as millennium, same angle as the lift hill, and all for 2 minutes :D

Perhaps this is better thread for these discusions....

You can clearly see the cars swaying in the wind at ground level from cam shot to cam shot....
I saw this post on the CWMania forum which was along the lines of my concerns about seat density at rest and freedom of movement of the arms...

"When I was there today the seats sitting still at the top of the tower were swinging in the wind pretty much touching each other and let me tell you, the expressions on the mechanics faces was not good...

May 08, 2011 9:44 pm"

I dont know the credibility of this person but it appears to be an eyewitness account....

As John pointed out, "pretty much touching" isn't the same as actually touching.

Additionally, those seats were empty, making the impact of wind much greater. Once you add a couple 150-ish pound riders to each arm, the movement will be less extreme.

Finally, if it's too windy to be operated safely, I'm sure they won't operate the ride. Just as they do with other wind-sensitive rides.