Holiday Gift Ideas for Theme Park Fanatics

The holiday gift giving season is upon us and if you’re looking for that special gift for a theme park fan or a roller coaster enthusiast I've got a couple of suggestions for you.
 

Coaster Dynamix Launched Sidewinder Roller Coaster  

CoasterDynamix, Inc - "The Comet" Wooden Roller Coaster - Kit HO

Do you like assembling your Christmas presents? The Lego Carousel is right up your alley. Unfortunealty, the set is no longer being made or sold at Lego stores, so the best you can do is to find it online. At $720.95 on Amazon, it’s not a cheap buy, but the carousel “spins and plays music while the horses and swing boats move up and down.” This is the perfect addition for any special edition collection.

K'NEX Collect & Build Amusement Park Series #2 - Ferris Wheel. Combine with Corkscrew Coaster and Vertical Viper for a working amusement park (each sold separately).

 

Theme Park Design: Behind The Scenes With An Engineer. Have you ever gone to a theme park and wondered, "How did they do that?" At last there's a book that shows you. Theme Park Design reveals the secrets behind some of the world's greatest attractions. Take a peek behind the scenes, with a theme park engineer.

Another great book for any readers is the American Amusement Park. This marvelous photographic retrospective distills more than 100 years of the sights, sounds, smells and vertigo-inducing thrills associated with the American amusement park.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to design and build a roller coaster? At last, there’s a book that shows you. A mix of engineering and art, roller coasters are complex three-dimensional puzzles consisting of thousands of individual parts. Designers spend countless hours creating and tweaking ride paths to push the envelope of exhilaration, all while maintaining the highest safety standards. Coasters 101: An Engineering Guide to Roller Coaster Design examines the numerous diverse aspects of roller coaster engineering, including some of the mathematical formulas and engineering concepts used. This is an e-book only but you should be able to download a free e-book reader for your PC.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

Cantilevered Coaster V3 Preview Video

I've been modeling a new chassis configuration for the cantilevered roller coaster. Here's a quick preview video. Sorry for the bad quality. Hopefully we'll have a full track layout next time.

All About G-Forces

           A roller coaster designer’s main goal is to produce as many safe accelerations on the rider’s body as possible. If you're travelling at a certain speed, and not shifting, you can't feel it, just like you can’t feel the rotation of the Earth, despite the large rate at which we are spinning. Humans can't feel speed; we can only feel or sense acceleration.
           G loading is expressed as a ratio of the force developed in changing speed or direction relative to the force felt due to the earth’s gravity. The smaller the curve radius and the higher the speed, the higher the g force. Thus, a 2g force on a 100 pound body causes it to weigh 200 pounds. Race car drivers in the Indianapolis 500 are subjected to more than 3g’s in the corners and there are loop coasters that subject passengers to as much as 5g’s.

Not all g forces increase the weight of the passenger. As a vehicle goes over the top of a hill the load on the passenger becomes less than earth’s gravity and, in the extreme, could throw an unrestrained passenger out of the car. Some coasters do subject passengers to slightly negative g’s which cause them to raise off their seats and become “weightless” for a short period. This is often a desirable feature. Coasters with numerous airtime moments often rank among the best in the world.

Restraint design is directly affected by the g-forces felt during the ride. ASTM standards recommend types of restraints based on the range of g-forces. If all rides were geared to the weakest among the population, there would be no rides. The more safe accelerations on a ride the better.

Cedar Point Police Department Video

Classic video of the Cedar Point Police Department.