Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
1–10 of 110 posts
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#2I think never having considered this type of thing is why I could never make a sweet roller coaster tycoon coaster that didn't make everyone throw up.
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#3> More people paid to watch others ride these early coasters rather than ride themselves
I had no idea roller coasters have been around this long. The photos are laugh-out-loud terrifying. I was shocked that anyone would pay to ride them until I read the quote above. Now it makes sense. I’d pay to watch that too!
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#4Certain modern(-ish) roller coasters do have more circular loops than others. Specifically Schwarzkopf[1] coasters are famous for having more circular loops (and the more intense positive Gs that come with it). Anyone in the Bay Area might remember Zonga[2] at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom which featured the more circular loops.
Also maybe of interest is Blue Flash [3], a backyard roller coaster that has a loop that reminds me of old school circular loops.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami_(roller_coaster)
[3] https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/blue-flash-backyard-roll...
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#5That would be a hard pass from me
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#6Am I high or is the picture of the flip flap railroad loop decidedly not circular?
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#7Note that the narrow-loop shape in modern roller-coasters means that the tightest curve is at the top, where the G-forces are partially countered by gravity. That's an 1-G that they can subtract, and it means the radius can be significantly larger on entry to the loop, resulting in smaller G-forces.
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#8Note that the narrow-loop shape in modern roller-coasters means that the tightest curve is at the top, where the G-forces are partially countered by gravity. That's an 1-G that they can subtract, and it means the radius can be significantly larger on entry to the loop, resulting in smaller G-forces.
Also by the time you get to the apex it’s going slower than when it entered the loop.
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#9> More people paid to watch others ride these early coasters rather than ride themselves I had no idea roller coasters have been around this long. The photos are laugh-out-loud terrifying. I was shocked that anyone would pay to ride them until I read the quote above. Now it makes sense. I’d pay to watch that too!
In that era, there weren't even seatbelts on cars.
We used to have a much different view on systematic rare danger.
Re: Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular anymore
#10Note that the narrow-loop shape in modern roller-coasters means that the tightest curve is at the top, where the G-forces are partially countered by gravity. That's an 1-G that they can subtract, and it means the radius can be significantly larger on entry to the loop, resulting in smaller G-forces.
This free 1g of turning force is apparently known among pilots as “God’s G”. It needn’t be produced as lift while you’re inverted at the top of a loop, so you get a good turn rate despite losing speed and hence lift as you get up there.