Kings Island | Banshee | B&M Invert

[elephant58]

Sinister Eiffel Tower moving shadily across the screen!

 

[EthC]

It looks so good! The paint job is my favourite thing though, it looks like it will flow quite well!

 

[Taxi]

The bottom of the first drop seems like it will pull some good G's. And being whipped around that steep of a drop should be incredible. I love the whip on Raptor. Banshee has an ever larger turn, at a much steeper angle, and much higher that Raptors.

The final 1/2 helix looks to provide some pretty intense forces as well. That in-line will be an interesting experience for a B&M Invert. Cant wait to ride this monster!

 

[insanecoastervids]

Looks amazing they are really working fast on that thing.

 

[D1993]

I do actually remember someone telling me that in person Banshee's purple track looks similar to the faded 'red' of Diamondback.
No complaints here, just an observation, but the purple track does seem to be a much darker shade then showed in the animation.
I mean it wouldn't be the first time, just like with GK, it showed more of an all-light blue track as opposed to half and half.
I still totally love the colour scheme for Banshee though, I'm already making plans to go get a ride on it next year!

 

[rollermonkey]

Do my eyes deceive me, or did this become a non-sequential build when we weren't paying attention?

 

[insanecoastervids]

^ I know someone should be giving, us more updates, but until then we can just look, on the webcam.

 

[Hutch]

Took a quick look on King's Island's Facebook page and saw these. Looks like they're entering the batwing (or whatever the inversion is called)

Some of these pictures were actually taken a few weeks ago

Some other cool shots

And somewhat off topic but Kings Island also posted these pictures of some of their coasters covered in snow. I thought it'd be cool to share.

Here's the link to the facebook page if anyone else is interested. There are plenty other neat little pictures.
https://www.facebook.com/visitkingsisland/photos_stream

 

[owentaylor121]

This coaster is extremely photogenic and I looks even better in the snow! <3

Now that christmas and new year is out the way they can start to fire this coaster up now.

 

[Lofty]

It does look like a great coaster - I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of "Forceless and boring" that most seem to rate the new B&M creations. I for one like them and they're the most photogenic out of any manufacturers, that can't be debated.

 

[CPSFMMCW]

It does look like a great coaster - I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of "Forceless and boring" that most seem to rate the new B&M creations.

I think they mean just the wing coasters, not all of B&M's latest. And this does look to be a very intense ride. I hope they fix the restraint rubber tightening thing on this. But whether people like the new trains or not, I like them because now there will be no head banging, which in my opinion can ruin a ride more than a tight restraint.

 

[Jarrett]

It does look like a great coaster - I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of "Forceless and boring" that most seem to rate the new B&M creations.

I think they mean just the wing coasters, not all of B&M's latest. And this does look to be a very intense ride. I hope they fix the restraint rubber tightening thing on this. But whether people like the new trains or not, I like them because now there will be no head banging, which in my opinion can ruin a ride more than a tight restraint.

I don't think it's just wing coasters, but just a majority of all new B&Ms. MAJORITY is the key word, not all, a majority. I've generally been hearing this about new B&Ms built after 2006-ish, namely the two Busch Gardens dive machines, newer B&M hypers, and the wing coasters.

The thing is, I feel as if B&M's acquired a bit of a split in their products. For anybody else here who's ridden Wild Eagle in the back on the right, that thing is INTENSE. First time I ever dealt with stapling

For instance, take this:

Nitro @ Aldabs Imagica, India

Hair Raiser @ Ocean Park, Hong Kong

These are both floorless coasters they're still building and I've not heard much about them, but what I've heard is that they're good. B&M probably still has it in them to create a good, intense ride, and I feel as if Banshee could be a glimpse of the B&M that built. I'd like to compare Banshee to Montu (my favorite B&M invert; generally agreed upon to be a "classic intense B&M"; has quite a few similarities to Banshee) for a minute.

Montu's Drop

Banshee's Drop

Notice how the only difference appears to be the cutting out of the pre-drop. Montu's snap is tighter, true, but probably because it's taken at a lower speed. You have a good initial velocity going into Banshee's and it's at a steeper angle, so you accelerate through it. Should have plenty of snap.

Montu's Zero-G Roll

Banshee's Zero-G Roll

Is it just me or do they look REALLY similar? Same rate of roll, if anything Banshee's is more parabolic in shape, though not by much. Now I know I'm comparing it to Montu, but look at GateKeeper's.

Notice how much closer the instances of 90 degree banking (antinodes assuming the heartlines form a sinusoidal trajectory; critical points in calc terms) are on the inverts verses GateKeeper, and GateKeeper's is about the same height if I'm correct. This had to be done for those heavy trains I think, but that's why it's less intense than an invert's.

Montu's Batwing

Entry into Banshee's Batwing

I noticed that both of these seemed to have something in common, they flip at about the same place. Suspicious of this, I opened up the Montu track that came with NoLimits, copied it over to another file, and blew it up by 200%. I then zoomed over to the batwing on fly view and it looked exactly like Banshee's. Same element, just scaled up to accomodate more speed (seriously, this thing could be going just a hair slower than a B&M hyper when it hits that) since it's the climax of the ride.

I do apologize for the long, boring, nerdy post and I understand that the reaction when somebody busts out the pictures on CF, the reaction is similar to when grandma busts out the old school slide projector during Christmas dinner but it's just something I noticed that I wanted to get out. This thing will have plenty of force if my hunch is correct, and I feel these pictures do support that claim. Speed is a huge part of how this turns out, though. I remember seeing the really sharp piece for GateKeeper's camelback and that thing has NO airtime (I'll cut you a break this time, I couldn't find the picture), so that could have something to do with it, but knowing Banshee's size, it should have those forces everybody wants. I'm personally a tad indifferent to force as long as the lack isn't unreasonable, but it really does help make a B&M invert fun, and I can't wait until April to see if my hunch is correct.

Goodnight everybody!

 

[Lofty]

It does look like a great coaster - I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of "Forceless and boring" that most seem to rate the new B&M creations.

I think they mean just the wing coasters, not all of B&M's latest. And this does look to be a very intense ride. I hope they fix the restraint rubber tightening thing on this. But whether people like the new trains or not, I like them because now there will be no head banging, which in my opinion can ruin a ride more than a tight restraint.

2012Jarrett covered it for me.

I didn't mean just Wingrider's or I'd have put that. Loads of newer B&M's get rated mediocre, even their Hyper's are sometimes rated mediocre. I know this is all down to personal perception and opinion but my point still stands.

 

[bob_3_]

I appriciate the effort going into comparing trackwork over B&Ms done by Jarett... BUT older and newer B&Ms have a different track style, and I think you'd be wrong to expect a 90s style coaster or old school B&M force.

Older B&Ms have alot more tension in the banking transitions and even changes in force whereas newer ones tend to blend things together and elongate roll speeds, which effects the shapes of elements. I also think they HAVE toned down force on their designs over time and focused on the "open and floaty" aspect of coaster design (which is why their newer wing-coasters and hypers go down better than their recent multi loopers). This also reduces wear and tear on the track and trains. Nemesis for example is a maintenance nightmare, the force the trains whizz round the track means train pieces and even track has to replaced regularly.

If you want an idea of how Banshee will perform I'd look at Phaethon or Oz'iris. As the shaping is most like these coasters.

 

[peep]

^I agree, the drop is fairly similar in style that Oz'Iris has (probably the best invert drop) and I imagine it'll overall ride very similar to both Oz'Iris and Montu. Like a weird mash up.

 

[_koppen]

And this does look to be a very intense ride.

To be fair this ride doesn't look intense at all. The inversions are all very big and drawn out. The first drop will probably be the best part. It should still be a very fun ride though.

 

[Snoo]

I appriciate the effort going into comparing trackwork over B&Ms done by Jarett... BUT older and newer B&Ms have a different track style, and I think you'd be wrong to expect a 90s style coaster or old school B&M force.

Older B&Ms have alot more tension in the banking transitions and even changes in force whereas newer ones tend to blend things together and elongate roll speeds, which effects the shapes of elements. I also think they HAVE toned down force on their designs over time and focused on the "open and floaty" aspect of coaster design (which is why their newer wing-coasters and hypers go down better than their recent multi loopers). This also reduces wear and tear on the track and trains. Nemesis for example is a maintenance nightmare, the force the trains whizz round the track means train pieces and even track has to replaced regularly.

If you want an idea of how Banshee will perform I'd look at Phaethon or Oz'iris. As the shaping is most like these coasters.

Completely agreed, especially to the newer inverts and flyers that I've experienced. When I see this coaster, Patriot comes to mind almost immediately.

 

[Antinos]

To reiterate what's already been said, B&M has made their designs even more fluid than they already were. I think we can all anticipate what the ride is going to feel like, partially due to its size - floaty goodness at the top of all the elements (especially that 0-g roll) and extreme positive forces in each valley and turn.

Also, I've heard that the locking pins have been removed from the vests on Gatekeeper and every vest on Banshee will also have its locking pins removed prior to opening. Some other parks with wing coasters have begun to remove their locking pins as well.

Regarding this ride's construction, the pretzel loop is very quickly nearing completion and it looks absolutely fantastic.

 

[rollermonkey]

I was just about to say that it looks like they only need to place one, maybe two pieces to complete the batwing, and it looks HUGE. The positive G's in that bottom of thing are going to be pretty intense.

 

[Hyde]

The variable to all of this is speed. Banshee's fastest moment will be at the bottom of the batwing. The inversions up until then could be floppy hangtime, or they could provide genuinely good positive g-force. The only way to determine this is by riding.