Casio
Mega Poster
On Thursday my AS physics group took a 'field trip' to Thorpe Park as part of our assessed practical/ to waste a day of school. Beforehand we were told that we would have to leave by 2.30 and most of our time would be spent in the education centre. This combined with all of the stuff I'd read about the AP day meant I wasn't really looking forward to the day.
Luckily I was completely wrong. We arrived at 10 as the gates were opening and got straight in, and managed to get on Inferno, Detonator, Stealth, Saw and Slammer all before 11.30. I won't bore everyone with "all ve rides I fort wos sik lol" but everything was good, I'm really impressed with how they've done the buildings in the centre of the park up, and I don't even think Storm Surge looks too bad. (I seem to have much more enthusiasm for Thorpe than most people here haha)
We then had a talk from the education guy, who I assume was also a mechanical engineer. The "Thrill Workshop" building is between Depth Charge and the entrance bridge and is decorated like an enthusiast's dream room; it's filled with junk theming from old rides, huge promo posters for rides, parts of rides for demonstration and 5 k'nex coasters.
Overall the talk was really interesting; the point of our trip was resistivity and DC current, so he tried to tie that in, as well as talk about Stealth mechanically.
Some points I learnt taht some people probably will know:
-Thorpe is powered by two different companies, and is fed from five 4000v power cables. It also manages to run at 98% efficiency due to transformers right next to every ride.
-Because most attractions are built on reclaimed land, the foundations have to be very deep; Stealth's are 50m underground.
-Stealth uses 10,000 litres of hyrdaulic fluid, it's replaced annually and costs £4 per litre. The launch cables are replaced biannually.
-Saw initially had a miscalculation in the pull out of the first drop, resulting in a jarring sensation (He didn't say how this was fixed, and to be honest I can't feel any fixing!)
The most intriguing parts were two other things he said. The first was to do with LC12. I managed to ask some questions, and surprisingly he gave me answers. Firstly I asked what 'LC' stood for, apparently it is simply 'long coaster' and I also asked whether it would be Wing Rider or 4D to which he said he "wasn't yet sure, but B&M usually do the sensible thing." This really surprised me. I only really asked just to check, assuming he would say Wing Rider straight off. But I imagine he knows exactly what it is, and the sensible thing would be a Wing Rider.
The second was to do with hydraulic launches on the whole. He said emphatically that they are now out of date technology, and many parks are looking to replace hydraulic systems with LIM ones. When I asked to confirm this he said that magnet technology has rapidly become far more advanced and Stealth, in comparison, is like a steam engine. I literally had no idea this was the case; I've always imagined accelerators to be a step up from magnets, but apparently not so anymore.
After the talk we headed back to the park, got on even more rides and left 4 and a half hours after we arrived.
I hope you can learn a bit!
Luckily I was completely wrong. We arrived at 10 as the gates were opening and got straight in, and managed to get on Inferno, Detonator, Stealth, Saw and Slammer all before 11.30. I won't bore everyone with "all ve rides I fort wos sik lol" but everything was good, I'm really impressed with how they've done the buildings in the centre of the park up, and I don't even think Storm Surge looks too bad. (I seem to have much more enthusiasm for Thorpe than most people here haha)
We then had a talk from the education guy, who I assume was also a mechanical engineer. The "Thrill Workshop" building is between Depth Charge and the entrance bridge and is decorated like an enthusiast's dream room; it's filled with junk theming from old rides, huge promo posters for rides, parts of rides for demonstration and 5 k'nex coasters.
Overall the talk was really interesting; the point of our trip was resistivity and DC current, so he tried to tie that in, as well as talk about Stealth mechanically.
Some points I learnt taht some people probably will know:
-Thorpe is powered by two different companies, and is fed from five 4000v power cables. It also manages to run at 98% efficiency due to transformers right next to every ride.
-Because most attractions are built on reclaimed land, the foundations have to be very deep; Stealth's are 50m underground.
-Stealth uses 10,000 litres of hyrdaulic fluid, it's replaced annually and costs £4 per litre. The launch cables are replaced biannually.
-Saw initially had a miscalculation in the pull out of the first drop, resulting in a jarring sensation (He didn't say how this was fixed, and to be honest I can't feel any fixing!)
The most intriguing parts were two other things he said. The first was to do with LC12. I managed to ask some questions, and surprisingly he gave me answers. Firstly I asked what 'LC' stood for, apparently it is simply 'long coaster' and I also asked whether it would be Wing Rider or 4D to which he said he "wasn't yet sure, but B&M usually do the sensible thing." This really surprised me. I only really asked just to check, assuming he would say Wing Rider straight off. But I imagine he knows exactly what it is, and the sensible thing would be a Wing Rider.
The second was to do with hydraulic launches on the whole. He said emphatically that they are now out of date technology, and many parks are looking to replace hydraulic systems with LIM ones. When I asked to confirm this he said that magnet technology has rapidly become far more advanced and Stealth, in comparison, is like a steam engine. I literally had no idea this was the case; I've always imagined accelerators to be a step up from magnets, but apparently not so anymore.
After the talk we headed back to the park, got on even more rides and left 4 and a half hours after we arrived.
I hope you can learn a bit!
Colossus is the longest coaster in the park isn't it? Even when that opens.
