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Why does Oblivion not have a vertical drop?

Would certainly not say that they weren't arsed to add the extra 2 degrees to it to not make it vertical...

Remember, Oblivion is a prototype coaster made 13+ (including development/concept time) years ago, where it may just not have been physically possible to either make the drop vertical, or based off testing the 90 degrees was deemed to much (indeed SheiKra opened with a 'true' vertical drop 7 years after Oblivion, lots of time for further developments and technological advancements)...

A 100% accurate answer is unlikely, but really, the difference is so low it barely makes a difference to you when you're on the ride...
 
It's something to do with the upstop wheels I think. If the drop went over 97* the carriage wouldn't be riding on it's main wheels. Obviously they've resolved this problem, but I'm guessing that's a development in the springs in the wheel assembly which keep the wheels stuck to the track while smoothing out the bumps with it's suspension.

It's for guest comfort I'm assuming. Anyway it doesn't make much difference apart from marketing spin and that they could market SheiKra as being truely vertical.
 
Because they knew how much it would annoy pedantic coaster enthusiasts and thought it would be a laugh.
 
Because B&M said so.

I think the real answer is actually related to G-forces. At the angle the drop is currently at it allows for a true freefall, in other words, zero-g on the vertical axis (airtime). Anything more than that would be in the negatives, and might be jerky for the riders.
 
I think bob_3_'s comment about upstop wheels is certainly the most likely explanation so far. Although I'm not entirely sure about that myself, since upstop wheels have been able to cope with inversions for years, so why would it be much different?
 
Upstops are extremely strong, you'd be surprised. In most B&Ms theyre almost as strong as the running wheels. If it did go truely vertical the forces on the upstops would only be a few tenths of a g in the negative. Remember though, most inversions are all in the postive gs.
 
I think Titan has the right idea.

The drop is parabolic to some extent and was designed to produce a freefall sensation. I guess B&M’s calculations predicted that Oblivion’s trains could only achieve 87 degrees from a 180ft drop. Whereas Sheikra’s trains can achieve 90 degrees from 200ft considering average rider weight, release angle, gravity etc.
 
It has to do with the carriage wheels.

my question is so what if it isnt riding on the wheels. When TTD Launches half the wheels don't even spin.
 
If it isnt riding on the wheels then theres no load on them, and they might not even be touching the rails (which is one reason why arrow coasters are so rough, the wheels "hunt" until they hit track). Wheel assemblies are designed for the ride requirements. The more strain on the upstops, the stronger they are. Dive machines dont have ridiculously huge upstops because they dont need them. Its not that the designers wont do something because the wheel assemblies cant handle it, its that stronger wheel assemblies arent installed on a coaster because the ride design doesnt call for it. Look at flying coasters for example.
 
I'm pretty sure it had something to do with that the up-stops/or the top ones on the earlier dive machines aren't spring loaded so that they would leave the track if it would have a vertical drop, and B&M though that it might have been a problem that could deteriorate the ride comfort after a while. So they either redesigned the wheel cluster before the newer rides or found out that it wasn't really an issue to stop them for going vertical...
 
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