Funny enough, one of the most accurate NL2 recreations of Ka that I've found is set at a launch of 118mph too. Playing with the launch speed with +/-1 or 2mph also reflects notable differences in the speed that the train crests the top as you mentioned here. With that simulator's high focus on realism and physics, it's cool to see that parallel real life when someone recreates a ride with the same height, launch track length & end height, ride style, etc.. Gonna miss every bit of that 118mph.
11 часов назад+6
I’ve already tried making one coaster with 206 km/p and that was beyond kinda ka lol
Yup, can confirm. I made my Ka recreation in NL2 following the Google Maps 3D data 1:1, so the height is as accurate as it can get aside from getting the CAD file straight from Intamin. I set my launch speed to 119 mph, and had the acceleration stop a bit before the end of the launch track to mimic the catchcar detatching early. At the moment the train was beginning the pullup at the base of the top hat, it was going 116 mph, which had the train cresting the tower at around 15mph. The math checks out!
I just graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physics because of my love for kinematics stemming from my childhood obsession with this ride. Every ride I had on Ka is a cherished memory for me and it genuinely hurt my soul to hear it was closing
The way you talked about it in the problematic video made it sound like it was launching at 100 or smth lol. 118 still felt insane, will miss it dearly. I'll forever be in your debt for getting to ride it a week before closing :')
Kingda Ka being built was an engineering marvel in and of itself. I just hope the TT2 situation resolves, and that tower stays standing. Ka and Dragster were both iconic. I’ve never feared a coaster after them.
So true! I rode TT2 during rider preview and whoooa man, it’s fast. Not sure about 120mph, but launching backwards on an empty stomach, I was near blackout for a split second. Hoping they get the issues resolved and open the ride to be safe and operations for ‘25 season.
From what I remember TTD USUALLY launched around 115-117. This is based on the radar gun that used to be displayed in front of the top hat behind the queue
I got to ride after a maintenance reset. This video explains why I had ejector airtime over the top hat that day and every other time it was just a crawl. I thought maybe they left he key in the empty launch position but then you explained how the system will adjust to loaded trains. This was super interesting! Thanks Ryan!!!
Former Maxx Force Op here - Maxx force is very similar although ran faster than advertised speed, often running around 36.4 M/S to 35.7 M/S the fastest I had seen it launch would have been about 86 MPH, around 38.4 M/S
They could’ve and should’ve let Kingda Ka operate one more year before closing it for good. It deserved a 20th anniversary. Absolutely outrageous decision.
Yeah well, now my local concert venue is charging for parking and banning outside chairs for the lawn area. Turns out, corporate greed trumps everything. But hey, at least we showed them.
@@Hyperbolic_G How exactly is it greed? Whether people like it or not, Ka was a money drain. It was incredibly unreliable and was down more often than it was operating, and required increasing amounts of expensive maintainance just to keep running at all. No matter how much thoosies froth at the mouth about it, closing it was absolutely the right decision.
Another great video, Ryan. Ka will be dearly missed! I remember always seeing Kingda Ka on those top 10 roller coaster shows on tv as a kid and have always wanted to ride it. Sadly I’ll never get the chance :(
On my one ride on Ka in 2023, I got on after the ride had been breaking down often. It broke down right before we got in line, and we got on the ride like 10 minutes (and another breakdown) later. And I remember going quickly-ish over the hill. So I reckon that there was a chance that we got a 119mph launch. Also I knew that something was up with the speed, because in Planet Coaster, a 120-mph launch can easily reach 450 feet rather than TTD's 420 feet.
I went on it for the first (and last, I guess...) time this August, and yeah, the speed was essentially completely undiscernible from Dragster's launch, and hearing that the actual speeds of both were closer to ~118 and ~113 makes that make a lot more sense. Now I'm wondering how insane that top hat would've felt with a back row 128 mph launch!
If you ever played no limits, and made something like ka, or played with one of the re-creations, you'd see the same speed too. 118 was the most optimal. 128 over that top hat in NL2 made it pull like -4.5 or something.
Yeah, I just checked my Ka recreation and launching at 128mph would pull nearly -5G's over the top, cresting at over 50mph. Kinda insane to imagine that in real life lmao. 118mph was definitely the sweet spot
I vaguely remember you doing a video kinda about this a while back But we all loved this don't matter and now will be a shot to the heart that its now gone will always love this and the operators that ran this last two days were like the first days run run run best ride ever
The same can be said for Zumanjaro, it didn’t do 90 mph. Based of its timing between the catwalks on the structure from what I remember for a college project we determined it was 83 mph. But I’ll dig through my closets, nonetheless…. It’s a fantastic ride in its own right too… and I’ll miss it.
Interesting video. This makes me wonder if Zamperla didn't know about these speed reductions when building TT2, because that thing flew over the top hat every time so it might've been going close to 120.
I knew Ka launched slower than advertised but holy crap! That’s actually a huge difference. It makes me wonder what Top Thrill 2’s speed is because when it operated, it was consistently flying over the top hat. It MIGHT truly hit 120 mph but I can definitely say that it’s not 112 mph like Top Thrill Dragster.
Very informative as always. The speed reduction was programmed in 07 or later. Prior to that it operated more like Dragster just reading the prior train launch speed to get the next one over. The speed reduction would bring the launch down as low as possible to reduce maintenance. Fully loaded boosted trains would happen with water dummies after cable replacements to quickly tension the cable. Fully loaded boosted trains with actual riders was rare but did happen. No faults, everyone enjoyed.
Rosa has brakes before exiting the launch section. It makes no sense to hit the record speed, but then since it hits the brakes there is not a reason not to do it as you wont be giving massive negative G on a top hat
I just knew they didn’t run it as advertised. I don’t think anyone was missing any thrills either. Slowly cresting over the top hat and possibly rolling back is the best part
I've been on the first loaded train of the day several times. One of them was in September 2021, which is my most memorable ride on Kingda Ka. My dad and I got the front row on the first train. We had both ridden before, but hadn't been to the park in 5 years. The launch was way more powerful than I remembered it being, and then our train absolutely flew over the top, with El Toro style ejector airtime. The ride immediately broke down after we got back to the station, so I'm guessing it triggered an overspeed. Was boost mode used with every launch during morning test runs, or was it only used when one empty train needs to be launched after a bunch of full trains?
I have ridden Ka 3 times. Two of the times we rolled over the top gracefully. One time we flew over the top so fast everyone lifted up into their shoulders hardness the entire crest of the hill. Train was full all 3 times.
When TTD first opened, and in its first few years, there used to be a display for the clocked radar speed that you could see near the entrance of the ride. It would display numbers from about 115-122. Maybe those were wrong too!
i really doubt this happens but i hope they replace the worlds tallest coaster with the worlds fastest coaster since they did say a record breaking launched coaster
Ryan - when you talk about the danger of the negative G’s over the top hat at the higher speed it made me think about how on my first ride of top thrill 2 on media day in April the negative g’s were so strong on the top hat that I truly felt like I was almost slipping out of my restraint. For the first time in my life on a coaster I was genuinely fearful that something was off / that I might slip out. Is it possible that this has something to do with what’s wrong with the trains on the ride?? I know the discussion was around other aspects of the trains but… just wanted to throw this out there
Also this makes me think that the media day launch speed of top thrill 2 was actually 120 as advertised. It would explain why the trains went over the top hat so quickly and the increased intensity reported by riders. Having ridden original dragster, ka, and top thrill 2 all in the front row I can attest that my front row ride on top thrill 2 was hands down the most intense of the lot. But again there might be selection bias going on in how I am remembering the experiences and the difference in experiencing the sustained higher speed on launch 3 of top thrill 2 is a different animal entirely
So basically, Intamin gave us the top “potential” speed the ride could go. Not actually how fast the ride actually launched. Well, 118 was still very fast.
Having ridden Formula Rossa, it's definitely faster than Ka and Dragster. You can tell this just from the wind intensity in the front seat. But yeah hard to say if it gets to the advertised 149 or not.
I get it now. Sending a full train at max speed would cause more wear and tear. Speed on launch coasters has always been a gimmick because of all those factors you explained.
From what I understand, most launch coasters are designed with target speeds and after construction, they test how much speed is actually needed. Some reasons a coaster might be programmed differently than designed: Trains don't make it through an element G-Forces are too high Wear on trains/track is too high Same with trims and midcourse brake runs.
This is making me very curious about the speed that TT2 is launching at (at least while it is operating lol). LSMs are by nature much more consistent and controllable than hyraulics and from the videos I've seen TT2 flies over the top hat every single time. So that must be slightly faster than the speed Dragster used to launch at but I still doubt that it is 120mph, at least not with a fully loaded train.
I worked Ka during it's testing phase with Intamin and most of what your saying is true however they were launching it WAY faster than anything you are saying during that time period...Was also told that the hydraulic launch had a theoretical max launch of 145 MPH. Now I wonder how long it'll take for someone to reveal what really happened with Ka's accident that one season...I do but I'm still iffy about legal consequences 😂 I was the lead on Coaster but was trained on everything on the West side including GASM, Buccaneer, Fantasy Fling, Houdini, Viper, etc.
If you mean the accident in 2005 that led to the extended queue and viewing area being closed, the rumor I always heard was a bolt coming loose in the launch cable trough which tore everything up. Was there more than that?
This isn’t all that shocking. A prominent figure in the coaster community once worked at SFMM as a ride op on Superman in the mid-2000s, and told me that the coaster usually only launched around 85 mph, and that it only launched its full 100 mph in 1997 and 2011 (after the refurb). So Ka not launching to it’s top speed doesn’t surprise me at all.
2:17. Thank you for the hydraulic room footage with operating spool ------------------🧵 Intamin's T-bar restraints added an illusion of extra speed. I miss TTD too😢
Let's apply physics: 206 km/h = 57.2 m/s. To achieve this velocity by gravity, this means (velocity / g)^2*(g/2) = height -> 57.2 / 9.807 = 5.833 s. Squared and * (9.807/2) = 166.81 m drop! The rise though is ~130 m. With 166.81 m rise, we need to assume, obviously no friction losses and no velocity at the top. In normal operations, roughly estimated from video, the train passes the top at ~6 m/s. To achieve 6 m/s, you gotta drop (6 / 9.807)^2*(9.807/2) = 1.83 m. So without friction losses, the train needs a velocity of whatever is needed to rise ~132 m. So the velocity then would be: squareroot(height/(g/2))*g = 50.88 m/s = 183.18 km/h = 113.82 mph. So losing about 4 - 5 mph to friction (both track and air) seems reasonable. Why? Coasters like this, need ~ 0.03 - 0.04 m drop to maintain velocity over a distance of 1 m. The 130 m rise includes ~ 50 m for the inlet curvature and ~10 m for the top curvature, so ~ 190 m. to maintain speed, this needs conservatively, a 190 * 0.04 = 7.6 m drop. 118 mph = 189.86 km/h = 52.74 m/s. This in turn needs a (52.74/9.807)^2*(9.807/2)= 141.81 m drop. That's much closer to the 131.8 + 7.6 = 139.4 m theoretical rise needed to effectively rise 130 including friction losses (7.6 m) and maintain speed at the top of ~6 m/s (1.8 m). VERDICT: ~118 mph does make sense. Let's apply this knowledge to Top Thrill 2/Top Thrill Dragster: Rise here ~ 122 m. + 1.8 m to have ~6 m/s at the top + total distance from launch end to top ~ 180 * 0.04 = 7.2 m = total 131 m. Velocity need to achieve this theoretical rise = squareroot(height/(g/2))*g = sqrt(131/9.807*2)*9.807 = 50.69 m/s = 182.48 km/h = 113.41 mph VERDICT for TTD: 113.4 mph instead of 120 mph advertised is realistic.
it turns out that almost all launches of kingda ka did not even exceed 200km/h(eve though i sorta expected it), it is now up to falcon flight to reach above 200km/h in this case, which means that red force, as close to 180km/h thanks to LSM, never actually reaches 180km in actual launches
Still remember in the Problematic Coasters video when you said it didn't go as fast as advertised and Six Flags would be mad if you said the true speed. 😂
This looks exactly like one of the coasters at Knott's berry farm. I know it was called accelerator but dunno what it's called now it's still there and running
I am so so so sad to see this gone I am happy I got to ride it a few times it was so awesome a quick ride but it was worth it I really hope they put something awesome in its place if they don’t it will be a big fail
There were times this year when it was way too windy and way too rainy that it was going 120mph. During the second hurricane that hit the park they ran all day and it just didn’t care
Interesting that the launch speed was 118. I asked chatGPT to calculate the speed a 5 ton weight obtains when falling 450 feet given a small initially velocity (for cresting over the hill). The answer? 117.8 mph. The 5 ton number comes from the weight of train specified on a placard in the line for TTD. To calculate the velocity of the weight, we use the equations of motion under constant acceleration due to gravity. Earth's gravity accelerates objects at \( g = 32.2 \, \text{ft/s}^2 \). ### Given: - Initial velocity, \( v_0 = 20 \, \text{mph} = 29.33 \, \text{ft/s} \) - Distance fallen, \( s = 450 \, \text{ft} \) - Acceleration, \( a = g = 32.2 \, \text{ft/s}^2 \) We use the kinematic equation: \[ v^2 = v_0^2 + 2as \] Substitute the values: \[ v^2 = (29.33)^2 + 2(32.2)(450) \] \[ v^2 = 860.69 + 28,980 \] \[ v^2 = 29,840.69 \] Take the square root to find \( v \): \[ v = \sqrt{29,840.69} \approx 172.85 \, \text{ft/s} \] Convert back to mph: \[ v = 172.85 \, \text{ft/s} \times \frac{3600 \, \text{s}}{5280 \, \text{ft}} \approx 117.8 \, \text{mph} \] ### Final Answer: The weight will obtain a velocity of approximately **117.8 mph** after falling 450 ft.
So can we finally admit maxx force accelerates faster than Thorpe park 🤦♂️ it’s down to tenths of seconds, yet stealth uses hydraulic so it’s likely 5-10 mph slower every time, so more like actual seconds slower.
Can you do a video on Ka rollbacks? It seems like from this video it would be pretty easy to force a rollback. Was that something that operators ever did? And did you ever get a rollback? What would that like? I feel like there's not much out there on the experience of a rollback
it's cool that the speed controller adjusts the speed reduction based on the weight. i'm surprised the average launch speed is 118 MPH? i'm also surprised that Top Thrill 2's average launch speed is only 112 MPH?
@@vunu. Top Thrill 2 still does not reach the 120 but it’s faster than Dragster. I hear Dragster ran around 110 almost all the time and Top Thrill 2 actually goes 115
Not based on weight technically. But speed of previous train. Which is affected by weight. But also other factors as well. I’m sad I didn’t get to ride one last time..
You are turning into KingdaKaRyan with all these videos
Gotta cash in on the algorithm
I feel like this is Ryan’s “screw you” to corporate for removing ka
Why not lol!
Don't put that on the guy dude lol
Corporate don't care though; it was never their ride
@@alexhage4935 I mean it in a good way lol
Six flags great adventure should have sent the last train at 128mph just for fun
The legitimately couldn’t have. The maximum the speed system would allow was 127.
Funny enough, one of the most accurate NL2 recreations of Ka that I've found is set at a launch of 118mph too. Playing with the launch speed with +/-1 or 2mph also reflects notable differences in the speed that the train crests the top as you mentioned here.
With that simulator's high focus on realism and physics, it's cool to see that parallel real life when someone recreates a ride with the same height, launch track length & end height, ride style, etc..
Gonna miss every bit of that 118mph.
I’ve already tried making one coaster with 206 km/p and that was beyond kinda ka lol
Yup, can confirm. I made my Ka recreation in NL2 following the Google Maps 3D data 1:1, so the height is as accurate as it can get aside from getting the CAD file straight from Intamin.
I set my launch speed to 119 mph, and had the acceleration stop a bit before the end of the launch track to mimic the catchcar detatching early. At the moment the train was beginning the pullup at the base of the top hat, it was going 116 mph, which had the train cresting the tower at around 15mph.
The math checks out!
I had a feeling this video was coming 💀
Well now it’s average speed is 0mph
😂😂😭😭😭😭
😂😂😂
😢😢😢😢
@@g00zman I know I am actually sad, I’d rather laugh than cry, I’ve already cried 5 times about this
It now holds the record for the world's slowest coaster
It is amazing all the physics that go into roller coaster design.
Hi Ducy!
That and the control systems. I can't even imagine how big of a project the programming and electrical design was for a ride like Kingda Ka.
Getting a 12 twelve ton car up 139m in 3 seconds, that is some power regardless of speed
Thats really crazy, it's also crazy how the park didn't know. That speed difference is actually big too.
I just graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physics because of my love for kinematics stemming from my childhood obsession with this ride. Every ride I had on Ka is a cherished memory for me and it genuinely hurt my soul to hear it was closing
The way you talked about it in the problematic video made it sound like it was launching at 100 or smth lol. 118 still felt insane, will miss it dearly. I'll forever be in your debt for getting to ride it a week before closing :')
Kingda Ka being built was an engineering marvel in and of itself. I just hope the TT2 situation resolves, and that tower stays standing. Ka and Dragster were both iconic. I’ve never feared a coaster after them.
So true! I rode TT2 during rider preview and whoooa man, it’s fast. Not sure about 120mph, but launching backwards on an empty stomach, I was near blackout for a split second. Hoping they get the issues resolved and open the ride to be safe and operations for ‘25 season.
Long live the STRATA coaster
From what I remember TTD USUALLY launched around 115-117. This is based on the radar gun that used to be displayed in front of the top hat behind the queue
Was the Gun calibrated everyday???
Stealth still faster than maxx force😂
I think ETR now owes us an explanation of the sign used by TTD. I seem to remember a variety of speeds posted on that sign, from like 118-124 mph.
When I rode, it was almost always hitting 123. I missed that sign dearly when they took it down.
I don’t know how any one can tell the difference. They both hit 100 plus mph in under 4 seconds your body barely has time to react.
Storm Runner generally launches in between 64 and 66 mph although it's advertised as 72.
I got to ride after a maintenance reset. This video explains why I had ejector airtime over the top hat that day and every other time it was just a crawl. I thought maybe they left he key in the empty launch position but then you explained how the system will adjust to loaded trains. This was super interesting!
Thanks Ryan!!!
Was this in the front or back row
Former Maxx Force Op here - Maxx force is very similar although ran faster than advertised speed, often running around 36.4 M/S to 35.7 M/S the fastest I had seen it launch would have been about 86 MPH, around 38.4 M/S
That combined with what was said in the video kinda proves that stealth is not the fastest accelerating coaster
RIP Dododonpa
I would imagine Stealth having similar variables@@aidancarwash
dang 86 mph in 1.8 second dang it's feels like being shot out of a cannon
They could’ve and should’ve let Kingda Ka operate one more year before closing it for good. It deserved a 20th anniversary. Absolutely outrageous decision.
Kingda Ka did operate 20 seasons though.
Yeah well, now my local concert venue is charging for parking and banning outside chairs for the lawn area.
Turns out, corporate greed trumps everything.
But hey, at least we showed them.
@@Hyperbolic_G How exactly is it greed? Whether people like it or not, Ka was a money drain. It was incredibly unreliable and was down more often than it was operating, and required increasing amounts of expensive maintainance just to keep running at all. No matter how much thoosies froth at the mouth about it, closing it was absolutely the right decision.
@@KHCoasterKid so you agree that closing it without warning or ceremony was the right thing to do yes
@@visionist7 I mean it's literally up to them, it's just a ride after all. There were many before it, there'll be many after it 🤷♂
It’s like a copyright expiring. Except much sadder
Maybe if your a massive corporation profiting off the copyright?
how is copyright expiring sad?
Another great video, Ryan. Ka will be dearly missed! I remember always seeing Kingda Ka on those top 10 roller coaster shows on tv as a kid and have always wanted to ride it. Sadly I’ll never get the chance :(
On my one ride on Ka in 2023, I got on after the ride had been breaking down often. It broke down right before we got in line, and we got on the ride like 10 minutes (and another breakdown) later. And I remember going quickly-ish over the hill. So I reckon that there was a chance that we got a 119mph launch.
Also I knew that something was up with the speed, because in Planet Coaster, a 120-mph launch can easily reach 450 feet rather than TTD's 420 feet.
You gotta make the kingda ka playlist soon Ryan!
Love these frequent Ka facts vids
I went on it for the first (and last, I guess...) time this August, and yeah, the speed was essentially completely undiscernible from Dragster's launch, and hearing that the actual speeds of both were closer to ~118 and ~113 makes that make a lot more sense. Now I'm wondering how insane that top hat would've felt with a back row 128 mph launch!
Goodbye KDK I loved you no matter what.
One of my first strata.👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽Thank you ✌🏼
If you ever played no limits, and made something like ka, or played with one of the re-creations, you'd see the same speed too. 118 was the most optimal. 128 over that top hat in NL2 made it pull like -4.5 or something.
That would be awesome!
Yeah, I just checked my Ka recreation and launching at 128mph would pull nearly -5G's over the top, cresting at over 50mph. Kinda insane to imagine that in real life lmao. 118mph was definitely the sweet spot
This is the most you've ever pushed up your metaphorical glasses for a pedantic-ass "uhm actually" correction, and I'm here for it
I vaguely remember you doing a video kinda about this a while back
But we all loved this don't matter and now will be a shot to the heart that its now gone will always love this and the operators that ran this last two days were like the first days run run run best ride ever
The same can be said for Zumanjaro, it didn’t do 90 mph.
Based of its timing between the catwalks on the structure from what I remember for a college project we determined it was 83 mph.
But I’ll dig through my closets, nonetheless…. It’s a fantastic ride in its own right too… and I’ll miss it.
Remember we could be wrong from our math 🤓✌🏼🤷♀️
Some get it wrong, some know more. But I certainly won’t speak for everyone.
this was my first thought as soon as the closure was officially announced
Interesting video. This makes me wonder if Zamperla didn't know about these speed reductions when building TT2, because that thing flew over the top hat every time so it might've been going close to 120.
Shame they didn't have someone who was familiar with the Kingda Ka programming to let them know.
The new trains are much lighter so the higher speed(real 120) is more likely.
Doesn't surprise me given things you've said previously but I love this unique insight into coasters and would love more videos like it.
Do you think this may mean that Stealth at Thorpe Park actually isn't the worlds fastest and it is Maxx Force instead?
I knew Ka launched slower than advertised but holy crap! That’s actually a huge difference. It makes me wonder what Top Thrill 2’s speed is because when it operated, it was consistently flying over the top hat. It MIGHT truly hit 120 mph but I can definitely say that it’s not 112 mph like Top Thrill Dragster.
Very informative as always. The speed reduction was programmed in 07 or later. Prior to that it operated more like Dragster just reading the prior train launch speed to get the next one over. The speed reduction would bring the launch down as low as possible to reduce maintenance. Fully loaded boosted trains would happen with water dummies after cable replacements to quickly tension the cable. Fully loaded boosted trains with actual riders was rare but did happen. No faults, everyone enjoyed.
This is great, this is the kind of nerdy content I love
I’m loving all the Kingda Kantent lately Ryan
ElToroRyan dropping bombs! I love it. Thanks for the detailed explanation, as always.
Rosa has brakes before exiting the launch section. It makes no sense to hit the record speed, but then since it hits the brakes there is not a reason not to do it as you wont be giving massive negative G on a top hat
That outro with Ka should be your default video closer, outta respect for the king 👑
Need more of these videos about the behind the scenes of this ride
Wish i couldve ridden it. But never been to sixflags. Great video ryan.
Force one at Portadventura (Spain) is just as good, slightly smaller & with magnetic acceleration.
I just knew they didn’t run it as advertised. I don’t think anyone was missing any thrills either. Slowly cresting over the top hat and possibly rolling back is the best part
I would have loved a roll-back!
KEEP THE VIDEOS OF KINGDA KA GOING!!! THEY AMAZING!!! the king must live on forever!
I've been on the first loaded train of the day several times. One of them was in September 2021, which is my most memorable ride on Kingda Ka. My dad and I got the front row on the first train. We had both ridden before, but hadn't been to the park in 5 years. The launch was way more powerful than I remembered it being, and then our train absolutely flew over the top, with El Toro style ejector airtime. The ride immediately broke down after we got back to the station, so I'm guessing it triggered an overspeed.
Was boost mode used with every launch during morning test runs, or was it only used when one empty train needs to be launched after a bunch of full trains?
I have ridden Ka 3 times. Two of the times we rolled over the top gracefully. One time we flew over the top so fast everyone lifted up into their shoulders hardness the entire crest of the hill. Train was full all 3 times.
0:19 I remember call it the caterpillar climb 😂
i miss ka so much 😢
The way you were building it up I thought you were going to say like... 80mph LOL
lol
Kingda Ka got opps… ride opps 💀
When TTD first opened, and in its first few years, there used to be a display for the clocked radar speed that you could see near the entrance of the ride. It would display numbers from about 115-122. Maybe those were wrong too!
I was actually lucky enough to work on King da Macthis season before it closed And surprisingly, this is true
0:04 DAMN! those trees are build different
Love the Kingda Ka-ntent
i really doubt this happens but i hope they replace the worlds tallest coaster with the worlds fastest coaster since they did say a record breaking launched coaster
Ryan - when you talk about the danger of the negative G’s over the top hat at the higher speed it made me think about how on my first ride of top thrill 2 on media day in April the negative g’s were so strong on the top hat that I truly felt like I was almost slipping out of my restraint. For the first time in my life on a coaster I was genuinely fearful that something was off / that I might slip out. Is it possible that this has something to do with what’s wrong with the trains on the ride?? I know the discussion was around other aspects of the trains but… just wanted to throw this out there
Also this makes me think that the media day launch speed of top thrill 2 was actually 120 as advertised. It would explain why the trains went over the top hat so quickly and the increased intensity reported by riders. Having ridden original dragster, ka, and top thrill 2 all in the front row I can attest that my front row ride on top thrill 2 was hands down the most intense of the lot. But again there might be selection bias going on in how I am remembering the experiences and the difference in experiencing the sustained higher speed on launch 3 of top thrill 2 is a different animal entirely
So basically, Intamin gave us the top “potential” speed the ride could go. Not actually how fast the ride actually launched. Well, 118 was still very fast.
Just enjoy the ride!
Having ridden Formula Rossa, it's definitely faster than Ka and Dragster. You can tell this just from the wind intensity in the front seat. But yeah hard to say if it gets to the advertised 149 or not.
two weeks ago i was at knotts and clocked xcelorator at 86 mph
Absolutely wild you got to ride with that maintenance mode on, Disney would never lol.
I get it now. Sending a full train at max speed would cause more wear and tear. Speed on launch coasters has always been a gimmick because of all those factors you explained.
From what I understand, most launch coasters are designed with target speeds and after construction, they test how much speed is actually needed.
Some reasons a coaster might be programmed differently than designed:
Trains don't make it through an element
G-Forces are too high
Wear on trains/track is too high
Same with trims and midcourse brake runs.
Im glad I made it alive long enough for this one
rest in peace KINGDA KA
This is making me very curious about the speed that TT2 is launching at (at least while it is operating lol). LSMs are by nature much more consistent and controllable than hyraulics and from the videos I've seen TT2 flies over the top hat every single time. So that must be slightly faster than the speed Dragster used to launch at but I still doubt that it is 120mph, at least not with a fully loaded train.
Pretty sure I've seen people on I-95 trying to get to Six Flags go faster than that lol
I worked Ka during it's testing phase with Intamin and most of what your saying is true however they were launching it WAY faster than anything you are saying during that time period...Was also told that the hydraulic launch had a theoretical max launch of 145 MPH.
Now I wonder how long it'll take for someone to reveal what really happened with Ka's accident that one season...I do but I'm still iffy about legal consequences 😂
I was the lead on Coaster but was trained on everything on the West side including GASM, Buccaneer, Fantasy Fling, Houdini, Viper, etc.
If you mean the accident in 2005 that led to the extended queue and viewing area being closed, the rumor I always heard was a bolt coming loose in the launch cable trough which tore everything up. Was there more than that?
This now makes me wonder... how fast does Formula Rossa hit?
kingdakaryan
Pretty much all coasters do this, over advertise /advertise the maximum capabilities, not what it actually does 🤷♂️ they 100% know
Can the park get sued for false advertisement ?
This isn’t all that shocking. A prominent figure in the coaster community once worked at SFMM as a ride op on Superman in the mid-2000s, and told me that the coaster usually only launched around 85 mph, and that it only launched its full 100 mph in 1997 and 2011 (after the refurb).
So Ka not launching to it’s top speed doesn’t surprise me at all.
2:17. Thank you for the hydraulic room footage with operating spool ------------------🧵
Intamin's T-bar restraints added an illusion of extra speed. I miss TTD too😢
Let's apply physics: 206 km/h = 57.2 m/s. To achieve this velocity by gravity, this means (velocity / g)^2*(g/2) = height -> 57.2 / 9.807 = 5.833 s. Squared and * (9.807/2) = 166.81 m drop!
The rise though is ~130 m. With 166.81 m rise, we need to assume, obviously no friction losses and no velocity at the top. In normal operations, roughly estimated from video, the train passes the top at ~6 m/s. To achieve 6 m/s, you gotta drop (6 / 9.807)^2*(9.807/2) = 1.83 m. So without friction losses, the train needs a velocity of whatever is needed to rise ~132 m.
So the velocity then would be: squareroot(height/(g/2))*g = 50.88 m/s = 183.18 km/h = 113.82 mph. So losing about 4 - 5 mph to friction (both track and air) seems reasonable.
Why? Coasters like this, need ~ 0.03 - 0.04 m drop to maintain velocity over a distance of 1 m. The 130 m rise includes ~ 50 m for the inlet curvature and ~10 m for the top curvature, so ~ 190 m. to maintain speed, this needs conservatively, a 190 * 0.04 = 7.6 m drop. 118 mph = 189.86 km/h = 52.74 m/s. This in turn needs a (52.74/9.807)^2*(9.807/2)= 141.81 m drop. That's much closer to the 131.8 + 7.6 = 139.4 m theoretical rise needed to effectively rise 130 including friction losses (7.6 m) and maintain speed at the top of ~6 m/s (1.8 m).
VERDICT: ~118 mph does make sense.
Let's apply this knowledge to Top Thrill 2/Top Thrill Dragster: Rise here ~ 122 m. + 1.8 m to have ~6 m/s at the top + total distance from launch end to top ~ 180 * 0.04 = 7.2 m = total 131 m. Velocity need to achieve this theoretical rise = squareroot(height/(g/2))*g = sqrt(131/9.807*2)*9.807 = 50.69 m/s = 182.48 km/h = 113.41 mph
VERDICT for TTD: 113.4 mph instead of 120 mph advertised is realistic.
it turns out that almost all launches of kingda ka did not even exceed 200km/h(eve though i sorta expected it), it is now up to falcon flight to reach above 200km/h in this case, which means that red force, as close to 180km/h thanks to LSM, never actually reaches 180km in actual launches
Still remember in the Problematic Coasters video when you said it didn't go as fast as advertised and Six Flags would be mad if you said the true speed. 😂
This like when people realized Dwight Howard was only 6'9 and Kevin Love was 6'7
Plot twist: Kingda Ka gets relocated to Six Flags America
This looks exactly like one of the coasters at Knott's berry farm. I know it was called accelerator but dunno what it's called now it's still there and running
So when do we tackle the 458 ft banners in the station? 🤔
At 128 mph it would pull -3.68 mph
hi eltororyan ur the goat
hi bigthunder556 ur the goat
LOL
He’s not a goat he’s a human smh my head.
I am so so so sad to see this gone I am happy I got to ride it a few times it was so awesome a quick ride but it was worth it I really hope they put something awesome in its place if they don’t it will be a big fail
Yeah I was expecting this video since the problematic coasters video
Yk what, this explains why in planet coaster, putting your launch at 128 flys over the top of the top hat on a height similar to kinda ka
this is like in Harry Potter book 7 when Rita Skeeter wrote the scathing book on Dumbledore's life after he died
There were times this year when it was way too windy and way too rainy that it was going 120mph. During the second hurricane that hit the park they ran all day and it just didn’t care
Interesting that the launch speed was 118. I asked chatGPT to calculate the speed a 5 ton weight obtains when falling 450 feet given a small initially velocity (for cresting over the hill). The answer? 117.8 mph. The 5 ton number comes from the weight of train specified on a placard in the line for TTD. To calculate the velocity of the weight, we use the equations of motion under constant acceleration due to gravity. Earth's gravity accelerates objects at \( g = 32.2 \, \text{ft/s}^2 \).
### Given:
- Initial velocity, \( v_0 = 20 \, \text{mph} = 29.33 \, \text{ft/s} \)
- Distance fallen, \( s = 450 \, \text{ft} \)
- Acceleration, \( a = g = 32.2 \, \text{ft/s}^2 \)
We use the kinematic equation:
\[
v^2 = v_0^2 + 2as
\]
Substitute the values:
\[
v^2 = (29.33)^2 + 2(32.2)(450)
\]
\[
v^2 = 860.69 + 28,980
\]
\[
v^2 = 29,840.69
\]
Take the square root to find \( v \):
\[
v = \sqrt{29,840.69} \approx 172.85 \, \text{ft/s}
\]
Convert back to mph:
\[
v = 172.85 \, \text{ft/s} \times \frac{3600 \, \text{s}}{5280 \, \text{ft}} \approx 117.8 \, \text{mph}
\]
### Final Answer:
The weight will obtain a velocity of approximately **117.8 mph** after falling 450 ft.
Xcelerator does 77, not 82 🤷♂️ I'm an ex Op 👍
I found this info more interesting than shocking or negative.
Kingda ka is closed forever? Tragic, one of my favorites.
So can we finally admit maxx force accelerates faster than Thorpe park 🤦♂️ it’s down to tenths of seconds, yet stealth uses hydraulic so it’s likely 5-10 mph slower every time, so more like actual seconds slower.
well now I wonder what other interesting info we’ll get after its removal
I knew it launched slower but that’s a way bigger difference than I was expecting
Stealth at Thorpe park: 😬
Can you do a video on Ka rollbacks? It seems like from this video it would be pretty easy to force a rollback. Was that something that operators ever did? And did you ever get a rollback? What would that like? I feel like there's not much out there on the experience of a rollback
And just like that, now the fastest speed I've gone on the ground is now my car instead of a roller coaster
In Ryan We Trust.
I literally operated kingda ka the last few months it was open and when I saw the actual speed on the system I thought I saw it wrong but nah
I guess I thought it was common enthusiast knowledge that these hydraulic launches never really reached their advertised speeds.
Talking potential amd kinetic energy , physics class wad cool
it's cool that the speed controller adjusts the speed reduction based on the weight. i'm surprised the average launch speed is 118 MPH? i'm also surprised that Top Thrill 2's average launch speed is only 112 MPH?
Where did you hear that?
@@vunu. Top Thrill 2 still does not reach the 120 but it’s faster than Dragster. I hear Dragster ran around 110 almost all the time and Top Thrill 2 actually goes 115
@@Icantdrive11 3:09
@@vunu.did u mean to write top thrill dragster?
Not based on weight technically. But speed of previous train. Which is affected by weight. But also other factors as well.
I’m sad I didn’t get to ride one last time..
why was this one of the first things i thought of when i heard the rumors? i was wondering if you could know reveal the real speed