Saturday night we went over to the Katanga Skyscraper,
a ride whose reputation has grown throughout the
enthusiast community. The closest I had gotten before
was to look at it from the parking lot as, in a group
of eight, two others and myself opted out while five
rode. I was not as intimidated with it as in that
spring of �99, but was still a little apprehensive as
we pulled into the parking lot and saw that propeller
sitting there, lit by some neon strands and several
spotlights. Being the wuss I am, I said I was not
riding alone, although the op was kind enough to let
Eric ride twice so that problem never surfaced. Since
there was no line, we boarded and climbed in the seats.
I do like the Gravity Works seats as they are
conducive to lots of riding and the restraints are
heaven. Unlike the Ejector Seat, GW decided against a
five-point harness and designed a restraint that is
roughly two L�s of belts that come across the
shoulders and angle across the stomach. This provides
a snug fit, but plenty of space for upper body
movement. I felt nervous as the ride op flashed us a
smile and we were up, up, and away. After the first
revolution, the difference between this and the Turbo Force was
readily evident - this thing spun fast (although I
must note that the Turbo Force was trailer-mounted and I
am guessing that if a park owner wanted to run a
permanent version nearly this fast, it would be
possible). It spun so fast that I could readily feel the G�s
in my ankles and calves. At the bottom half of each
ride you could feel the wind howl as the car sped
through the night. After many spins we were held at
the top before the car was reversed and we did the
loop backwards so the car came over the top, but we
only got one good dive bomb in before the ride was
over and I got off a little dazed.
Comparison-
So which did I like better? Well, there were good and
bad points to each ride. Between the two the Turbo
Force had much better airtime and flipping while the
Skyscraper was a big, intense circle. The thing that
bothered me about the Skyscraper was that after a few
spins it felt more like a Larson Super Loop stuck on
full throttle (just continuous loops) with no real
flipping. Add in the fact that Gravity Works is
offering a new OTSR system for their rides to help
with capacity (they look as comfortable as Zamperla�s)
and I have to give the Turbo Force the edge for the
better ride. Yes, the Skyscraper was more intense, but
it was also too predictable.
�Yeah I�m Free, Free Fallin�.�
SCAD Tower (http://www.montic.de/)
vs. the 300-foot Skycoaster (http://www.skycoaster.cc and
(http://www.skycoaster.cc)
The scene - Friday Afternoon. I had known Eric for a
little over 24 hours and he was trying to convince me
to be dropped into a net with him. It just did not
seem like a good idea. After deciding I was not
getting on, we saw the Turbo Force running, so we
headed over for a quick ride. We meandered back, the
line was longer and, after staring non-stop at the
thing for what seemed forever (about two minutes) and
listening to his lines of �I really think you�ll enjoy
it� I told him I was riding. That was when the knot
began to form in my stomach. Because of the slow
throughput the wait, which ended up being an hour from
the end of the line to the cage, felt like an
eternity. I tried to make small talk with Eric, but I
was scared through and through. He entertained me
with the story of how he had jumped yesterday with
some park reps. and felt a little uncomfortable
because he went third and the wind was blowing so hard
that it caused him to wait a little while for his jump
before it calmed down. Great - just what I needed to
hear. One of my stipulations for getting in line was
that I would be going first. While most people scared
of things seem to like going last, I like being
terrified first instead of having to watch others do
it before me. I was handed the harness, which was a
cross between a skycoaster harness and one of those
fold up camping chairs. Basically it was a piece of
material about 1.5 feet wide and went from my
shoulders to my legs. You dove in it like a
skycoaster restraint, and there were four main points
(the shoulders and knees) where a strap came out to
connect at a center point around my stomach (the best
pics I could find are at http://www.montic.de/montic%20site/site-e/pages/rides.html, scroll down to �Attendants and Harnessing�).
I watched the final trio do their jumps. It looked
quick enough. They were lifted up 120 feet, they were
lowered one by one out of the crane cage, and then
dropped into the net with a loud smack. After the
last one jumped it was our turn. It took all the
strength I could muster to walk over the net and into
that cage. We were each locked into the cage via a
carabineer on a rope and our �drop guy� gave the crane
op a thumbs up. As we rose, Adam�s Rule of Heights�
kicked in. For those unfamiliar with it, my theorem
states that, �Things always look twice as high in the
air as they do from the ground.� I do not know a lot
about math or science - I am not a man of numbers - but
this rule has never failed me yet. On our way up, I
looked up the cable and figured we were almost there.
Eric asked the guy, �How high are we?�
�About half-way,� the op responded. Great. I made it a
point not to look down, but gazing across and seeing
that we were above Zamperla�s Z-Force and almost even
with the Turbo Force did not help the situation.
After a little while longer we stopped, the op looked
at me, my heart sank even lower and I knew it was
time.
Doing some quick movements he changed my lock from the
cage carabineer to one attached to a large web of
locks and rope. He told me to sit down in the harness
and, to my surprise, it was quite comfortable. I tucked
my head in as I was lowered out into the air. I could
not hear anything but the wind in the air and my heart
thumping in my chest. The �I Want to Get Off Now�
feeling came, but I knew there was no way I was
getting out of this without plunging to the earth
first. I looked up. The op fiddled with the locks
and said, �I am going to release you on one. Three.�
Click. I was falling, holding onto the harness
wondering when and if I was going to stop, wondering
why I had even done this, wondering why I had not
talked to that attractive British woman for a lot
longer this morning, since I was going to never see her
again because I was going to be dead and smack - I hit
the net. As adrenaline surged through my veins, I was
lowered to the ground, excited, alive, feeling like I
could jump out of a plane with no problem (that last
one was strictly the adrenaline talking). I stepped
out of the net, cool, confident, no wet spot on my
pants. Even though tons of other people enjoyed the
ride during the trade show, I really felt like I had
accomplished something. After Eric fell, I thanked him
for helping talk me into this and we headed back into
the trade show. I felt like I could take on anything -
and shortly would have to.
Later that night, I escaped from the parties a little
later than I had hoped and ran up I-drive in my
blister-clad feet and dress shoes. I gave my ride a
call and about ten minutes later met Mark, Bill and
Eric in the foyer. We were heading to Old Town. I
was being driven to my death. We all made small talk
about our respective days and then, as we headed down
the highway, Mark pointed it out. There, on the
horizon stood a 300-foot A-frame. My pseudo bravado
from earlier in the day faded as the white structure
drew closer and closer. Mark managed to quash any
other hopes I had of feeling a little better as he
stated that we were heading to the skycoaster first -
no roller coaster, no ejection seat, no mercy by
beginning slowly. For those of you wondering what I
thought as I stared up the rear tower and saw three
tiny people attached to a string, refer simply to
American Pie. Remember the part where everyone was
watching the computer and group after group said,
�Holy s!&#�? Well, this was the same situation,
except there was no naked woman involved and I was the
one who kept saying that phrase over and over in my
head as my legs turned to jelly. I walked over,
knowing what a walk to the death chamber feels like.
We stopped for a much-needed beer and headed over to
the booth. All the while phrases like, �That�s
insane,� �Look how high they are,� and �You could
never get me to do that,� echoed around me - just the
positive reinforcement I needed.
After paying around $25, we walked down to the boarding
area and got in line. I could barely bring myself to
watch as group after group took one minute to get
pulled up three hundred feet, took only a second to
fall, and whizzed by so fast that the cable made a loud
buzzing sound. Shortly thereafter our new friend Eric
(a skycoaster op) let us into the dressing area where
we waited for the red suits, which were in short
supply. We slowly inched forward as our op somehow
brought up topic of Bea Arthur naked; when you start
talking about things like that, dropping 300 feet to
your death does not seem so bad. However, it was soon
our turn. I waved goodbye to Bill and we walked out
to the first yellow line. The group in front of us
was just ending their ride. With my footbar in hand
and my courage lagging about ten feet behind me, we
walked down the ramp to the blue loading cube. We
climbed aboard, the other team was disconnected, and
then it came: �Flyers switch places.� I meagerly
followed the other two and got hooked up. After being
hooked, the floor lowered out from under us and then,
laying only a few inches above quickly receding mat, I
knew there was no turning back.
After we were set free, we floated back and then
forward again because the tow cable was so long it
took that much time to pick up the slack - thus began
the longest minute of my life. Between Mark and Eric
giving me s%*# and me responding with half-assed
attempts at shaky humor, we climbed higher into the
night sky. Comments like �there�s St. Louis�s ride�
(circa the 150-foot mark), �there�s Universal� and �Oh
my God, this is insane,� did not help calm my nerves
as we were towed up the tower. I became more unnerved
as I looked out directly at the A-frame and then we
collectively realized that the cables were so long
that their slack hung in front of and below us by
twenty feet. I finally gave in to my fear and had to
hold on with both hands because the ground looked so
far away and the platform, as Mark so eloquently put
it before the trip, looked like a postage stamp. All
of the sudden a voice crackled through the air, �3. 2.
1. fly!� After a second�s hesitation we pitched face
first for about 75-100 feet before the cables caught
us. For a few seconds I understood what Bill Kitchen
meant when he said that you felt you could fly. The
drop was incredible. The screaming roar of
the cable, the fact that my stomach remained up at the
top of the tower, looking straight down into that
black lake at 75 m.p.h. - all combined to make it one
hell of a ride. When we finally got off, I was all
smiles - just physically exhausted. I definitely owe thanks to
everyone who helped �nudge� me into riding and Mark and
Eric for putting up with my crap as we climbed the
tower. It was one of the best park experiences I have
had.
Comparison:
I must have liked both, as I did the SCAD once more on
Saturday and the Skycoaster three times on Saturday
night. Comparing two good rides like this is hard, as
even though their main feature, a freefall, is the
same, they are two different experiences. I think one
of the things that made the SCAD drop not too scary
for me, besides the obvious �low� height, was the fact
that you are dropped face up, so the fear factor does
not build with time as on the skycoaster. I came to
the conclusion that the actual drop on the SCAD tower
was better, but I think the overall skycoaster
experience, at least from the standpoint of someone
scared of heights, was better. Do not get me wrong,
they are both great rides, but I think the entire
skycoaster ride gave a more intimidating and
exhilarating ride, plus it varied a little bit on each
drop. If they ever get a 300-foot SCAD or that
500-foot skycoaster built, I will be there.
***************
Adam Sandy
Webmaster: http://history.amusement-parks.com/
Historian: http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com
SM-NL
"I like being a pessimist, it helps me deal with my inevitable failure." -The
Brothers McMullan
***************
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