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Funfair rides

  • Thread starter Dirk Bruere at NeoPax
  • Start date
J

Jim Thompson

Snob.

I know too many good ol' boys who are far better mechanics than I am (and
I'm no slouch, IMHO) to suffer from that particular prejudice. They may
come across as functional illiterates when you talk to them, but that's
either because they don't care to impress you, because they _are_
functional illiterates but still better mechanics than I am, or because
they had you pegged as a snob from the moment you opened your mouth and
they're playing games with you.

I worry more about whether the stuff was designed by guys with bachelors
degrees using handbooks based on decades of avoiding real-world failures,
or if it was designed by guys with doctorates, computers, no real-world
experience, and with penny-pinching managers.

So I try to ride the ones with obvious signs of years of normal
maintenance, figuring that they're the ones that have stood the test of
time...
Click to expand...

My father-in-law was a machine shop operator with only a high school
education, yet was one of the most literate, well-read, persons I've
ever known.

He loved proselytizers. When they would come to his door he would
debate them for hours... leaving them very unsure of their religion
;-)

I don't ride amusement park rides... period!

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine Sometimes I even put it in the food
 
D

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

Phil said:
Not to mention how nice they are to your back when you're a statistical
outlier (193 cm tall, 18 stone 13).
Click to expand...

FFS - seeing a huge bastard like you on my ride is an immediate bailout
condition! Stress, stress, out of balance, beyond spec... etc
That's almost as bad as a weightwatchers day out at the fair.

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
http://www.theconsensus.org/ - A UK political party
http://www.onetribe.me.uk/wordpress/?cat=5 - Our podcasts on weird stuff
 
D

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

Jim said:
My father-in-law was a machine shop operator with only a high school
education, yet was one of the most literate, well-read, persons I've
ever known.

He loved proselytizers. When they would come to his door he would
debate them for hours... leaving them very unsure of their religion
;-)

I don't ride amusement park rides... period!

...Jim Thompson
Click to expand...

Yeah - I hate the things.
Last time I was forced into riding one by the kids last week I was
already starting to come down with what felt like swine flu. Lucky for
them I didn't puke up while in motion. A few hours of lying on the grass
shivering in the sunshine almost got me back to where I was in the first
place - feeling like shit.

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
http://www.theconsensus.org/ - A UK political party
http://www.onetribe.me.uk/wordpress/?cat=5 - Our podcasts on weird stuff
 
R

Rich Grise

Ron Tomor At ArrowDynamics was good enough to rate a Nova Special
while I was a kid, did lots of data collection tests and built the
coasters on a patch of land at the factory for R&D. But he would never
ride his own creations, which are some of the best in the world.Since
engineers would fight to work for him, he had plenty of staff test
riders. Ohio has a big enough collection of coasters to have a
dedicated state inspection team, and I am comfortable riding rides in
Ohio. Elsewhere I look things over twice before getting on a coaster.

I road the one at coney island just before it was torn down, NO way
would I have been dumb enough for a second go. I like the wood ones,
less fatigue and few welds.

Its worth dragging up that episode of Nova if its on Youtube.
Click to expand...

In Excelsior, MN, when I was about pubescent (1950's-ish), there was an
amusement park with a wood coaster and a "fun house" that had all the fun
dangerous crap - the spinning disk, the rotating tube - I was just big
enough to stand in the rotating tube, put my hands on the "other" side,
and spin around with the tube.

The attendant chewed me out and chased me away.

I also did an experiment on the coaster - I sat in the very front, and
got big G's downward at the bottoms of the dips but very mild negative
G's at the top of the humps. Then I rode it again, in the very back, and
the negative G's almost lifted me out of the seat, but the dips were very
mild.

Something to do with inertia, I suppose. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
R

Rich Grise

Our local big amusment park has cameras for every seat row on every
car now,,and spread spectrum downlink in real time, You can now buy a
video on CD of your ride. I'd hate to be the poor slob who had to
find 12 video links per car that could take the Gs and have a protocol
with no dropouts, and yet not conflict with nearby rides. Think of the
repetitive shock loads and the fact that its running off a generator
on a wheel.

Now that is engineering.
Click to expand...
I've often found myself wondering, "how many channels must they be
using?" in NASCAR or Indy-car races. There's not only a camera in
each car (maybe more than one), but all of that telemetry and two-
way communication with the crew chief, the spotters, and who knows
what else.

How do they do that?

Thanks,
Rich
 
O

OBones

Rich said:
I've often found myself wondering, "how many channels must they be
using?" in NASCAR or Indy-car races. There's not only a camera in
each car (maybe more than one), but all of that telemetry and two-
way communication with the crew chief, the spotters, and who knows
what else.

How do they do that?
Click to expand...

Multiplexing comes to mind, pretty much like what DVB-T does...
 
N

Nico Coesel

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax said:
Do any engineers here actually like them? Or do you have too much
imagination when it comes to metal fatigue and complex machinery
maintained by illiterates?
Click to expand...

I went into a rollercoaster last week. It looked quite innocent but
the sharp bends and steep slopes are pretty scary. I had to imagine
really hard that the people who designed the damn thing knew what they
where doing.
 
D

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

Nico said:
I went into a rollercoaster last week. It looked quite innocent but
the sharp bends and steep slopes are pretty scary. I had to imagine
really hard that the people who designed the damn thing knew what they
where doing.
Click to expand...
If NASA can crash a probe by mixing metric and imperial units just think
what a tired engineer might do with a ride! Or that decimal place gets
missed...

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
http://www.theconsensus.org/ - A UK political party
http://www.onetribe.me.uk/wordpress/?cat=5 - Our podcasts on weird stuff
 
J

Jim Thompson

I went into a rollercoaster last week. It looked quite innocent but
the sharp bends and steep slopes are pretty scary. I had to imagine
really hard that the people who designed the damn thing knew what they
where doing.
Click to expand...

I remember flying in DC-3's, and getting considerable heartburn
watching the engine block glowing during landing :-(

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine Sometimes I even put it in the food
 
R

Rich Grise

I went into a rollercoaster last week. It looked quite innocent but
the sharp bends and steep slopes are pretty scary. I had to imagine
really hard that the people who designed the damn thing knew what they
where doing.
Click to expand...

They probably do everything they can to make it "safe" - dead customers
are terribly, terribly expensive. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
G

GregS

I went into a rollercoaster last week. It looked quite innocent but
the sharp bends and steep slopes are pretty scary. I had to imagine
really hard that the people who designed the damn thing knew what they
where doing.
Click to expand...

I am going tomorrow to the local park. I will be riding the same coasters I rode
almost 50 years ago. I guess their proven.

I don't like hangies. Ferris wheels, ski lifts, sky coasting, etc.
I'm doing this tomorrow designed by a "master mechanic"


greg
 
R

Rich Grise

First time I ever flew we went through a storm and I watched the wings flap.
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, they're designed to do that. If they were totally
rigid, they'd snap off.

Of course, inspection and repair/replace as necessary is a very important
part of periodic maintenance.

Cheers!
Rich
 
R

Rich Grise

Nobody ever worries about not getting down again, do they?
Click to expand...

Nah. I just use my parachute - it's stastically safer than landing in
an airplane. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
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