pki question?
I was reading a message someone wrote earlier and no one has answered it so maybe someone ofr me will. He asked about the racer something about he heard they had to reprofile it something about increasing the negative gs is this true. What exactly does it mean and did anything at pki this year get a paint job. Also are they planning on filling the old spot where flight comander went. What happend to that ride anyways i know a lady fell from it but they rebuilt it and then boom gone never did hear why they took it down.Also one of my favorite rides skylab what happend to it i luved that ride. well please anser my questions for me thanks
at 4/2/00 4:20:53 PM
I started to answer the Racer question before, but the board was down the day it was posted. Once it was operational again, I did not visit the board for a while. But anyways, I will do my best to answer that question plus your others. Here goes...
No major work has been done on Racer or Beast this year. One of the things the maintenance crews were happy about last season was the fact that the wood coasters were in such good shape. Now, every off season the trains are dismantled and every nut,bolt and screw is replaced. That is general practice.
At PKI this off-season, a few store fronts got a paint job, but that is it.
I am sure at some point the vacant land where Flight Commander used to reside will be filled someday. It is a very small footprint and would only fit a small attraction/store/game. Actually, back in 1996, they announced that very place was going to be the home of a new attraction that would be "dropping in" for 1997. They even had signage in that area stating so. Obviously the park originally planned for a giant drop to go there, but instead the park opted to add the waterpark for their 25th season (1997) to better compete with CP.
Flight Commander was unpopular, capacity charts had seen a steady decline so the park decided to remove the un-popular attraction. The last time I rode it, was on an extremely crowded day and it was a walk-on, and you were able to ride all day without getting off.
Yes a female perished when she managed to worm her way out of the restraints, to my knowledge she had been drinking heavily and the accident was due to her irresponsible behavior. The park does not discuss it and I do not blame them. Although never completely explained, I believe this to be the reason alcohol consumption is only permitted in a handful of areas in the park. And public intoxication is a dimissable offense.
Nothing happened to Flight Commander to cause them to rebuild it. It was closed for a sufficient time period following the accident but re-opened after inspectors found nothing wrong with the ride. Obviously a dark cloud remained over the ride until it was closed and removed.
Skylab was one of a very few giant enterprises. As of today, I believe there are only 3 left functioning, one located at Paramount's Canada's Wonderland called "Sol Loco." It was removed, like many, because of high maintenance costs. The hydraulic arm that raised the wheel to it's vertical position, would fail and the wheel would drop. I was actually present one day when it occurred with passengers. No one was injured, it just shook people up. After that I never saw it operate again. It stood idle for a season and removed in, I believe, 1997. It is rumored that the hydraulics had been replaced at an extrememly high cost twice. After the third failure, the park said enough is enough. Apparently PCW has experienced similar problems with their "Sol Loco" which opened for the first time last season after a long un-operational hiatus.
Hope that helped answer your questions.
Shaggy
