If you've visited the park since Namtab has been returned to its original forward orientation, you may have noticed a difference in Batman's trains. The back of the car is no longer solid, and there is no bar running on the backside of the bottom of the seats. Why is this?
Because the backwards Batman chassis isn't going to go to other Six Flags parks to run backwards. We still have the Batman backwards chassis, just with the mechanics turned to run forwards. We no longer have the 1992-2013 forwards trains, those are gone. Instead, we are running the backwards trains forwards with one extra car added.
The one thing that I don't get, however, is why one train is running with wheel covers and one without. Maybe one of our resident mechanical experts can shed some light on this.
This was wonderfully pointed out to me by a fellow SFGAm enthusiast yesterday at the park, who I met in the V2 queue and chatted with before and on Batman.
"Remove this man before I commit an act of violence against him." -Ron Swanson
I noticed this right away. The last car on each train is still the old chassis and seat frames though (complete with the bar across the bottom), so we don't even have complete trains of either style. We have Frankentrains I have no idea why they didn't switch the chassis back (among many other things about the conversion that have me thoroughly confused).
DejaVu2001 wrote:I noticed this right away. The last car on each train is still the old chassis and seat frames though (complete with the bar across the bottom), so we don't even have complete trains of either style. We have Frankentrains I have no idea why they didn't switch the chassis back (among many other things about the conversion that have me thoroughly confused).
I understood that we only had 7 cars per train when it ran backwards, so they must have kept the last car from the old chassis.
The coaster is 21 years old and is very wearing on parts, as you could imagine. The trains were getting old and needed to be replaced, and it was just easier for the maintenance team to switch the mechanics around than having to order an entire new train.
"Remove this man before I commit an act of violence against him." -Ron Swanson
^^^ I hope so. Honestly, I like those seats, they look really nice . I wonder if those new seats will also be in future B&M inverts and not just in Banshee.
It's been widely reported that the Wing Coaster restraints can't handle all of the high-G maneuvers on Gatekeeper, so I wouldn't take chances with them on a Batman clone until they get fixed, especially since we're keeping the new chassis.
"Remove this man before I commit an act of violence against him." -Ron Swanson
I noticed that the Batman trains were different because the theming on the back was gone and they pipes to drain any water in the top of car. I would guess that maybe these "Frankenstein trains" allowed the park to get the ride back open sooner. Maybe once we go to weekend operations or over the off season we'll see the trains changed back to the original.
As for the Banshee trains, those look a bit wider to me because of the new restraints so I'm not sure if they could be added to Batman. I would love to see it happen though, if they can fix the problems with them that have plagued the wing coasters. Although even if they do I really can't see Six Flags spending the money on them.
Wasn't there mention of some sort of "surprise" with the trains once namtaB was over? I think I remember seeing someone mention that in another thread.
^I thought the only surprise was that Viper was going to be backwards.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
Has any other park hinted yet about Batman going backwards? I would've thought that another park would have had it for the second portion of summer. Maybe FF somewhere?
BBH wrote:It's been widely reported that the Wing Coaster restraints can't handle all of the high-G maneuvers on Gatekeeper, so I wouldn't take chances with them on a Batman clone until they get fixed, especially since we're keeping the new chassis.
What do you mean exactly? Like the locking mechs are too frail? Or the car design itself is weak? Or the vest locks aren't strong enough? AFAIK, the restraints just consist of lap bar locks and then vest locks.
BBH wrote:It's been widely reported that the Wing Coaster restraints can't handle all of the high-G maneuvers on Gatekeeper, so I wouldn't take chances with them on a Batman clone until they get fixed, especially since we're keeping the new chassis.
What do you mean exactly? Like the locking mechs are too frail? Or the car design itself is weak? Or the vest locks aren't strong enough? AFAIK, the restraints just consist of lap bar locks and then vest locks.
The vests are retracting and stapling riders mid-ride because of the forces, and they also ride very rough, especially on the outside-keyhole zero-G roll. Imagine that on a Batman clone... yeah, no.
"Remove this man before I commit an act of violence against him." -Ron Swanson
Ok, I guess I didn't notice much roughness from Gatekeeper, but that was 2 months ago. I've suspected that most of the roughness from the wing coasters is simply from the cantilever design. There's not a whole lot you can do, because you need balanced wings, and any vibrations are going to amplify on the ends. (and therefore, since inverts are not cantilevered, some of the issue is instantly gone)
BBH wrote:The vests are retracting and stapling riders mid-ride because of the forces. Imagine that on a Batman clone... yeah, no.
OK, I see what you're saying and it's finally starting to make some sense to me. The forces are pushing people even further into their seat, or compressing their body, and the restraints retract to become tighter around them accordingly. Then, when the ride comes to rest and people return to their usual volume and position, the restraint doesn't allow them to and the feeling is really tight. A-ha. My girlfriend even felt uncomfortable after her first ride last night and maybe that's why.
One of the things I've noticed with X-Flight is I generally don't have this problem, but I also tend to sit a little forward in the seat when I get on, particularly in my shoulders. As a result, I feel like things are kind of snug at the end of the ride, but not too bad. I might recommend this to others as something that might help.
As for roughness on X-Flight ... really? I think it's still very smooth. Maybe it depends on where you're sitting. We tend to like the middle rows on the left side and I tend to sit on the outside. Seems fine over there.
BBH wrote:The vests are retracting and stapling riders mid-ride because of the forces. Imagine that on a Batman clone... yeah, no.
OK, I see what you're saying and it's finally starting to make some sense to me. The forces are pushing people even further into their seat, or compressing their body, and the restraints retract to become tighter around them accordingly. Then, when the ride comes to rest and people return to their usual volume and position, the restraint doesn't allow them to and the feeling is really tight. A-ha. My girlfriend even felt uncomfortable after her first ride last night and maybe that's why.
One of the things I've noticed with X-Flight is I generally don't have this problem, but I also tend to sit a little forward in the seat when I get on, particularly in my shoulders. As a result, I feel like things are kind of snug at the end of the ride, but not too bad. I might recommend this to others as something that might help.
As for roughness on X-Flight ... really? I think it's still very smooth. Maybe it depends on where you're sitting. We tend to like the middle rows on the left side and I tend to sit on the outside. Seems fine over there.
X Flight isn't really rough but it just vibrates alot
So for years now they have only been putting the wheel covers on 1 of the 2 trains, and now this year neither of the trains have them on. Just sitting in a pile of dust to the left of the transfer brakes. Why is this? My thought is typical SF laziness and lack of care for theming. It seems each year a little more gets left off things and forgotten about because its "easier" to just let it be. Perhaps someone knows of a different reason for the wheel covers, but it seems lazy/not caring is the most logical answer at this point.
Someone brought it up at a TPR event a few years ago, and maintenance said leaving the covers off made the ride smoother and faster. I can't say I notice a difference between the ride with and without covers..but that's the reason they're going with.
I have no idea why they didn't switch the chassis back (among many other things about the conversion that have me thoroughly confused).
. I wonder if those new seats will also be in future B&M inverts and not just in Banshee.
