I’ve tried creating virtual models several times using the help of friends who are proficient in different 3D software systems. Unfortunately by its nature the CRC has some complex interdependent kinetic relationships that make it difficult (and therefore expensive!) to model. Previous attempts have utilized 3D Studio, Maya, and other software platforms, none of which have yielded a really useful model containing the interdependent characteristics that the system requires. The funny part is that every time someone has started to try and model it, they’ve insisted at the start that they’d be able to pull it off, and that they understood everything about the mechanical nature of the CRC system. Instead, each time they ended up tired and frustrated realizing that the system was much more complex than they’d expected, and that the chosen program was inadequate to do the job.

My current job is that of a CAD engineer so I decided that CATIA and I were up to the challenge.

Keep in mind that this design was based on some of the original patent illustrations which are more than ten years old. The concept has undergone design changes since then to improve performance and make it easier to manufacture. I will incorporate these improvements on future versions of the model. The next step is to simulate the model. Stay tuned!

Superman: Ultimate Flight

People are still filing into the park, even by mid-afternoon!

The parking lot wasn’t very full.

Chang would have stood here. Now, who knows what will become of this land.

Hurricane Harbor is always crowded!

“Hey, don’t forget about me!” says viper.

Whizzer is down there somewhere – it blends in well with its surroundings.

Here’s a good chunk of the park, including Vertical Velocity and Batman: The Ride.

Batman’s second half.

Vertical Velocity says, “Yeah I run this town.”

Giant Box – The Ride.

Hey, I see a Whizzer train! Where’s my cookie?

This is the Yukon Territory area of the park.

A Batman train returning to the Batcave.

Taking flight.

Thanks for reading!

Click here to read Part 1 of this trip report.

I feel like I should say “Rest In Peace Would-Be Chang.” But that would sound dumb.

In other news, Revolution (The Ride) has reopened!

You didn’t believe me, did you?

Only Blue Side was running on American Eagle.

Hmmm… This looks familiar!

Sprocket Rockets – a great starter coaster for the little ones.

Camp Cartoon!

Scooby Doo is still relevant, right?

No thanks.

You can’t say Shapiro didn’t try.

Condor, descending back to Earth.

I got another ride on Raging Bull. This time I slid my camera into my pocket rather than paying $1 for a locker. No rules broken there!

The sun slowly began to shine through the clouds.

I feel for you, Demon.

This makes me smile. But lay off the yellow, Six Flags!

Because it has the park logo on it.

Stay strong, Whizzer.

Great America is definitely one of the more visually appealing Six Flags parks out there.

See ya later!

A Superman: Ultimate Flight departs, as do I.

Click here to read Part 1 of this trip report.

I see a new coat of paint on the Sky Trek Tower. My how things can change in less than a year. Personally, I prefer the old color scheme!

I decided to buy a season pass because I’ll be returning to this park a couple more times before I head back to Memphis and I’ll hopefully be visiting a couple other Six Flags parks  before this season ends. $74.99 is a steal!

Onto my first stop, Raging Bull!

Well, if I can see it, I must be close!

I decided to put my stuff in a locker ($1? I prefer SeaWorld’s $0.25!), so there will be a lack of Raging Bull photos until later in the day!

I’ll see you tomorrow, Viper.

Giant Drop, being giant.

I miss the Time Warner era of Six Flags!

I wandered around to try and grab some different photos so this would not be a repeat of last year’s trip report.

Demon will always have the best tunnel. Who could resist those lights?

I call this the fail car, no, not because of the hideous train wraps, but because it doesn’t quite make it onto the brake run.

Apparently this ride was an epic fail. I thought no one was riding it because of the weather. It was so successful at Dollywood – why not here?

I never saw much activity around Magiquest.

Kudos to Six Flags for saving this little piece of history.

There are several interesting signs to read as you wait in line.

More history signage.

I wish Libertyland had been given the same honor after it closed.

The ride is very fun, especially for the little ones in your group.

Required nerd shot.

The Little Dipper queue gives you plenty of Batman photo opportunities.

This will be one of many questions I ask to die-hard Great America fans. Was this area used for something at one time? It looks as if it could have been an outdoor seating area.

In a matter of seconds, the park was overtaken by a downpour of rain. Most rides closed, except the Whirliwhatever.

Everyone darted to shelter, leaving the rest of the park rather empty.

Thankfully the rain passed within an hour, and the rides resumed operation. Question #2: Is this signage new?

With the uncertainty of the weather, I figured I better get a ride on Batman. After recreating the coaster on RCT3, I thought I should see how well I did.

I’m glad Six Flags have kept simple effects in place, such as the “smoking” police car.

My head usually can’t tolerate more than one ride on Batman, but it truly is a great ride.

Although I love the yellow/dark purple color scheme, I would love to see the coaster return to its original all-black scheme one day in the future.

And unlike Iron Wolf, this B&M original has maintained its smoothness.

Speaking of Iron Wolf…

I want to love this ride. I really do. It has a great layout. But any ride that leaves young children (and myself) crying in pain at the end should be put out of its (and its riders) misery.

Perhaps this ride can be “Texas Giant-ized” in the future. Obviously in a different way, though.

Question #3: Has the Yankee Harbor received a paint job? It jumped out at me. Either way, it looks nice!

Click here to read Part 2 of this trip report!

Kings Dominion was a really nice park. Lots of trees, good rides, easy to keep busy at. There’s a lot of Paramount niceness scattered around the park, including some solid theming. I really enjoyed my time there.

Dominator was first because Kings Dominion opens it 30 minutes before park opening! And it still doesn’t get a line!

It’s an okay ride. Other than Medusa West I’m really not a fan of floorless coasters; they show B&M’s boring side the most.

Other than the fact that it actually does have a somewhat interesting layout, nothing stands out.

These freakin’ cobra rolls, man!

And then to i305 at opening! I could’ve gone 10 minutes early with my Platinum Pass, but I decided it would be much more fun to go with the general public and observe how they think and what they do.

So what do I think of i305?

It’s kind of a confusing ride. There’s a lot that I liked about it and a lot that I felt ruined the ride.

The lift is fast, and the drop is disappointing. I did like it though, the height helped take your mind off the trims. The turn was intense. I didn’t black out in the front but lost vision in the back; farther back you sit, more intense it is. The hill is very… “Aight, I’m on a hill… Now what?”

You really had to focus on the track and move yourself during the twists or else you’d get neck-chopped. They weren’t as enjoyable as they should have been, but it’s good to hear that the new restraints improve that. Unfortunately I missed those by a couple of days…

While all of the twists could hurt, I still found them pretty awesome (I know I don’t make sense). The speed taken during them is just incredible. One thing I love about this coaster is how different and unique the layout is. It never gets old, and I kept coming back to the ride, which overall means it’s a winner to me. I got eight rides total, never having to wait more than 5 minutes unless I went for the front (which I did twice; worth it!). Overall, I rank the ride towards the bottom of my top 10.

Anaconda hurts. Good drop… but ow.

Twisty Arrow goodness!

Cedar Fair trains!

I will never look at log flumes the same again.

Oh hi, Dominator.

Grizzly is a mini-Beast. Rough at night and awesome at night!

I spot five coasters.

Intimidator 305 looks pretty intimidating.

After pizza at Victoria’s I got Shockwave out of the way.

What did I do to you?

Drop Tower. Awesome. A highlight of the day. SoCal needs one.

Volcano is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this coaster!

The first launch catches you by surprise. The second launch and roll out of the mountain is amazing.

The rolls are fun.

Boo Blasters was a great dark ride.

These are the best kiddie coasters ever.

Dominator at Sunset

Sexiness is abound.

Ricochet…

…has a drop!

Hurler is that really rough coaster that you just laugh on. It’s okay, but it sucks. Right?

I got so many of these side view ferris wheel pics. They just try to be so cool.

Good night, Volcano!

Thanks for reading!

This aren’t the best quality but here are a few pictures form Kennywood after the debut of Sky Rocket. If you’re into old and nostalgic rides Kennywood is the place for you. It’s a good ole’ classic amusement park!

Good morning, California Sun. (Note: I cheated here. California’s a cloudy mess all morning, so I grabbed this one in the afternoon. Shneaky, shneaky.)

First ride of the day: Xcelerator! Quite a good coaster, even if it is over much too soon. But many claps for Intamin for the hydraulic launch – it’s the best one out there!

Oooh. The artsiest you’ll ever see a picture from me might just be right here. Also, I cheated again. Xcelerator is way faded, so these pictures are totally edited to make the ride look plenty better.

They were repainting the lower supports when I was there, though, so that’s a good sign! Also, this picture makes me feel like I’m looking between some lady’s legs. Children, shield your eyes. Or grab your cameras.

Anyways, Xcelerator was a great start to the morning – 70+ miles per hour is a good wake-up call!

And now, something much less enjoyable. Boomerang!

This Boomerang had to be the slowest I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe how long it took to get up the lift each time, and how slow the line moved as a result. Ridiculous.

But it was a credit, nonetheless, and so I suppose it was worth the wait! Psych.

Supreme Scream. I couldn’t get myself to ride this one alone, as my mom hates drop towers with a passion, and it’s a shame since I just got myself on Drop Zone at Kings Dominion last week and loved it. So be it.

Perilous Plunge was down for most of the day. I saw, at most, five boats cycle all day, and probably only three of them had people in them. Shame.

It’s crazy how much water this thing just dumps out down the drop, really. Little children in Africa are crying and drinking their tears, and Perilous Plunge is just dropping water left and right. Niiice.

Now on to the sleeper hit of the day: Pony Express! This ride was fantastically fun, so much so that it was the ride we rode most all day!

It’s unbelievably sad how short this thing is, though. By the time it’s really started up, it’s already coming to an end. But for what it is, it’s a great, fun, family-friendly thrill!

My mother spent her rides screaming, “I’m a cowgirl!” There’s a picture to prove it sitting next to me, too. I guess I’ll have to scan that in. Be excited.

This is the part where the ride gets fun, twisting left, then right through this nice little tunnel that makes everyone scream. But after this, it’s over.

Lame rapids. Nothing like the Cedar Point ones, or the Paramount Parks’, or what I hear of Dorney’s. Not sure why, but these ones just don’t do anything.

One last shot of Pony Express. My favorite part is when a train pulls back into the station and the back-pad lifts off each rider. There’s this mass simultaneous sigh of relief, and it makes me laugh every time!

Sidetrack: This log flume (named Log Ride – oh, the creativity) was ridiculous. I cut myself on the boat because of the turn after the indoor drop, and, quite frankly, I’m not sure how the old couple before us didn’t have a heart attack!

Now over to the Mexican area of the park, where I think every single SoCal Hispanic might have spent their entire day. I think this area counted as a culture credit, really.

Jaguar was an enjoyable ride – and a pretty long one, at that. Plus, I’m a sucker for these rides with the crazy-long trains, they’re just so funny to watch! And the back seat’s always a fun ride.

This area of the park was certainly disappointing as far as aesthetics go, however. I’m not sure who decided that four of the park’s seven big coasters needed to be crammed into this little spot, but they did.

Regardless, it at least had plenty to do! Montezooma’s Revenge (which, for the record, I don’t think that’s how you spell Montezuma…) was my first Schwarzkopf shuttle loop, and it was a lot of fun!

Of course, it would have been more fun had I been able to wear my damn glasses. But so is the life of the blind.

Launching! The flywheel launch was pretty good – better than I expected, I think! And Schwarzkopf sure did know how to design a loop…

My favorite part might have been how close the train seemed to get to the top of the forward spike. Obviously, it does the same on the back one, but it was great to see the end of the track getting closer and closer!

Almost done with our circle of the park, it’s time for Sierra Sidewinder!

I had never been on a spinning coaster, minus the spinning mice (like Primeval Whirl), and this was a nice little introduction to the genre!

This was another of Knott’s unfortunately-short-but-quite-fun rides. But the height, length, and concept was perfect for the family-friendly area that the ride’s situated in. Definitely good for all ages!

It’s like the Xcelerator-overbank picture all over again! This park likes overbanks, so it seems.

Clicked for this one a second too late, but it’s not too bad. All in all, Sierra Sidewinder is a great ride. I wish it was longer, but just like Pony Express, it’s a lot of fun for what it is. Definitely a theme of Knott’s.

Now for the last ride of the day: Silver Bullet! I don’t know why people hate on this ride so much, it was a pretty decent invert!

Quick note: I hate getting stopped by trains. Buuut now I can finally say that I have a two-trains-in-one picture, so I suppose it was worth it!

Anyways, Silver Bullet was pretty good! Sure, the first drop was crazy-drawn-out, but I can see why it was necessary with the rides underneath it. And so be it! The layout was fantastic!

The corkscrew-turn-corkscrew sequence has actually been in my head for a really long time. So I’d like to believe that I’m up there with Walter and Claude and Mr. Stengel. In my head, at least.

And I digress. Here’s a little look back at the mid-section of the park, with Pony Express and the pay-per-ride, super-short Screamin’ Swing. Yet another short ride at Knott’s!

Here’s a nice shot of the sky, plus some track. I genuinely wish that B&M would do more overbanks like this one. It might have been my favorite part of the ride, it’s just a unique, floaty feeling that’s pretty cool!

An open ride and a closed ride. Which sucks, since I’ve now been on 149 coasters. Thanks, GhostRider, for killing that milestone.

But anyways, some more Silver Bullet. It’s quite the photogenic ride, and I enjoyed it a lot! Go Knott’s for having a not-too-short ride in their collection!

Also, I love the multi-colored trains. Why don’t more rides do this? These train colors cancel out the ugly, all-red-for-no-purpose lift hill of the ride they run on. I’d like to see them elsewhere!

Aaand we’ll end this update with a moment of silence for Tyler’s Coaster Count. Next stop: Universal Studios Hollywood!

After riding the coaster in every row we got a chance to get up close and personal with the ride by entering the restricted areas. We took this opportunity to sit on the track and take pictures. Afterwards, we were served a delicious lunch. It was a little disconcerting to see that as soon as we were done riding the maintenance crew showed up and started torquing some of the bolts on the supports. Final preparations had to be made before the official opening on Tuesday.

Sky Rocket packs a lot of action into a small footprint, the area of the park formerly occupied by the Turnpike car ride. The coaster stands 95 feet tall and was designed right here in America by Premier. This was Premier’s first LSM (linear synchronous motor) launched ride (their previous launched coasters used LIMs). This gets the two-car train blasting up to 50 mph in under two seconds. From there it is straight up and into the sky.

The open sided trains are very comfortable and the lack of over the shoulder restraints means freedom for your upper body and no head banging. However, I wouldn’t recommend sitting in the last rows of each train. The shin guard part of the restraints (which I am not sure why they are necessary) push your feet back so your knees are bent with your feet behind your knees. In the first two rows of each car there is plenty of room but in the last row the wheel wells limit the amount of space you have, especially for the taller riders.

The biggest surprise of the ride for me were the inversions. Normally, inversions on roller coaster don’t really do it for me; they don’t excite me. Naturally, when I first saw Sky Rocket’s inversions I thought, “Eh”. Well, let me tell you, Sky Rocket’s inversions are designed perfectly. You actually get airtime while you are upside down, even in the corkscrew element. Most rides you get pushed back and are pinned into your seat while you go upside down but on Sky Rocket you are suspended perfectly in midair. It’s a really cool sensation.

The other elements I was skeptical about were the holding brakes on the top hat and in the middle of the course. The placement of the brakes looked as if it would prohibit any airtime and kill the pacing. After riding Sky Rocket my opinion is now just the opposite; the holding brakes actually enhance the ride experience and don’t hurt the pacing at all. You also get quite different experiences going over into the ninety-degree drops depending on which row you sit in. Sitting in the front gives you a good long time to stare at straight down at the ground and sitting towards the back makes you go flying over the edge and out of your seat.

While it may not be the tallest, fastest, or most intense ride around, Sky Rocket is a ton of fun. It’s a great addition and a perfect fit for Kennywood. I believe the ride will satisfy a wide range of riders: young and old, the most experienced coaster addict and the beginner will all love it. This is a ride you can do over and over again without any problems.  It’s easily the best ride in the park (yes, it’s better than Phantom’s Revenge, and that’s saying a lot).  Sky Rocket officially opens to the public on Tuesday, June 29th and I would expect it to quickly become the most popular ride in the park.

Coaster101 would like to thank Jeff and Kennywood for inviting us to experience Sky Rocket and for putting on a wonderful media day event. Now go ride it for yourself!

Stay tuned for more coverage from Kennywood including:

-video of Sky Rocket in action
-trip report, pictures and video of the other amazing attractions at Kennywood

Updated: new video and pictures here

Alright, let’s just get this out of the way now: I love X2. I’ve never found myself legitimately scared and/or confused on a roller coaster until now. Ever.

Basically, it’s just a lot happening to your body all at once. You hit your head a few times on the pads behind you, which probably just adds to the delirium and wonder which is this fantastic roller coaster.

Ignoring Viper, because it’s really quite ignorable, let’s skip to the park’s other superstar, Tatsu! My mother hates prolonged positive G’s, but hot damn, that pretzel loop is ridiculously fantastic.

And another shot of it, because it makes me happy. Really happy. It’s just a fantastic ride. Floaty first half, whippy second half, plus that pretzel-loop-straight-out-of-heaven. God’s favorite element is the pretzel loop, definitely.

We ended up not getting on the rapids. Shame. But we did get on Tatsu, which makes up for it quite well!

Oh, one more superstar here: Terminator! Cute lil’ Termie, all deceivingly small. Oh, but you have a crazy ride in store, don’t you? Yes you do! You’re just a little out-of-control monster!

Deja Vu is fun and all, yeah, but Terminator is just fantastic. No time to breathe from half a second off the chain to the brakes at the end. And with how wet I got from the misters, I’d call it an Aquatrax, no doubt.

Everybody say hey to the sun, I guess. Or bye, I’d really prefer that it wasn’t chillin’ in my picture here. Rude.

Riddler’s Revenge was fun, minus the part on our first ride where one of my lil’ fellas got a little squished. But, secretly, I love B&M stand-ups. And dive loops. And this ride has two of those.

I’ll go ahead and claim that this little colored-lighting thing going on was totally on purpose. I think it symbolizes the light from Batman and the evil from the Riddler ready to scrap. Maybe.

Quick note: It seems silly to me that you have to circle around and cross a bridge just to get to X2. Is there a particular reason for that layout? Seems to me like some stairs to the left would have done the job.

I’m rapidly running out of captions, so I’ll give a little explanation as to why half of them are probably bad. I write these things when I’m tired. End of story.

Arrow corner. One ride is photogenic but sucks, and the other is hard to photograph but rocks my socks off. Take a wild guess as to which is which.

Aaand now let’s play that zoom game again to close this thing out. Zoomed all the way in! Colossus doesn’t look so colossus now, does it?

Zoomed a little out, givin’ Superman some lovin’ like Lois Lane on a hot, humid summer day in Maryland!

Zoomed all the way out to show an area of the park with lots of coasters that aren’t really very special. Minus Tatsu. Next stop: Knott’s Berry Farm!