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Airtime at UK Parks


ben199

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Airtime for me is my favourite part of a coaster but here in the UK we're definitely missing a pure airtime machine. However there's a few nice negative G moments sprinkled across the coasters we have.







The camelback on Speed definitely takes the crown for me, it's not particularly sustained but what there is is pure ejector.







Honourable mentions go to the second speed hill on Smiler, the camelback on Saw and the drop after the first turnaround on Megafobia in the back seat.







What do you guys think?

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Yeah the UK does lack a good airtime filled ride.

Its quite sad TBH that some of our best airtime is from gerstlauer..

Something like Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom would be nice, there not very tall, there cheap, and they seem to be airtime machines!

But at least it looks like SW8 has a airtime filled layout..

 

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Totally forgot about that bit after the MCBR on Saw, always catches me off-guard! Something like Lightning Run would be amazing and would probably go down well with the public. Unfortunately the only way I can see a Merlin park getting an airtime machine is if it's a hyper they can market as the tallest in the country which won't happen anytime soon and I can't see parks like Drayton investing in a new coaster in the next few years. At least you can fly to Sweden for 15 quid...



Edit: Or wait two years until that Mack Mega happens :D
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4 hours ago, Equoaster said:

One day, us enthusiasts will be the people running the theme park industry in the UK.

 

One day, we'll get all the airtime we could possibly imagine.

 

To save time, I'll just go to the countries that have air-time rollercoasters. Better to be realistic then to chase dreams that won't come true. :hi:

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4 hours ago, Equoaster said:

Well if you think about it, the theme parks today are being run by people who were probably enthusiast when growing up so technically our theme parks are run by enthusiasts.

 

Not necessarily.  The UK theme park industry only really got into swing in the early 90s, so UK theme park enthusiasm really only started in the mid-to-late 90s.  Very few people would be "enthusiasts" in the way we're talking, then move onto being park management.  

 

Of course, the people who run many of the theme parks do enjoy theme parks and are enthusiastic about them, but there's a different between being enthusiastic, and being an enthusiast. 

 

2 hours ago, ChessingtonSam said:

And Nick Varney. 

 

Seems a bit of a needless dig at him when he's the one who's openly agreed with many enthusiast comments (love of woodies being a notable one), and was also one of the (marketing?) driving forces behind Nemesis, an enthusiasts dream ride...

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10 minutes ago, BaronC. said:

 

Seems a bit of a needless dig at him when he's the one who's openly agreed with many enthusiast comments (love of woodies being a notable one), and was also one of the (marketing?) driving forces behind Nemesis, an enthusiasts dream ride...

Believe me, I respect Varney, especially after that Burley interview, but he really doesn't strike me as an enthusiast (or former enthusiast), more of a businessman who wants to make money, and just happened to end up in the theme park industry.

 

EDIT: Nobody at Merlin really strikes me as an enthusiast apart from some of the park staff who obviously some of them are.

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