I get that they have connections that keep them on the track. I’m talking about insane ones that aren’t always consistent, like the Top Thrill Dragster or Kingda Ka. These huge roller coasters have very minimal instances of accidents, yet aren’t even consistent at getting over the apex (instances of rollback and having to try again). So my question is how are these made to be reliable and how are they maintained even when in use a lot?
In: Engineering
Top thrill dragster and kinda ka are prone to rollbacks because they only want to apply enough force to the train to *just barely* make it over the top. How much force that needs depends a lot on not only the weight of the passengers but also the weather. The ride’s computer calculates how much force is needed based on the last 3 launches.
You may notice that rollbacks often happen early morning, or after it’s been down for a while. And that’s because the weather can change quite a bit from the last time the ride launched, so using data from the last 3 launches is often either underpowered or overpowered. Rollbacks during normal operation are pretty damn rare.
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