Do you think it's possible to use a tire-propelled launch system on TTD? It's much more reliable, and safer. TTD's current launch system broke down so much that I think now is the time to change it.

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DRAGON MOUNTAIN

I don't think so, because the tires at the beginning would burn out and constantly need to be replaced if the train gained that muchspeed so fast. It's like when you floor the gas pedal in a car, it doesn't grip right away and the tires get messed up. I highly doubt it would work.

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After rain it wouldn't be open then. unless you really wanna hear Tires squeek as the train tears down the runway slipping LOL!. REEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!EEERT!" LOL .Not that TTD opens much in massive rain but a light drizzle maybe.

It would be an interesting idea. but the runway would also have to be longer.. to gain the essential amount of speed required to clear the top of the hill. Hydralics are in for now though.

friction would play a massive role on that ride if thats what happened, even say on Nitro which is a ride I have operated during the 05 season, the trains move slowly into the station and the tired burn out , Batman also.. friction.

Looking on the positive side it would add to the authenticness of the ride lol See the dragster get to the starting line up launch area, then hearing the engine rev' then ERRT!! All the way down the run way, Put the petal to the metal! People would really feel like they were at the races then.

^It would have to go through a tunnel too, that way the rain couldn't get to the launch track.

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I don't think it would be any safer or more reliable. Think about all of the wear on the motors and tires. And what happens when one of those tires decides its had enough? Steel belted radial to your face, that's what.

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
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It is probably possible to propel tires to 120 mph and 128 mph for TTD and Kingda Ka, but in this case, it would be the longevity of the tires that would be the problem. The trains interacting with 120+ mph tires, could cause damage. Eventually the tires would burn out, shred, or simply go bald.

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I know how much my tires flex on the 0-100 runs of the 1/4 mile in my 1.5 ton car. I can't imagine the stress that would be put on the tires to propel the 5+ ton train to 120 in less than 500ft. Leave the engineering to the engineers, hydraulics are more reliable and cost-effective than "tire launch" could ever be.

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F CF

You would need a 140 meter launch track to even think about it, the acelleration g's would have to be below 1 or the tires would melt within a few runs. If the g's were very very low (0.6 or 0.7 like Superman's launch) then it would work, but it would still need a good bit of maitenence

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tires? im not sure thats even sure its an option the legnth of the track and the speed the tires have to be going to make a train that probably weighs 2-3 tons up a 400ft tower nope thats not an option.
^^^^^ just puting in my 2 cents

Tires won't launch TTD trains 120 MPH in less than 4 seconds. Honestly, the Hydraulic Launch is a reliabile sort of projecting items into speed. Take a look at aircraft carriers...they launch huge fighter jets into the air in less than 2 seconds...and those things need to be working constantly.

It isn't reliable in the coaster world (At least I don't think so) but I feel that all Intamin Launch devices have their huge drawbacks. LIMs, LSMs, Hydraulic Launch...etc.

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Thornton to Heatley all day, every day.

Dont aircraft carriers use steam for launching the jets?

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

^ The difference is Aircraft carriers have more than one catapult, 24hour maintenance crews, and don't have 2000 people waiting in line. TTDs operation is going quite well for the amount of work they're asking from it.

Yes they use steam, but the general design/operation is the same.

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Holy CoW! - another NoLimits project

RIP Geauga Lake 1888-2007
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Steam created by the nuclear reactor that is. The catapults have horrible reliability. Good thing each aircraft carrier has 4 of them.

A tire launch on TTD is impossible. It simply won't work. The launch on Incredible Hulk is more of a fast lift than a launch.

No, its not possible for those kinds of speed. The wear and tear on the tires would be to much as stated about and the motors could burn out.

If it were, you would need ALOT of room just to get it to those speeds.

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That's it the only way to go higher is to use an elevator lift like LOCOSUMO at IB. That way you can go as high as you want. 500,600, 2000, no problem... (sarcasim applied for those who didn't realise.)

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The motors won't burn out, but the tires will wear very quickly. That isn't the problem.

Tires cannot convey much force. Dragster cars have a very light weight and tires with compounds that get 1.6 for the coefficient of static friction. The side effect is that they last maybe 2 miles. Not only do reasonable tires have much less friction, the trains use a steel contact plate resulting in less force.

A tire launch can't even approch the capabilities of a LIM or LSM launch system. LIMs were considered inadequate in TTD's case to begin with.

The hydraulic launch is currently the only system that can launch a 15000 lb train in the space of 300'.

What about air powered?

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In our hearts, it will remain SROS forever.

Copyrighted. They could do it though with air. Dodonpa launches to less than 20 shy of TTD in less than half the time.

If you're talking about an S&S Thrust Air system then yes that would work. And would probably be more reliable.

[quote=Marc]Steam created by the nuclear reactor that is. The catapults have horrible reliability. Good thing each aircraft carrier has 4 of them.

A tire launch on TTD is impossible. It simply won't work. The launch on Incredible Hulk is more of a fast lift than a launch.[/quote]

I'm not sure, but I think he's talking about the kind of tire launch that Intamin put on their Galaxy Express 999 coaster. The tires are propelled by hydrolic motors. I'm pretty sure that this is the kind of tire launch he's talking about. This would be a whole lot more likely, but still not possible.

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"If you focus on your giants, you stumble. If you focus on God, your giants tumble."

S&S's pneumatic launch won't work. Their trains are much lighter than the Intamin trains. The launch itself is a very high acceleration but low power system. The hydraulic isn't quite as fast but it has a large amount of power.

The difference of the two systems is that the pneumatic launch uses around 10 bar and the hydraulic uses 320 bar. Pneumatic launches need to give a lot of kick initially or the launch will fail. Hydraulic is able to maintain most of the force throughout the launch. You can get away with that kick with a lighter train but not one that peaks over 15,000 lbs loaded.

It doesn't matter what type of drive is used, tires cannot launch a heavy train quickly. The reality is that tires can put out enough force to push trains around a station and if enough present push a train up a hill. The best case is Hulk's launch. That ride had to use very high normal force and two solid rows of tires to get 5-40 MPH in 2 seconds. Even fog machines were not possible because the tires slipped too much.

^ Tires work great for 3500lbs though. :) Only it takes me more than 3 seconds to get to 120.

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Holy CoW! - another NoLimits project

RIP Geauga Lake 1888-2007
F CF

Rubber on cement give you good static friction. On stainless steel dimond plating or bronze... not so much. Its actualy closer to driving on ice than cement.