Information AboutKingda Ka |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT KINGDA KA | |
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Kingda Ka is a Steel Roller Coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey . It is currently the Tallest and Fastest roller coaster in the world, claiming the title from Top Thrill Dragster in Cedar Point . It opened on May 20 , 2005 as part of a new area of the theme park called the Golden Kingdom, which also includes a new tiger exhibit, "Temple of the Tiger". THE RIDE After the Train has been locked and checked, it slowly advances out of the station to the launch area. Once the train is in position, the Hydraulic Launch Mechanism rockets the train from 0 to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds. At the end of the Launch Track , the train climbs the main tower, twisting 90 degrees to the right before reaching a height of 456 feet (139 m). The train then descends 418 feet (127 m) straight down in a 270-degree spiral, reaching 121 MPH at the bottom of the drop. Finally, the train climbs the second, 130 foot hill, producing a moment of weightlessness before being smoothly brought to a stop by the Magnetic Brakes . The ride lasts 28 seconds from the start of the launch to the end of the brake run. may occur]] It is possible (but rare) for a Train to Roll Back - to fail to reach the top of the tower - so Kingda Ka includes retractable brakes on its Launch Track that will bring a train rolling backwards down the tower safely to a stop. After a rollback occurs, the train will be brought back to the station where the riders have the choice of getting off or riding again. Many coaster enthusiasts look forward to being in a rollback, but many non-enthusiasts may not realize that this is completely safe, despite the presence of warning signs. Kingda Ka features two On-ride Camera s. One is placed shortly after the beginning of the launch, the other is at the end of the Brake Run , resulting in "before" and "after" photographs. Since both cameras are located on the right side of the track, riders intending to purchase their on-ride photo are advised to sit in the right-hand seat. It is hard to know exactly when Kingda Ka's launch will occur. Once the train is in position, a loud horn is heard, followed by the train rolling back slightly to engage the catch car, and the brakes on the launch track retracting. The launch will occur five seconds after the end of the horn blast. Kingda Ka's launch mechanism is capable of launching a train every 45 seconds, resulting in a capacity of 1400 guests per hour. STATION AND TRAINS Kingda Ka's station has two parallel station tracks with switch tracks at the entrance and exit. Each of the station's tracks accommodates two trains, so that each of the four trains has its own station. Each train only loads and unloads at its own station; it does not go to any others. During operation, the trains on one side are loaded while the trains on the other side are launched. This system works extremely efficiently as long as all four trains are running and there are no significant delays in loading and checking the trains. It also results in a very fast-moving Queue before the station, but a long wait inside the station, especially if waiting for the front row. An employee directs riders in line to go to a particular side of the station, but riders will then be able to choose the front or rear train. Two operators load, check and dispatch each train, and one launches the trains. Kingda Ka's trains seat 18 people, with two per row. The rear car has one row, while the rest have two. The rear row of each car is positioned higher than its front row for better visibility. The trains do not have official names, only numbers. However, employees of the ride have named them unofficially:
NOTE: Because these are unofficial names given by the ride operators, they may no longer apply because of ride operator turnover. The dark blue train (Blueberry Muffin) is currently out of service, awaiting new parts from Intamin. This was the train being launched when 2005's major malfunction (see below) occurred, and problems stemming from this malfunction were discovered in the train's off-season rehab. Kingda Ka's over-the-shoulder restraint system consists of a thick, rigid lap bar and two thin, flexible over-the-shoulder elements. Because the over-the-shoulder portions of the restraint are not rigid, the hand grips are mounted to the lap bar. This type of restraint feels like a lap bar restraint, while still providing the safety of a traditional over-the-shoulder restraint. These restraints use a Hydraulic locking system (rather than a Ratchet ) which allows them to be pulled down to any position; when "locked", they can move down to any position but not up. In contrast, a ratchet-based restraint only locks at each "notch", and will often be too loose or uncomfortably tight. Like those of most other coasters, Kingda Ka's restraints are also held down by a Belt in case the main locking system fails. In order to speed up loading, riders are asked to secure their own restraints if they are able to. Each of Kingda Ka's trains has a panel behind the last row of seats that covers an extra row of seat mounts. These panels could be removed for the installation of additional seats at some future time. This modification would increase the capacity of each train to from 18 to 20 guests and the hourly capacity of the coaster from 1400 to 1600 guests per hour. Kingda Ka's station is already set up for this modification, it has the entrance gates for the currently nonexistant row of seats. Top Thrill Dragster 's trains were similarly modified; each train originally had a theme engine in the rear, which was later replaced with a row of seats. (However, since Top Thrill Dragster's trains only have one row of seats in the front car, their capacity was 16 guests before the modification and 18 afterwards). While this modification has not yet been done, the trains were slightly modified for the 2006 season - the nose of each train got a new coat of paint, covering over the large "Kingda Ka" decal as well as the train numbers, and the non-padded portions of the restraints are now bare metal rather than painted orange. THE QUEUE AREA Kingda Ka's queue starts well before the actual entrance arch. The queue passes by an ice cream stand, then goes under the entrance arch. It then enters a long switchback area, where a DJ is sometimes present to entertain the guests in line. After the switchback area, the queue passes by the lockers and then into the station. At this point, an employee will direct guests to a particular side of the station. Each train's station has a separate line for the front row. Before 2005's major malfunction, Kingda Ka's queue area was much larger. It started at the main entrance arch, went under the launch track, split into seprate queues for each side of the station and traveled through a large, roofed switchback area. The current main entrance to the station was previously the "fastpass" entrance. KINGDA KA'S MAJOR MALFUNCTION On June 8 , 2005 , less than a month after its grand opening, a bolt failure caused the liner inside the trough that the launch cable travels through to come loose and create friction against the cable. The friction caused the train to not accelerate to the correct speed. The rubbing of the cable against the inside of the metal trough caused sparks and shards of metal to fly out from the bottom of the train. The engine, as it is designed, attempted to compensate by applying more force to the cable to attain the 128 mph (206 km/h) launch speed. The brake fins that rise up into the braking position go up on a timing pattern, independent of the launching mechanism. The fins are mounted in steel supports that are connected to actuators that raise and lower the fins into the desired position. There are four braking zones, and each zone has about 24 individual brake fins. The fins actually caught up to the launching train as the timing pattern of the rising fins was faster than the accelerating train. The magnetic brakes began to slow the train in the launch area, and the engine tried to compensate even more, and dragged the train through the brake zones. The catch car released, but the train was still in the brake zone and came to a complete stop at the bottom of the hill. This malfunction occurred during a test run; no passengers were aboard. Damage occurred to the launch cable (frayed and needed to be replaced), engine (minor routine damage to seals), and brake fins (many needed to be replaced). The brake fins in the launch section are mounted in such a way to keep fast moving trains from moving backwards into the station, but a fast moving train being pulled forwards caused an unexpected stress on a number of fins that bent them forward. Not all of the fins need to be replaced, but there were more damaged fins than Six Flags had replacements, and had to be special ordered from Intamin. In addition, Kingda Ka had to be re-inspected. Kingda Ka started testing on July 21 , 2005 . It reopened on August 4 , 2005 , with the Queue Area modified so that it no longer ran under the Launch Track . One story that circulates among Great Adventure employees is that, while it is true that the malfunction occurred during a test run, Kingda Ka was only one run away from being boarded by at least one passenger, a reviewer for About.com . Had the reviewer boarded the train, it is possible that he could have died. There is no evidence to back this up, but at the time of writing his article , the writer had no idea how close he had come to death or injury. INTERESTING FACTS .]]
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