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2018: Wicker Man - General Discussion - SPOILERS! - Part One

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Put it this way, you can tell which parts were designed by Wardley. I mean for an early run on new wheels I think it’s fine.
 
Rick said:
What compounds? Don't they all use steel wheels bar Wodan?
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I don't know either way. I know that the wheels on Wodan alter frequently. It would seem odd if this isn't the case for any other coaster manufactured by the company.
 
AstroDan said:
I don't know either way. I know that the wheels on Wodan alter frequently. It would seem odd if this isn't the case for any other coaster manufactured by the company.
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As far as I know, Wodan is the only GCI with polyurethane wheels/tyres. All others use traditional steel wheels - I think! Does Wicker Man use steel wheels or steel with a poly tyre?

invadr_viking_car.jpg
 
My first thought was “the f*** is this?”....
But then thought I’d look back at Smiler’s testing to compare speeds...

Here’s a video from our lord and savour...



Look at 1:58 - it got SO close to stalling on that fateful Staffordshire Knot inversion in testing.

I know the speed of a ride varies massively depending on all sorts of things, but I’ve never seen the Smiler that slow in all my visits.

Wickerman will definitely be quicker when it’s out of testing :) surely??
 
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This was posted on the Theme Park Review Wickerman thread:
It looks like they stopped the train on the lift a few times - they may be testing it completely under gravity (center of the train at the very top, and then let go at 0 mph) to make sure it can get through the circuit without valleying, before later letting it go over at the desired speed of the lift hill.
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That could be a valid testing procedure; for example, in operation, the train could come to a stop at the crest of the lift hill, then with minimum momentum it leaves the hill and completes the circuit. In normal operation it would have a fair bit more momentum as it leaves the lift hill so would be faster. It wasn't a full train that we saw either, so they could have been testing this in a worse case scenario - lift hill stop and half a train load.

I'm still confident this is going to be a great ride and really looking forward to riding it.
 
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To me, it’s clear why John Wardley wasn’t impressed with the profiling. Thank goodness he managed to alter the first drop. I’m sure it’ll speed up but Alton Towers deserve a much better wooden coaster than this. I’ll reserve full judgement until I’ve ridden it.
 
Haven't seen the video, not interested it in watching. If you've seen the site and the ride during construction, this was never going to be the fastest of rides. The smaller GCIs like Heidi & Joris hit 45mph or so and I recall that they seemed to be fairly efficient with their momentum for a wooden ride.

@Steve74 - that is a standard testing procedure, for the reasons you mentioned, but also to ascertain stopping locations on the lift for blocking/emergency reasons, too.
 
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