Can floater airtime truly be considered airtime?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. I was reading the most recent trip entry on Richard Bannister’s website (which is an excellent read by the way! I’d certainly recommend checking it out; he’s ridden nearly 3,000 coasters, so has a wealth of excellent reports to read from a wide variety of parks!) from Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and this paragraph in Bannister’s report caught my eye:

Instead I found my way to the original B&M hyper coaster. Apollo’s Chariot is now well into its twenty-third season, yet it continues to deliver a top-notch crowd-pleasing ride, if one that is perhaps a little sedate by modern standards. Most of the hills deliver gentle floating, with only one real pop of airtime immediately prior to the on-ride photo. Two trains were in use today, and the operators were keeping them moving; I was able to walk straight into a back seat with no wait. During my lap I found myself wondering what it would take to upgrade the overall intensity; could it be done with a few booster wheels, or would the hills need to be materially reshaped?

(Bannister’s full report can be found here: https://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2021/0829.htm)

The bolded sentence in particular really caught my attention, as the fact that he says about how there’s “only one real pop of airtime” on Apollo’s Chariot implies to me that he doesn’t feel that the floater airtime experienced on rides like the B&M Hyper Coasters can truly be considered airtime.

While I admit I could be misinterpreting or overthinking Bannister’s choice of words here, he certainly wouldn’t be the first enthusiast I’ve heard argue that floater isn’t airtime. Quite a few think it, and I’ve heard “floater isn’t airtime” uttered many a time by enthusiasts.

So with that in mind, my question to you today is; do you feel that floater airtime can truly be considered airtime? Or do you agree with Bannister and other enthusiasts in thinking that it isn’t truly airtime?

Personally, I disagree. I think floater airtime can definitely be considered airtime based on the coasters I’ve ridden, because to me, it feels like I’m getting removed from my seat in just the same way as I do on a coaster with ejector. Well, perhaps not exactly the same way, but I certainly feel like I’m leaving the seat and getting that negative g sensation whenever I experience moments of airtime described by others as “floater”, so it’s airtime in my book.

But what do you guys think?

 

[pluk]

If your bum leaves (or wants to leave in the case of over enthusiastic restraints) the seat you have airtime. I guess he is differentiating between negative g which achieves this and negative g which doesn't.

 

[MattyH]

Can I have a TL DR please

 

[Matt N]

Can I have a TL DR please

Of course you can!

TL;DR: Richard Bannister implied in his most recent trip report that the floater airtime on Apollo’s Chariot isn’t “real airtime”, so I was intrigued to know; do you agree? I personally disagree, as to me, it still offers that same negative g/lifting off the seat sensation.

Hope that helps!

 

[MattyH]

Cheers Matt.

Obviously Floater Airtime is still Airtime. The clues in the word airtime.

 

[Rick]

While I admit I could be misinterpreting or overthinking Bannister’s choice of words here

For my money, the latter.