MAURER FLYING LAUNCH COASTER

Stop in the station or roar straight through for another round and

double the ride from 500 meters to 1000 meters

But don‘t worry! Our marriage reduces costs by sharing the brake and the launch with an enviromentally friendly low cost power system.

MAURER‘S NEW LSM SYSTEM MARRIES THE LAUNCH AND THE MAGNETIC BRAKE

www.maurer-soehne.com

to the station by drive wheels. To summa-rize, there are three motion elements that need to be taken into consideration in the planning, construction and operation of a roller coaster with regard to the station: Launch, brake and drive wheels.

All in one: the Flying Launch principle

The new Flying Launch handles all three elements simultaneously and integrates the launch, brake and drive wheels in one system. Once the passengers have gotten on board, the car is accelerated straight from a standstill position, and on its return there is no braking phase just before the station. Instead, the car shoots through the station from its residual energy and is braked electrically in the launch section by switching the electrical currents polar-ity thus changing the launch into a mag-netic brake. The braking energy is stored temporarily and then reused for the next launch. The car comes to a standstill in the drive section and is quickly transported to the station. Then the classic “changing of the guests” takes place.This concept offers a whole series of development possibilities, from various points of view: •  More fun from the very first second of the ride with the launch at the start.

The “Flying Launch” principle was first used at the Bayern-Park in Southern Bavaria: Including a spec-tacular start, gripping excitement up to the very last moment, differ-ent ride variations combined with the flying start while still maintain-ing a low energy cost, characterize this coaster. Additionally, it has other great innovations such as its illuminated wheels. But we won’t go into detail about that right now. The coaster innovators from Maurer Rides Munich are already planning the next ride with a Flying Launch, for example, in the Ningbo Park in China. But what exactly does the Flying Launch mean? What added value does the principle really of-fer to amusement park operators?

Let us first take a look at the classic motion sequence during a catapult launch, so that we can see the potential of the novel Flying Launch: The passengers get into the coaster at the station. The car is trans-ported out of the station by electrical fric-tion wheel drive units and accelerated up to the desired speed by a launch shot. At the end of the journey and just before the station, it shoots into the braking sec-tion and is slowed down being returned

•  More attractions can be included into the layouts, hence, they can be designed to be more exciting. This is too vague? What does this mean?•  The “flying through the station” makes different ride variations possible by either stopping in the station or continuing the ride •  Innovative  technologies  make  a  pos-itive contribution to the ecological and economic balance by recycling some of the braking power into the next launch.

More fun for the guests: from the very first to the very last second

The most important target group in the park is, of course, the guests – and here the Flying Launch scores a number of “higher points” from the very first second. Since the launch stators are installed right at the station, there is no gradual start-ing up and gentle station exit. The roller coaster experience begins at once with a start like that of a Formula 1 race car, a bullet being fired or being beamed into another world. The riding experience can be sa-voured right up to the very last second because there is no braking before the station. A highlight at the end, a big finale that is like a last minute sprint

3 IN 1

Launch cOaSter XL 2000custom Designed / Bayern Park

•One single LSM launch at the ride’s start•Acceleration through same LSM (no braking)       for a second round is possible•Regenerative braking energy is recovered  for the next launch

·Length:483m[1585ft]·Height:24m[79ft]·Runtime:55sec·Max.speed:80km/h[50 mph] ·Cars:1[2x6seats]·Capacity:600people per hour

FORCES IN MOTION

THE FLYING LAUNCH

the FLYInG Launch cOMBIneS three FunctIOnS In One IMaGInatIVe cOncePt WIth enOrMOuS POtentIaL FOr creatIVItY anD SaVInGS

Brake ManOeuVreLSM Launch & Brake

ENERGY RECOVERY

to the end, the last big bang as in a fire-works display leaves the guests breath- less when they arrive back at the station. And more than that: The guests are sur-prised as they pass through the station to what might be considered “late brak-ing“ by returning into the launch sec-tion. This “late braking“ lengthens the ride’s adventure. Even the entry  into  the station becomes an experience: by trav-elling backwards, something that is oth-erwise rare on roller coasters. The roller coaster ride remains interesting right up to the last moment instead of the lei-surely cool-down phase that is part of more  conventional  roller  coasters.  More action and interaction is provided by the headchopper element when shoot-ing through the station. A Flying Launch can be braked after the station, but need not be. Quite simply, what it means for the guests is this: There is a second round over the entire track without any stop-ping in between. This provides many

times the riding excitement relative to the track length. It goes without saying that Maurer Rides provides the Flying Launch coaster with the multiple award-winning X-Seat, meaning: There are no interfer-ing shoulder restraints to get in the way during inversions and negative g forces allowing for more freedom and fun.

Space-saving layouts or more high-lights on the same track

The design advantages for roller coasters with Flying Launch can be seen at once. If there is no separate braking section, then there is more space for special elements – or to look at it from another point of view: Even if space is limited, it is still possible to design tracks with compact and inter-esting layouts: The “shooting through the station” that is possible at any time, dou-bles the track length as well: For exam-ple, 1000 m of riding pleasure for a track length of 500 m – the ride experience

was not possible up till now. On top of that, these short tracks can be designed with high speeds, since the excess energy does not need to be dis-sipated through external brakes but instead is recycled in the launch section. The same technical approach “recover-ing energy” can be applied to high track elements with a short track length: High track elements are attractive for the guests (view, sheer adrenaline) and serve as an advertisement for the park by being a landmark. This now means that even parks that are short of space can build such a highlight. The Flying Launch opens up the possi-bility of building attractive steep sections directly before or after the station: Thus, the launch can shoot into a camelback immediatlely or let the car “drop” into the station at the end. The camelback imme-diately after the start also means that the reverse-downwards entry into the station is even more exciting for the riders.

Ecological and economic arguments

Last but not least, the Flying Launch prin-ciple offers a whole series of economic and ecological advantages. The track is more cost-effective, since the transport drives in the station and the station brakes can be eliminated and hence the regular maintenance of the brake pads and friction wheel drive units that are subject to wear. In addition, the maintenance costs are reduced, since the remaining launch element also functions without any wear. The markedly lower amount of time and money required for maintenance also means less downtime,

fewer staff is required, fewer materials are used and the system lasts longer. A technical benefit with multiple uses is the recovery of the braking energy through a generator. The energy that has been recovered can be stored temporar-ily and without any losses in the Super-caps and used again at the next start. This means: Only a low electrical capac-ity is required for the launch shot when it comes to the electrical connection to the local power plant. This greatly reduces the costs, because smaller transformers and distributor stations are perfectly ade-quate and because the lower current con-sumption peaks reduce electricity costs.The central data point for the profitabil-ity of the amusement park is the capacity. A roller coaster with Flying Launch allows high capacities of up to 1000 pph. Since the ride is intensely dynamic from the first to the last second, there are no longer any lengthy transport sections in and out of the station that reduces capacity. With a Flying Launch coaster, the sec-tion that is travelled is longer than with a classical layout because the launch area is  travelled  through  twice  (at  the begin-ning and at the end). There are potentials for saving by designing a smaller launch and bringing the car up to the final speed by building up accelerations. A shorter launch provides more freedom in design-ing the layout and entails lower costs. And lastly, the safety aspect should not be forgotten either: The Flying Launch guarantees a high degree of safety due to the almost wear-free short-circuit braking in the unlikely event of a failed launch.

Station

LaunchBrake

conventional coasters

FORCES IN MOTION

Station

Green coasterVisit us:IAAPA Attractions Expo13 - 16 November 2012Orlando, Orange county convention center - Booth no. 4806