[HOLY S**T!] A Roller Coaster That'll Leave You Weightless for Eight Long Seconds

[TheKza]

Kingda Ka, the tallest roller coaster on Earth, drops its passengers a life-flashing 418 feet. Ferrari World’s Formula Rossa, the fastest, literally takes riders’ breath away at speeds of up to 150 mph. Though thrilling, these are phenomena of degree, not kind. BRC Imagination Arts, a Southern California design firm, has proposed something entirely new: a ride that creates the sensation of zero gravity for up to eight seconds at a time.

BRC drew its concept from the “Vomit Comet,” the plane NASA uses to train astronauts. The KC-135A aircraft flies a looping parabolic path, creating about 25 seconds of microgravity each time it zips up and over the parabola’s camelback hump. BRC’s proposed theme-park ride would travel a somewhat simpler trajectory—up and then back down a soaring steel edifice, similar to the existing “Superman: Escape from Krypton” coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California. But unlike Superman and other open-car coasters, the vomit-comet ride would be fully enclosed. Rather than the thrill of hurtling forward to one’s perceived doom, riders would enjoy the illusion of floating within a stable chamber...



http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2...roller-coaster

[Enayze]

I have rode kingda ka many times at six flags, but nothing beats the first experience.

[sigrab]

Man I wish I had a video of my wife the 1st and only time she rode Kingda Ka.

I thought she was going to pass out.

Her entire jaw, teeth, ears, shoulders, hair, eyelashes, you name it, they were all shaking even moments after the ride was already over.

I mean even now, years after, whenever I remind her of that experience her immediate and natural reaction is to punch me on the arm.