One of the most popular, extreme and breathtaking rides is considered a roller coaster. This way of entertainment is not only the craziest, but also one of the most dangerous. Not one tragic incident is known to history, but this does not stop people - 2 minutes of fear, and life is a success!
History tour
The name of the roller coaster ride was fixed only in the territory of the CIS countries, abroad such entertainment is called the "Roller coaster". This name was created on the basis of associations associated with stingrays from ice slides in Russia. History is famous for an ice slide 25 meters high, built under Peter the Great. The roller coaster designer took note of this system, replacing the ice slopes with rails, and instead of the sled, he came up with special trailers. By the way, the first roller coasters were by no means made of metal, but of wood.
Now many argue who was the first to develop a closed-track mechanism. Someone believes that the first roller coaster appeared in Russia in 1784, others believe that in 1812 the roller coaster appeared in France. But officially such a design was developed and patented in 1884 in distant America.
Slide design
The world of roller coasters is huge and diverse. This is not only dizzying bends, but also water, underground slides, there are also roller coasters on foot, roller coasters for skaters and many other varieties. Progress always runs forward, and any attraction that has worked for more than five years is already considered obsolete. Therefore, slides are becoming more exciting, and construction technology - more advanced.
Roller coasters are mainly mounted from steel tubular structures, which are not only durable, but also allow you to make steep turns, dizzying descents and ascents, as well as give the attraction an intricate design. Today, the highest roller coaster reaches the line of 135 meters, and this bar is increasing every year!
To raise the cars in which people are sitting to a certain height, a chain or pneumatic-wheel drive is used in the design of the mentioned attraction.
Therefore, when lifting, slides crawl very slowly. Having reached the maximum height, the cars fly down at a crazy speed. Passengers feel a
free fall. Now the speed of some roller coasters exceeds 220 km / h.
Steel cars remained in the last century, today they are made of light titanium alloys, allowing you to make exciting trips upside down. On the wagons there are special wheels made of urethane, which allow the carts to gain incredible speeds.
Best roller coaster
- Kingda-Ka, or “The Machine of Fear,” which can be found in Six Flags Great Adventure Park (USA, New Jersey). This hill is considered the highest in the world (139 meters). She is a record holder not only in height but also in speed - 296 km / h. Most descents and ascents have an angle of 90 degrees. Therefore, for the impressionable, such an attraction is forbidden to visit.
- The “Tower of Fear”, or Tower of Terror, located in Australia, is slightly different from conventional roller coasters, because it is built in the form of the letter L. People are raised to a height of 115 meters and then the tower falls vertically down, leaving behind a feeling of free fall.
- Roller coaster on the water in Japan in CosmoWorld Park. The peculiarity of the attraction is that when they descend, the cars break into the underwater tunnel with incredible speed. The total time to overcome the track is almost 2 minutes.
- The Ultimate slide in foggy England offers a ride on the longest track in the world: you can overcome 2276 meters in just 5.36 minutes.
- The state of Ohio can offer extreme sports enthusiasts a wooden Beast roller coaster ("Beast"), where the speed of the wagons reaches 100 km / h.