The Slingshot Ride •• Some Blog Site

The Slingshot Ride

Jul

2014

When I visited Cedar Point in early June of 2014, I saw the Slingshot was under construction. When I saw the description, I figured since it is a reverse bungee jump, it would be made of bungee cords.

Nope.

Now I have seen it in action, and it does not use bungee cords. It uses steel cables and springs. Actually, I don’t know that they are steel, just that they are non-elastic.

In case you are curious as to the Slingshot, here’s a summary: one moment you are at ground level, and 3 seconds later you are 300 feet in the air. This GIF might help explain:

animated image video of the Slingshot ride at Cedar Point

A couple of observations:
1. You may notice the lady lost her shoes. If not, then watch the video and check. The ride may knock your socks off, but only figuratively. She took her shoes off before she got in the ride.
2. People with longer hair should tie it back or braid it or something.
3. That is a camera out in front of them. It is watching you the whole time. Not sure if it is for videos or still photos.

If you’re wondering “How does the Slingshot ride work?”, I’ll fill in some of the details that might not be evident from that video.

Let’s start with a diagram:

diagram of how Cedar Point's Slingshot ride works

First, the springs are at rest and the chair is locked into place.
Then, the lower plate of the springs is locked into place.
Then, the upper plate of the springs is drawn upwards.
Once it is at maximum height, fully stretching the springs, the upper plate is locked into place.
Then the chair is unlocked, the lower plate is unlocked, and all the springs start compressing. This pulls the lower plate upwards, which pulls the cables in, which propels the chair up.

The springs don’t move very far, but there are a lot of them. That wall of springs is more like a box – it is several springs deep too. I’m guessing there’s a pulley system to multiply the spring distance for the cable distance.

Summary: it is fun to watch, but I’m not getting on it.

For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And will cause them distress, That they may be found.”

Jeremiah 10:18