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 Review of Top Gun: The Jet Coaster @ Carowinds
1 Rating Posted by: WAR2174 on 5/25/2005 9:17:00 PM
I had to be very careful on this one. I wanted to go in with an open mind. I didnt want my opinions on other inverts to cloud my judgement on Top Gun. I wanted to go in with a clean slate. I was worried that I would find something I liked better than Alpengeist. Well, no worries there. I feel like I went in with a very open mind and came out very under-whelmed. Dont get me wrong, this is still a very good coaster. It is fast, intense and really hits the elements hard. Therein lies the problem(to me, of course). You head straight out of the station up the lift hill and at the apex you bank hard to the right and down, increasing speed into a vertical loop. After that into the famous Immelman element(a great element to me), but it is too short. You blow right through it. The ride doesnt allow you to feel the positive or negative gs. As you head up the half loop, you should feel the pressure pushing you down into the seat and then as you crest over the top into the barrell roll, you should feel the negative gs or the feeling of falling out. But Top Gun is going so fast that it doesnt happen. If you blink, you missed it. That isnt the point of an immelman. Anyway, after that you are sent into a zero-g roll that again seems to come and go before you know it. Then it is onto the batwing. A very unique element that gives Top Gun major props. The batwing is a strange element for B&M because they pride themselves on aircraft manuevers. The batwing is not a manuever. Sure an airplane can bank to the right and down and back up and then back towards the way they started but it is not a designed move, if you understand that. If not, I mean moves that pilots learn to hone their skills. Moves like the immelman, split-s, barrell roll, vertical loop and diving loop are basic moves. I dont mean to nitpick, I am just curios why they included this move. Anyway, back to the ride. After the batwing comes a rather strange bunny hill that does nothing and then into a hard corkscrew and around to the right and back to the station. It was done, and I felt cheated. It is just too short. Maybe they didnt have the space or money but it definetly could be longer. Maybe thats the point to be quick and intense since it is named after Top Gun. Of course, this was going to be called "Godzilla" but that was changed when the movie was no good. Anyways, in the end the ride just seems to be lacking enough to push it into the upper echelon of the inverts. It has solid themeing but not spectacular and goes by too fast to hold a lasting impression. Top Gun: The Jet Coaster is good; but Alpengeist, Raptor and Montu are just better.
 

Review Comments

fergusonat on 5/27/2005 10:36:39 PM said:
I thought the positive gs were pretty intense during most of the ride, and the compact layout gives Top Gun its character, IMO. And whats wrong with the batwing, lol? It doesnt need to be an actual jet maneuver ...I thought that was the best part of the whole ride
WAR2174 on 5/27/2005 11:37:55 PM said:
I loved it too. But what I was saying is that B&M prides itself on aircraft manuevers. There is no set manuever like that for pilots to learn. It is strange to see that particular element on a ride based on a fighter jet theme. I realize it is nitpicking, but I didnt count it against the rating, it actually pushed it up.
BobFunland on 3/22/2006 12:50:48 PM said:
... still cant believe you said Raptor is better
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