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Kamikaze (Divine wind) was a squad of Japanese suicide fighter planes used in World War II. The pilots were trained to cause suicidal crashes, causing collateral damage. The word has now come to be used when referring to intentional suicides.

Republican Kamikaze ride

A recent article by blogger Joe Klein was titled ‘Republican Kamikaze ride’, criticizing the ways of the Republican Party, possibly to denote the ‘suicidal’ act of the GOP (Grand Old Party).

Kamikaze Thrill rides

Kamikaze (Ranger) is a truly scary yet a must-try amusement thrill ride. The ride consists of two arms each holding a metal riding car (gondolas) at its end, which is completely enclosed. There are rows of seats each fitted with safety gears and locks to secure you to your seat.
The ride begins by oscillating the arms, both going the opposite way to balance weight. As the ride proceeds, the caged gondola goes totally upside down, stays there for few frightening seconds before swinging back and forth to continue the ride. You would want to scream your life off, but you’d be so awed that you lose your voice for some time!

Major Features of Kamikaze Ride

• 2 caged gondolas loaded simultaneously, present one at each opposite arm. Capacity: 32 each
• Ride duration is 1.5 min
• A force of 2.5 Gs (2 times the force produced on an idle object) is created during the ride
• A maximum speed of 14 rpm (rotations per min) is achieved
• Assembling time: Less than 5 hours; requires skilled operators
• Maximum thrill guaranteed!

Safety concerns with Kamikaze Ride

• You need to be at least 122 cm to ride so that you don’t slip out of the gondola when it goes upside down. The deaths and accidents reported so far have been due to the height factor only. Otherwise it is a perfectly safe ride for adults.
• People with high blood pressure, above 50 years of age and pregnant women are completely banned from this ride due to its dramatics.
• This ride can make some people sick to their stomach. So watch out if you have a weak stomach.

Variants of Kamikaze Ride

Right after its invention in 1984, many variants of the Kamikaze have come about. Eg: Sky Flyer, Footloose, Hawk 48. Here the riders dangle from their feet.

If you have the guts (and the stomach and the height!) come on and feel the mind blowing gush of the killer Divine wind, Kamikaze!

The concept of ‘free-falling’ was introduced by famous philosopher and physicist Galileo Galilei by showing that an object as light as a feather and a coin with significant mass, both will fall at the same speed under the influence of gravity.

Free fall rides operate on this basis. The riders are taken up to the highest point and let to ‘free-fall’ under gravitational force, 9.8 m/s2 (or commonly denoted as 1 G). The fall is truly a sensational and dramatic moment where riders feel their guts plunge farther into their bodies along with the sensation of being dropped ruthlessly towards Earth!

Free Fall Ride @ Six Flags

Six Flags is an amusement park in Georgia. Is has two other branches; one in Texas and another one at St. Luis. The first generation Free fall ride was built here and was popular until the advent of Drop Towers, which people found to be more exciting than this particular ride.

The ride here consists of an L-shaped base, for stability. Over this is the massive ride track, curved at the base, towering a height of 90 ft (27.4 m). The riders hop on to the enclosed ride car at ground level and start the scary ascend. This is followed by an even more scarier yet exuberant descend straight down!

The tracks are curved at the bottom to decelerate the speed of the car, to avoid injury to the passengers. The ride lost its popularity after couple of tragic accidents.

Tallest Free Fall Ride

Now-a-days with improvement in technology and people’s voracious capacity for more thrilling rides, new generation free fall rides have come up throughout the country. But the best and most sought after of all is the Big Shot ride at the Stratosphere Las Vegas casino tower. It stands 1081ft high (329m) but drop height is only 160 m for safety reasons. It drops at 45 mph and can create acceleration of ~ 4 Gs (4 times 9.8 m/s2).

And the fastest free fall rides is the The Giant Drop. The dropping speed is 135 Km/hr (84 mph) and lasts for 5 dreadful seconds.  Pleasantly gut wrenching, isn’t it?!

Terminal Velocity Free Fall Ride

Going a step further, there is this one of a kind free fall ride situated in Extreme World, Wisconsin,  where you are taken up to a height of over 100ft and allowed to fall to the Earth with absolutely no attachments to break your fall!

But you will be fitted with a CFF – controlled free fall harness to make sure your falling posture is correct. Once you are left to fall, you accelerate to about 70 mph (112.65 Km/hr). You hit a soft cushiony net to nullify the impact. So you feel nothing but a floating sensation.

Do you have the guts to try new dares?! If you are nodding, then make sure you have a strong heart to get on these rides. Happy falling!

Water slides are everybody’s favorite when it comes to experiencing the adrenaline pumping action. But the slide with a twist is the turbo slide. Here the slide is contorted from the usual shape to give you the twisting and action packed water sliding. The diameter of the slide is ~ 24” and the height can be anywhere from 5ft to 77ft (1.5 – 23 m) which can be reached by ladder or steps attached to the slide. It can carry a maximum weight of 125 to 325 pounds (56 – 147Kg) at a time. There are two types of turbo slides:

• The closed type where the sliding dome is covered all over and looks like a long twisted tube
• The open type where the slide is deeply curved to retain and carry gallons water

Closed Turbo Slides aka Super Turbo Tube Slides

The structure has a contorted cylinder with a big enough diameter to fit even adults. There is a flume at the top of the slide to keep the water going along the length of the slide which gives a smooth yet exciting ride to the pool at the end of the slide. This is idle for home-pool side slide as well. The ‘tube’ turbo slide gets its name from the enclosed slide, which gives it a tube like appearance. Some of these are used as land rides, where the slides end in a pit of soft sand.

Open Turbo Slides

Open turbo slides are usually very long and gather lots of momentum due to the length and height and end in a huge pool. The riders even wear inner tubes out of safety concerns. But worries apart, the mere feel of sitting at the top of the high slide, moments before you are about to slide down the steep slide, can get your hormones rushing and once you come out of the pool, you can’t help but be all smiles!

Turbo Twister Pool Slide

If you have a swimming pool at home and want your kids to experience the same fun they could have at a water park, then you couldn’t have been luckier! The pool version of the turbo slide is an instant solution. It is 5ft-8ft tall, safe for kids below 12 yrs of age, can carry 40 gallons (151 liters) of water per minute and ends in your own pool.
This pool slide is a great getaway for your kids from their day-today routine. Price range is $2,000 to $3,000.

Water rides can be real wild escapade for young kids, especially those who love water and loads of splashing. Install one at home besides the pool or ride down the tallest and biggest of ‘em all to grin your way down to sloshing!