Werner Stengel - Interview (2/2)

Every rollercoaster is a big investment which has to make profits in the end. Without this economical bondage it would be possible to create more fun and excitement by interaction for the passenger, who is compelled to complete passivity because of the safety belt. Why don’t we use a laser gun to shoot on targets in a rollercoaster which is not moving too fast? The passenger could, for example, shoot at other vehicles in the rollercoaster, which then – after being hit – would have to wait at the next safety break and would then be overtaken with the help of an alterable switch. Or he/she could shoot at targets within the rollercoaster in order to collect points for a win. Or it could be the passenger who decides by pressing a button during the ride which way he/she would like to take at the next switch.

Most likely I do feel the same on top of a rollercoaster as every other passenger, as well: Joyous expectation, the flowing of adrenaline, a slight feeling of insecurity and fear together with the certainty to reach the station safe. The difference lays in my continuing check-backs: Is the transverse gradient all right? Are the parallel-shoulder whams not too intense? Are the positive and negative accelerations well-spread over the length of the ride? And finally: Is the excitement of it good enough?

You have to distinguish between a computer simulation (games) and the final blueprint of a rollercoaster made by a computer. If such a blueprint is finally calculated on a computer this blueprint will comprise our complete human know-how from more than 540 roller coasters, as well as safety rules and DIN- norms. No computer simulation from a game can perform this. But we do test our final calculations in computer simulations indeed. They do deliver fantastic views and impressions.

If I could I would ride the “Millennium Force” many times a day. This is because the lift offers a fantastic view, because the first fall is incredible to ride- it should only be 40 metres longer. And the average speed of it is so high that the transverse gradient of the “Millennium Force” is fantastic for every car of the train- no matter if it is the first, the last or one in the middle of the train.
I have driven “Expedition Ge- Force” very often, too, and the joy and fun of it is not decreasing. The first completely twirling fall is unique in the world, then the valleys with their very high g-stress and the peaks with airtime. But my favourite is the s-bend, coming out from a bend to the right weightlessly over a peak into a bend to the left. This rollercoaster comprises everything that makes a fantastic ride.

The Internet changed the world, which I would like to explain on the basis of our work. In the 60s of the last century we had to make blueprints from handmade original drawings and had to send them to the United States or Japan with DHL. This obviously took days before we got a response. Then the fax was invented. So we cut our drawings and glued them together into DIN A4 size. This only took a few hours max. Nowadays drawings and calculations are sent by e-mail and reach every little spot on this planet within minutes. I am no fortune-teller and can therefore not evaluate future developments of the internet and websites. Nobody knows the direction in which users will move this development. But it is the users who decide this process because not every offer and development of the industry and its bigger companies will be accepted by them.

I think your work with the online magazine is clearly arranged, well-structured and is absolutely up-to-date. I can not really evaluate your work because I am not familiar with this topic. But I definitively would like to congratulate you for your work.