Notes

Hello,
Thanks again for answering my questions, The questions are gonna be about the process of building a roller coaster. Question 1-4 are questions that I would like you to answer keeping in mind your roller coaster Blue Fire, at Europa Park.
Question 5-8 I would like to ask about being a roller coaster designer generally.
Question 9 & 10 are questions about becoming a roller coaster designer

Questions about Blue Fire:
1. How long did the whole process take with Blue Fire?
2. Where there any major problems that came up? How many? Which one was the hardest to solve and how did you solve it?
3. Where there any things that you thought were going to be a problem, but they weren't after all? Why did you think it was a problem?
4. How did the process start? Did Europa Park come to you and asked for specific things or just a rollercoaster?

Questions about how it is generally:
5. What does a roller coaster designer do during the process?
6. Which computer programs do you use when designing a roller coaster? Why this programs?
7. When designing/building a roller coaster, does the manufacturing company have a lot of input about the rollercoaster (e.g. Colors, layout, etc.), or does the park decide everything?
8. Which challenges come in almost all projects? How do you solve these problems?

Questions about becoming a roller coaster designer:
9. What tips do you have for someone who wants to be a roller coaster designer?
10. What kind of education did you take? Do you recommend that education or maybe something else?


The Answers

1.) From the very first idea to the realization of the ride it was 2 years and 5 month. We started of course with earlier ideas and market research but the design process started in that timespan.
2.) We don't like to call it problems but challenges. Of course with such a huge project and step for our company we had several tasks that we did for the very first time. The selection of suppliers, materials and such was quite a task to handle. But of course we did a lot of testing and modifications even when the ride was installed but not open for public. To go into details would be too much I think but I can give you an example with the brake run. We have installed magnets beneath our cars that decelerate the car by running through metal plates at the brake run track. Depending on the material there are different decelerations and so we tested quite a few until we found the perfect mix of metal plates to install.
3.) We had the topic of noise on our watchlist as we installed the ride quite close to the existing town of Rust. Therefore we already installed attachment points on the columns of the highest point of the track to install a sound barrier later on. But with testing and opening we found out that the sound level of the riders is not that high on that particular point so there's no need for this sound barrier.
4.) No - It was on the day we had our factory christmas party, when we invited the whole Mack family to join us. Totally unexpected we presented our idea of building a launch coaster to the family upfront the party. So there we got the Go from our stake holders to proceed and to build a launch coaster. Every ride design is a process with the client - and Europa-Park is of course no exception, but even more a dialogue as we work very close together. So their ideas and concerns were included in the design process.

5.) First off we start with a budget, a plan of the available site, the clients demands and then transform it into a first layout sketch. Sometimes the client already knows what figures he wants to be included or where the coaster should run low to the ground to get great viewing angles. With this information we sketch a top view and a side view to get a first impression. After that we transform this into a brief layout 3d animation - similar to the "simulation game" NoLimits. This is then sent to our clients to discuss and then the changes are applied until we get the perfect solution. After that this is transformed into our production data to bring it to our steel bending machines and to our welders.
If it's a prototype ride vehicle we would bring in several engineers to work on different parts of the vehicle - from the bogies to the seat arrangements and the locking mechanisms. That's done by a separate team to address all issues here.

6.) We use our very own software for layout design that works with our parameters and is able to calculate all necessary data. This was developed in house as it's fitted perfectly to our needs. For the 3D engineering we mainly use Autodesk Inventor as it's the most common and very powerful tool. And of course we use several other visual 3D programs to give a first impression of the ride: Blender and a special version of NoLimits help us with that.

7.) We have quite a lot of input on the ride but we always develop our rides with our customers. So every single ride is tailor made and this is also very important. Regarding layout, colors and design the customer is the one to decide.

8.) The challenges of our projects differ from all clients. New parks and projects often underestimate the time they will need to prepare the site on the other hand we have to make sure our subcontractors are working on time and with the requested quality.

9.) Be creative and be enthusiastic about our products. It's the key to be the one needed in our company. Also visiting the tradeshows like EAS or IAAPA is quite interesting for young talents.

10.) Many of our engineers studied mechanical engineering, so this is probably the right way to go. Of course there are other ways to get into the company but for the design process this would be the best.