decided to explore the field of coaster design, with the SS as a backbone for
demonstration. And in looking for a mentor, I fell upon the Educational Program at BG
Williamsburg, and Physics Day. The directors were awesome; they invited me to
come see the Xtreme physics presentation with a local physics professor. I got to go
behind the scenes, meet the professor who does the presentation show a few
weekends each year, and even did some ground breaking research for the new
physics day program. See, some of the rides (Big Bad Wolf, Apollo's Chariot,
Loch Ness) already have vertical accelerometers (vertical G's) mounted on
them, but none of the rides have laterial or horizontal accelerometers (for lateral G
readings) on them. So, with the directors of education and Dr. Wright (professor), we
did some preliminary testing on some prototype accelerometers (one was a
tupperware container with water in it). Quite a bit of fun, and something I'd
never imagine doing. But BG has the nicest and sweetest people; I was getting red
carpet style treatment just from making a simple phone call.
Thought I'd
relay this little tidbit to you all. And just give some massive props to BG for doing this
for me; it was definitely a huge help, though I still don't have a mentor.
