Butterfly

The sign next to the small ride has Safety Instructions and Operating Instructions.  Notable limitations are that children under 7 years-old must be accompanied by an adult, and that the maximum weight for each passenger is 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds.

As seen from the waiting area, this is the left side of the ride.  It is a simple set of rails, while the right side of the ride has a similar segment of track that also incorporates a chain lift.  The car is hoisted up the lift hill and gets released from the chain once it reaches the top of the ride.  The car free-falls down the right track, quickly passes the low point where it loads and unloads, and the car's inertial energy carries it up this left-most segment.  After reaching the top of the left track, gravity again pulls the car down and its energy takes it back up the hill with the chain.  The car ends up oscillating back and forth over a dozen times.  But because of friction losses, the car is gradually slowed so that each time it passes the low point, it is traveling slower than the previous cycle.  This also means that the first drop from each side of the track is the longest and fastest, but each subsequent pass is lower and slower.  The ride is exciting at first, but it soon fades to an anti-climatic series of smaller and smaller climbs and drops.  The last couple passes by the low spot are extremely slow and boring as ride eventually comes to a halt.

©2019 Joel A. Rogers.