Original subtitles

Mankind has the need for speed.

It is the most wildest thing

that you'll ever experience in your life.

It's nice and smooth when you're on top of that water.

All I do is run my pedals, and my steering wheel,

and race this boat as hard as I can.

Harnessing the mightiest machines,

the impossible is made possible.

It's intimidating.

Whether on land, the water, or in the air...

...we push ourselves to the limits...

...and beyond.

Say hello to the fastest...

...and most furious rubber burning machines on the planet.

This is the world of drag racing.

It is the most wildest, aggressive,

violent thing that you'll ever experience in your life.

There's no power in this earth that replicates it.

Drivers have just one goal when they pop that clutch,

to put the pedal to the metal

and launch these mechanical beasts to breakneck speeds

of over 330 miles per hour.

You go from being seated into the car

to basically hanging onto your belt.

But what makes these mighty monsters

of the dragstrip go so fast?

It all starts with their massive and finely tuned motors.

A dragster has the biggest, most powerful engine imaginable

strapped to the smallest, lightest chassis

that can handle the acceleration.

It's a car made for sprinting, nothing else.

When you actually sit in a top fuel car,

to know that you're sitting with 12,000 back-breaking

horsepower sitting behind you, it's a crazy feeling.

And even just sitting in the grandstand,

you'll feel the grandstand shake.

You have to hold onto your cups, 'cause the drinks will fall over

as the cars go.

Moving that fast, with such explosive energy,

tears these engines up.

Go, go, go.

After every blistering 1000-foot race,

these engines have to be meticulously disassembled

and rebuilt under intense time constraints.

Over a drag race weekend the winning dragster can run

up to eight passes down to track.

That means seven complete engine rebuilds over three days

in conditions that are less than ideal.

Our guys can, from the moment the car gets in the pit after

doing a run, take the car apart, take the whole motor apart,

and put it all back together in under 25 minutes.

Just every time the car goes down the track,

these will come off the motor.

All of these pieces get taken off.

All the springs, the valves come out,

the jets come out, the plugs come out.

Major components like cylinder heads are replaced

in chunks by preassembled units.

Fresh pistons, rods, and clutch packs are ready

to be swapped into a new engine configuration in minutes.

Right now, they are trying to take off the supercharger.

So, they're going to bring the supercharger out...

One, two, three, lift.

...that's where they're going to decide

which one they want to run.

This is actually the nostrils of the engine.

That goes on top of the blower,

and when these blades crack open from me hitting the throttle,

it lets the air in.

As the air comes in and the RPMs go up,

they make that robust power that we need

to accelerate this vehicle over 300 miles an hour.

The supercharger makes dragsters go fast

by forcing the most amount of air into the engine.

It uses a pair of rotors to capture air

and send it to the intake manifold,

simultaneously compressing the air

and pressurizing the manifold.

As the pistons drive up and down,

the increased air pressure is forced into the engine,

making it burned more fuel.

The supercharger, it takes our normal engine

that makes 1,500 horsepower

and makes it go over 10,000 plus in an instant,

and we get from here to

1,000ft in 3.6 seconds, traveling, like,

literally gaining 100 miles an hour per second.

In .8 of a second, we go from zero to 100.

In two seconds, we're over 200 miles an hour,

and at 2.9 seconds, we're over 300 miles an hour.

You actually get it in your head real quick

that you're sitting in the fastest accelerating

vehicles on the planet period.

But creating vehicles that can go this fast

was an evolution.

Drag racing traces its roots back to the dry lakebeds of

California in the 1930s, where fearless drivers pushed

their stripped-down cars and souped-up engines

to the limits, reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour.

But in the 1940s, especially with a big influx

of motorhead World War Two veterans joining the scene,

it moved on to more dedicated tracks,

and the vehicles got bigger, faster, louder,

and the speeds just got outrageous.

The first true dragster was called The Bug.

It was basically just a completely bare bones chassis

of a Ford Model T fitted with a second-hand Ford V8 engine,

In the 1950s, we see dragsters

that become known as slingshots.

The engine's still in front of the driver,

but now the drivers been shifted backwards.

They're actually hanging over the rear wheels

for better balance.

In the '70s, we started to see the modern rear engine

dragsters that we commonly see on the tracks today.

The cutting edge technology that comes from

high-performance dragsters influences

the commercial auto industry, creating innovations

like push-button ignitions and turbocharged engines.

And a dragster's a car taken to a ridiculous scale.

Nobody needs over 10,000 horsepower

to go to the grocery store, but those kinds of technologies

that have been developed means that even your commercial

commuter car is incredibly fast and incredibly powerful

compared to something even 20, 30 years ago.

All that innovation is nothing without the right

fuel in the tank to help these dragsters hit top speed.

100ml times four's like 400. Let's put, like, 500ml in there.

A dragster runs on nitromethane.

It's the extremely powerful fuel that gives the category

it's named, "top fuel."

Nitromethane, or nitro, is the lifeblood

of top fuel dragsters, enabling these machines to

achieve jaw-dropping speeds.

With a 90% nitromethane and a 10% methanol mix,

the perfect cocktail for reaching record-breaking speeds.

Actually, nitro ignites from pressure.

So, you could actually try to light it on fire

and it won't.

Like, it needs that compression to actually burn.

The engine converts energy from one form to another.

Chemical energy of the fuel into the mechanical energy,

which is the movement of the car.

The fuel needs to combust with air so that it creates

a little explosion, and it's the force of

that explosion that presses into the pistons

and cause them to move in a linear fashion.

The engine then converts this linear motion of the piston

into rotational motion, which is then used

to spin your wheels and propel you forward in a car.

At full throttle the engine is thirsty,

sucking down over 1.5 gallons per second.

The equivalent to the flow rate of water from a fire hose.

We go through about 15 gallons per a round

and about five gallons during a warm-up.

So, we do use a lot of nitro.

Putting three jugs before each run,

and it goes about one jug after the warm-up.

So, in total with warm up and one run,

it's about four jugs.

Going hundreds of miles per hour

requires special tires.

Coming through.

All the fuel cars run the very same tire.

It's 36 inches tall, 17 and a half inches wide,

and 16 inch diameter.

We get about eight runs per tire.

The tire's interaction characteristics are related to

the environment that you're using it in.

If I'm interested in racing,

then I'm more interested in the traction characteristics

of the tire.

Tires that are made for racing

are usually made out of soft rubber compound,

and the reason we go with soft is because we want the traction.

When the power of the axle reaches the rear tires,

the spinning of the axle pulls against the soft rubber

that's gripping the pavement.

Instantly, the side walls of the tire wrinkle.

While it looks like the tire is getting smaller,

it's actually absorbing the energy from the engine.

The built-up torque, or twisting force,

this creates in the tires acts like a rubber band

stretched to it limit.

Once released, the dragster is propelled to speeds

in excess of 300 miles per hour.

Dragster tires are usually made to operate at high speed

with the maximum traction, and they're usually inflated

to around six to eight PSI.

In top fuel racing, the tire pressure, or PSI,

works differently than what you see in a regular car.

In a dragster, a lower tire pressure

gives you a higher contact patch on the tarmac.

The contact patch is like a launch pad for these dragsters

that can catapult them down the track.

Once it launches into motion,

the dragster's maximum velocity comes down to its design.

The dragsters are designed to have

a very streamlined shape. They're almost arrow-like.

That way it can puncture through the air

to be able to accelerate fast.

To dragsters, the air is literally a blanket

that stops you.

This means that as the car accelerates

it hits an invisible wall of air resistance.

That physically fights against the vehicle's frame

at top speed.

You actually feel the car snap up

and then it starts hovering

'cause only thing that's holding you on the ground

is actually the aerodynamic downforce from the rear wing

and the front wing.

These wings at the front and back

of the dragster, commonly known as spoilers,

reduce drag by redirecting the air rushing around

the vehicle to create downward pressure on the body of the car.

This helps hold the dragster down on the track

when the air wants to push it up and over.

We are the quickest accelerating vehicles.

We out-accelerate a jet taking off,

we pull more Gs than the space shuttle taking off

into outer space.

We actually pull six and a half G's in a straight line

without changing any direction.

This is the closest thing to warp drive.

Star Trek, baby. Star Trek.

Going over 300 miles per hour in a top fuel dragster

can take a brutal toll on dragsters

and on the drivers.

When rubber meets the pavement,

top speed is the driver's only concern.

Humans are pretty resilient.

We can take this kind of impact for short periods of time,

but even the toughest driver is going to feel

a lot of crushing force on them.

They're going to be short of breath,

their vision's going to start to grey out.

It's not a good time.

You've really got a hold on and struggle to stay conscious

for those brief few seconds

as your body is getting crushed by really intense G-forces.

The physical pressure drivers are under

cannot be overstated.

Getting to go 335 miles per hour,

it's wild because you're not so aware of the speed

and the numbers, but what you are aware of

is the G forces and that feeling of getting

set back in your seat.

So, what that means in layman's terms,

if you actually weigh 200 pounds,

you actually have over 1,200 pounds of force

pressing on your body.

I think, the first time I went 300 miles per hour

and really felt the clutch kicking in,

I thought I threw up.

So, I've looking around. I was like,

"I think I threw up in my helmet,"

and they're like, "No, you just felt, you know,

about five G-forces," and I was like,

"Holy cow," and we hadn't even, you know,

ran a full pull at that point.

It's a crazy feeling,

but it's one of those experiences

that you will never forget for the rest of your life,

and neither will the people watching it.

At these extraordinary speeds,

drivers are riding a bomb with wheels.

So, what keeps drivers as safe as possible in this sport?

A dragster is like a series of interlocking shells

of safety equipment, all extending outwards

from the skin of the driver and building on each other.

All designed to make it as easy as possible for them to get

out of the dragster in the event of a crash.

Whether you're going 99 or 329 miles an hour,

things can go awry.

Engines can catch fire,

cars can flip, and crashes can happen.

So, dragsters and drivers are equipped

and prepared for every possibility.

So, this is my fire suit.

This is the thickest fire suit

that any race car drivers out there are wearing.

But even before I put on my fire suit,

I have these really great-looking

fireproof long sleeve shirts that are super fun to wear

when it's hot, and I'll put this on

and then I have fireproof pants.

I also have fireproof undergarments

and socks as well, but I'll wear all this.

Put my fire suit over it.

Between all my gear that I have,

I have about 40 seconds to be on fire.

So, that gives me enough time to stop the race car

and then get out of my fire gear and hopefully be okay.

Oh, we have got a blow over.

Jasmine Salinas' in the air.

I had crashed a race car a couple years ago.

Not in top fuel, but I crashed at over

200 miles per hour.

I went over the wall and I flipped eight times,

and I was able to walk out of the car

and get on the track the next day

with just nothing but a couple bruising on me,

and I think that's a testament to all of the safety equipment

that we have in our car.

When these manned missiles slash across

the 1000-foot finish line,

the job of a top fuel dragster is not over.

No matter how fast these cars go,

the driver has to bring them to a stop in a blink of an eye,

and stopping these cars takes a lot more than

just pressing on a pedal.

So, basically, when you're going over 330 miles per hour,

the stopping part is really important.

So, this is actually my brake. I have my break on the handle,

and you use that to slow the car down.

One of the things we've developed over the years

is carbon fibre composite brake rotors.

These pads are sitting on here.

As they squeeze, this material gets hotter.

We use carbon fibres because the hotter these things get,

the more they grip.

Mechanical brakes alone cannot do the job,

because they're mechanical. That means they're only

operating on that disc.

So, the strategy to decelerate has to start

with your parachute system.

So, as soon as I cross that finish line

and go off my throttle, I reach to this lever,

because this is where I pull my parachutes.

These are the two parachutes.

They're roughly 12ft in diameter once they deploy.

So, what'll happen, this pilot chute comes out.

It's designed to catch the wind.

So, as it rips out into the air stream,

it's connected to our parachute right here,

which in turn drags the whole thing out.

The parachutes and breaks combine together

to really stop you at the moment,

the exact moment you need to be stopped.

Alright, put your arm in.

When you sit in the car, you gotta look the part, right?

Our car's kind of heavy duty, like a big diesel truck,

but yet we're sleek like a gazelle

and we bring the power to run like a leopard.

I've always been driven by adrenaline and speed.

That's probably why I fell in love with the sport.

I love these cars,

because for how powerful they are,

at the end of the day,

they're really in control on the track

and we're just lucky enough to be able to drive them.

A top fuel dragster can satisfy the human need

for speed like no other vehicle on the track.

They push every limit, practically defying gravity

to be the fastest accelerating vehicles on the planet.

Here we go.

Not all racing is confined to the road.

Out on the water, the H1 unlimited hydroplanes

take death-defying turns.

And unleash irrefutable power to take the title

of fastest racing boats ever made.

But controlling these watercrafts as they hit speeds

of over 200 miles per hour, and protecting the driver

strapped inside is a monumental challenge

as they push to go faster to take home the win.

An H1 unlimited hydroplane is a single-seat

turbine-powered boat that flies across the water

at unmatched speeds with minimal restrictions.

These boats are built for pure, unadulterated speed.

The six competitors look more like fighter jets

as they carve turns at each end of the four kilometre

oval course in heat after aggressive heat.

And in these races,

with tens of thousands of dollars on the line,

speed is the name of the game.

Everything's fast. Everything's loud.

Everything's cool.

The secret of a hydroplane's speed is

their ability to stay out of the water.

It's what makes hydroplanes so fast,

but also potentially dangerous.

The shape of the hydroplane is designed to generate

as much lift as possible to make sure

that we don't have a significant amount of its body

submerged in water.

Hydroplanes have to skim across the water,

and to do so they have to be made of very light materials.

Brandon!

A little bit more, yeah.

Just holding out.

Like other things like fighter jets, like racing cars,

all of these different types of high performance things,

they use a variety of very lightweight,

very advanced materials in order to achieve their goals.

We're looking at fiberglass. We're looking at carbon fibre.

All of these things help

to have the most amount of strength possible

while keeping the weight as low as possible.

An integral element of the hydroplane's design

are the sponsons, two large outboard components

of the hull that skip along the water.

This is one of the primary running surfaces

of the race boat.

This is one of only maybe four points of this boat that

actually touch the water when the boat's running.

So, ideally this sponson never touches the water,

only when you really need it to.

It's kind of like the training wheels on a car.

When the ride gets really rough, these help stabilize the boat

and keep it level and keep it from rolling over

in the corners.

At top speed, H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes

are running on two points along the back of the sponsons,

just skimming over the water with minimal contact.

The air rushes through the tunnel between them,

below the cockpit, providing lift for the boat,

and the final point of contact is the propeller.

At 200 miles per hour,

less than half of it is actually submerged.

It's like an airplane propeller

more than it is the propeller on your average boat.

The ideal situation is just one of the three blades

in the water, and the other two are out

so they're getting nothing but pure thrust and push.

But all that aerodynamic design is useless,

if teams aren't running the right engine.

Hey, Brandon!

What's quite interesting and very strange is the fact

that what powers these hydroplanes

are high-performing engines that were first developed

for military helicopters.

Designed in the early 1960s,

the Lycoming T55 L7C turbo engine was first used

on Chinook helicopters during the Vietnam War.

These iconic helicopters were beasts that could haul 23 tons.

Moving people and payload wherever they needed to go.

Right here. Okay.

As the army evolved, they started

to make more powerful engines and this engine

became surplus to the military's needs.

We all bought them because they're a very efficient way

to make a lot of horsepower.

Since the 1980s, these turbine engines have been

the power plant of choice for H1 Hydroplane teams

racing to win.

As it's sitting today,

we'll make about 3,000 horsepower.

So, all the boats you're seeing racing are--

are making about that amount of horsepower.

You're trying to spin the propellers

as fast as possible to get enough lift

to move the helicopters off the ground.

Well, for the hydroplanes,

you're also dealing with propellers.

The engine works in combination with the gearbox

to output the perfect amount of speed.

And before we go down anymore,

I'm going to put this shaft in.

This is the input shaft.

Input shaft goes into the top gear of the gearbox.

Gearbox transfers the power down to the long shaft,

and then that connects to a short shaft

where the propeller is.

For hydroplanes, the engine is what generates

the power, but really the engine does not directly

propel the hydroplane forward.

That is done through the propellers.

Powered by jet fuel, the repurposed turboshaft engine

designed to spin the blades of a helicopter,

spins the shaft connected to the gear box.

The gearbox reduces the extreme power of that spin,

taking it from 18,000 RPM down to 9,000 RPM

by the time it reaches the propeller,

which is more than enough power to push the boat

to 200 miles per hour.

As the propeller blades travel through the water,

their angle at which they bite the water,

the thickness of the blade, the area of the blade

all has a bearing on how much potential speed

that propeller can move at while it's approaching

its maximum performance levels.

These propellers must be handled with care.

They can be as sharp as a razor blade.

Well, I'm getting ready to remove the propellor,

once I get this off, I gotta check the long shaft

to make sure that the bearings aren't loose.

And here comes the shaft.

Get it out.

Scotch-Brite and WD-40.

Propellers on these boats are proprietary

to these specific racing machines

and are purpose-built for what we do.

A single three-blade propeller weighs about

nine and a half kilograms and just one of these

can cost over $15,000, but with 10,000 RPM at play,

it's well-worth the investment.

Trying to fly a boat across the water

at 200 miles per hour puts a lot of stress on the propellor,

and that stress can lead to dangerous consequences

if crews aren't careful.

In H1 Unlimited Hydroplane racing,

the propeller must be in perfect running order.

If there are any signs of structural flaws or weakness,

it gets pulled.

Spraying Zyglo dye penetrant on the propeller here,

and we'll let this sit for five minutes,

and then put the developer on it.

The developer sets the dye in any cracks

and then we look at it with a specific wavelength

special backlight.

A crack on a propeller can be a catastrophic,

potentially lethal situation.

These are spinning 8,000, 9,000 rotations per minute.

That's really fast, and if one of those

three blades were to break right off,

it is a huge deal and part of the risk

of living on the edge like this.

Looking for any little sign of a crack.

Sometimes down in here. But that looks fine.

These boats can be more than

a half-million dollar investment.

So, teams and drivers have to painstakingly check

and recheck every inch of their vessel,

because the reality is

no matter how controlled the drivers are,

flipping a hydroplane can be devastating.

He's halfway through the back stretch.

The first famous flip occurred in 1955

during a race on Lake Washington.

He's three-quarters of the way

through the back stretch and he's moving in--

Oh! Oh!

The boat, called the Slo-Mo-Shun V,

was substantially damaged after it did a surprise

360-degree flip,

landing right side up on the water.

So, the hydroplane is impacted

by both hydrodynamic pressure

and aerodynamic pressure.

Where you want to have as much aerodynamic lift as possible

to keep you from sinking, but too much can actually

cause you to lose control and possibly flip.

It's counterintuitive to think that safety

went along with going faster.

In the past it was an open cockpit.

So, you have these flips that did happen,

but one of the cool safety innovations decades ago

was they looked at fighter jets and that capsule mentality,

and brought that here.

So, they're strapped in

like you would think of a fighter pilot doing that.

The cockpit, or survival cell,

is made of tubular steel and wrapped in composite

and carbon fibre with a constructed lid on top

and an escape hatch in the floor.

So, this tape is just to create a seal on the front

and ensure that we keep the cockpit as dry as possible.

In case he needs to get out through the bottom,

he's able to kick this hatch open.

Try down.

We're making this front wing adjustment.

It's an attempt to put more hair underneath the boat.

More air could make for a smooth ride,

but too much air can be dangerous.

The canard wing helps to control that to keep drivers safe.

So, I am constantly using this wing

to help balance the boat in the air.

If I run the wing down, this drives more air under the boat

and makes it fly,

and when the boat wants to fly away I adjust it up

to try to drive the nose of the boat back on the water

and keep it from blowing over backwards.

If the driver is even a little late

changing the wing position,

or the pitch-up is so much that the canard can't handle it,

they will go flying.

When you're in the corners

and you're slamming and banging it's extremely rough

and it leaves you with bumps and bruises the next day.

While safety has dramatically improved

in this sport, H1 drivers still push their boats to extremes

to get their fix of speed.

Sunglasses? Shane!

Thank you.

Alright, man.

Have fun. We'll see soon.

I activate my fuel pump, I turn on the igniters,

which ignite the flame in the turbine.

From there, all I do is run my pedals and my steering wheel,

and race this boat as hard as I can.

These experienced mechanical teams

and fearless drivers have their sights set on victory,

not disaster.

When you're down there, you know, by the shore

watching it, it's just the sound,

it's, you know, a jet engine

from an air show meets a dragster.

These turbine engines are just roaring around the track

and then, you know, fwoo-fwoo-fwoom, like,

these boats go whipping by you, and for a moment,

that rooster tail is suspended in midair

until it falls back down.

And then, you know, they're seemingly miles away.

The boats literally take flight as they race

across the finish line at full speed.

It's one of the things I love about hydroplane racing,

they're doing it for the passion,

they're doing it for the challenge,

chasing that speed, having that record,

pushing the envelope, finding a way to invent

something new, tweak the technology.

It's this world within a world and it's a lot of fun.

The aerodynamic body, the engine, the pilot,

everything must work together to make that winner-takes-all

top speed as these fast and furious machines

ride that line between disaster and delight.

Oh, my God!

It's the thrill of the launch...

...hurling riders of one of the tallest roller coasters

in the world.

With jaw-dropping peaks...

...and gut-wrenching turns.

Between speed...

...the pull of gravity,

and safely inducing absolute terror.

...the Kingda Ka roller coaster

is a speed demon's dream.

We've always had the need for speed.

It's all about that adrenaline rush

and adrenaline is related to dopamine,

which is the happy hormone.

So, how does it do all of that

in just 30 seconds?

The power the Kingda Ka needs to mount a 45 story apex

is unmatched in the world of roller coasters today.

And it all starts in a building approximately 700 feet away

from the train's launch site.

We're in the engine room of Kingda Ka.

This is what propels it up over the top.

I kind of refer to it as the heart of the ride.

This is it. This is what makes it go

and there's a lot of it.

This hulking engine is made up of eight fuel pumps

that draw 5,000 gallons of hydraulic oil

into four corresponding nitrogen accumulators.

The compression of the volatile nitrogen

by the oil and piston inside these accumulators

is what generates the ride's explosive power.

Turning over 48 motors that spin the drum

and wind the cables with an astonishing

21,000 horsepower.

It's not like an engine, like a car.

Car engine is combustible.

This isn't, this is high-pressure.

Hydraulic systems are everywhere,

from elevators and construction machinery,

to the structures used to raise and position rockets

and missiles.

But on the Kingda Ka,

the hydraulic system is the key component

that creates an immense amount of energy

that propels things up, up...

- ...and away.

Hydraulics are able to deliver a lot of power

for a very short period of time, in a very smooth manner,

which makes them perfect as the launch mechanism

for these roller coasters.

The intense force built up in the accumulators

is instantaneously transferred to the Kingda Ka

via two nearly one-inch steel wire cables.

This is the actual cable

that's attached to the catch car.

This is the winch.

When this thing launches, you don't want to be in here,

because it's moving fast.

So, when it's go time, the operator presses the button

and that's when you get launch.

The train is launched at approximately 128 miles an hour

in 3.5 seconds, or 57 meters a second.

The ride generates 21,000 horsepower.

As a comparison, Formula One cars normally top out

at about 1,000 horsepower.

It's a lot of power getting unleashed at one time.

It's intimidating.

You could say that.

It's like sitting inside a fighter jet

that's taking off, but with a canopy open.

They're very similar launch systems to the ones

that are used by most modern aircraft carriers

to launch those jet fighters up to speed

in as short of a distance as possible.

It would be very exhilarating

to be able to sit inside a fighter jet as it launches,

but let's be honest, very few of us will get to experience that.

But all of us can ride a rollercoaster to understand

exactly what those pilots are feeling,

and I think that's pretty cool.

To launch the roller coaster,

a hook called the pusher dog drops from the train

to connect to the catch car.

When triggered, the engine launches the catch car forward.

The result is pure speed.

The catch car disengages from the train

at the end of the launch track and returns to the station.

I'm going to check the pusher dog on the Kingda Ka train.

Once it's down, it has this electromagnetic clutch

that will not allow it to move back up on its own.

Push up, make sure it doesn't move up freely,

disconnect, and we're good to go.

...fastest roller coaster in North America.

So, the Kingda Ka's launch mechanism is quite incredible,

because it's capable of launching a train every

45 seconds.

That's about 1,000 people an hour

or 10,000 people a day,

up to one million people per year.

The hydraulic system requires constant monitoring,

and one of the biggest concerns is temperature.

So, the room is kept at a permanent

65 degrees Fahrenheit.

The unit creates

an excessive amount of heat.

If this hydraulic system air conditioner in here

is not running, it can get up to 140 degrees C in here

and it will eventually shut the road down.

To have a successful launch,

there's a million things that have to go right.

You may get a successful launch, but the ride will go down

if something goes wrong.

And one thing that can go wrong is a rollback.

It's always a risk when rides are fighting against gravity.

Oh!

It can be terrifying.

The dangers are constantly present,

even with all the safety measures in place.

So, rollback is when a roller coaster

moves in the reverse direction.

Once the train goes up an incline,

there's a possibility to roll back,

if you don't meet the top of the hill.

One reason for that to happen is when there's not enough speed

or not enough pressure to launch you from the beginning.

People actually don't mind the rollback,

because once you roll back

you get treated to another launch.

The Kingda Ka is not your average roller coaster.

It even towers over the Statue of Liberty.

It's so high that it's earned the title of strata coaster.

Strata coasters are roller coasters that are

over 400 feet high and Kingda Ka is standing

at 456 feet, and that's about 45 stories.

It's really, really high.

So, where did humans find the audacity

to try and build such mighty roller coasters

in the first place?

Roller coasters originate from the 16th

and 17th century in St. Petersburg, Russia.

It kind of started with the idea of ice slides.

Fast forward to 1817, the French got in on the fun,

and they used this wooden sled idea

and they put wheels, and you could imagine

back in the day there's no seat belt, no restraints.

Like, all you do is hold your hands in that seat

and hope for the best.

Since then, there's been

a continuing evolution of design and technology,

making roller coasters taller, faster, longer,

and transforming them from placid rides,

to main attractions at amusement parks around the globe.

The 21st century gave the world mega coasters,

hyper coasters, and giga coasters,

extraordinary machines built for extreme height,

acceleration, and speed.

Leading to the design of the Kingda Ka.

While the planning and design of this epic coaster

was years in the making, construction of the Kingda Ka

began in the summer of 2004.

In the end, this feat of engineering took 200 workers

nearly 11 months to pull off.

Planning the Kingda Ka was like preparing for a space mission.

Every detail had to be perfect.

Whoo!

The Kingda Ka roller coaster lasts about 30 seconds...

...but it is the most thrilling 30 seconds of your life.

The Kingda Ka kick-starts the hearts of

its riders, blasting off at 128 miles per hour.

After racing straight up to the apex...

...riders experience an instantaneous shift

where gravity takes over.

The train drops 418 feet in a death-defying spiral...

...and then swoops down a valley and climbs up

a 129 foot camel bump...

...leaving guests with a zero-gravity feeling.

With the Kingda Ka,

speed is definitely the main attraction.

We like to flirt with fear,

but we don't like to feel actual fear.

We have this primitive fear response

and a roller coaster will trigger that

just from the sights and the sounds.

You're just propelled forward at this great speed.

Whoa! What is this? Why am I feeling this way?

It's the ride of your life.

Just to see the world go by in a big flash

on either side of your eyes. That's the fun part.

That's the line that defines thrill.

Where it's dangerous enough to trigger the response,

and yet you're still able to retain the notion that,

"No, no, everything's cool,"

and that's when I think it's really fun.

When planning for all those ups and downs,

engineers had to design the Kingda Ka so that

regardless of how quickly it built up speed,

it could also be slowed down.

The train brakes are obviously the most important component

on the ride to stop the train.

So, all the brakes that move are done with compressed air.

These are normally up when the ride is not launching

and when the train launches, they will drop.

Roller coasters, for safety reasons,

obviously can't fly off the tracks,

but it is designed to make you feel like you're about to.

That is part of the excitement.

So, the safety features on the train itself

would be the up-stop wheels located underneath,

which will keep the train on the track

during a zero-gravity condition.

All these housings are spring-loaded.

Engineers find that fine line between a thrill

and actual danger to deliver you

the maximum amount of experience possible.

Pull it down. Pull it down. Pull it down. Pull it down.

Pull it down. Pull it down.

Once you go in the park

and you put your safety in the hands of these people,

you can focus on just having fun.

As humans, we always want to beat our own record.

So, I'm pretty sure that someone's already working

out there to make, like, a bigger coaster,

a taller coaster. It could always go higher.

All the greatest rides will live forever

in the heart of their thrill-seeking fans,

as will the Kingda Ka.

But don't worry, the next tallest,

fastest coaster is already being built

to give riders their fix of that hair-raising,

belly-busting speed experience like no other.

Get in line.

Thank you for conquering Kingda Ka.