Dave's Featured Video:
Flying Scooters with ACE Pilots

About this movie:

Produced: April 8, 2001

By: Dave Althoff, Jr.

There has been a lot of talk lately in various discussion forums about the Bish-Rocco Flying Scooter, one of my favorite amusement rides, and in fact suddenly an enthusiast favorite across the country.

In particular, there has been a lot of discussion about what snapping refers to. On April 8, 2001, a large group of enthusiasts descended on Paramount's Kings Island for the opening day of their 2001 season. After taking the traditional first ride of the season on The Beast, the group took over the Flying Eagles, a park-model Flying Scooter, the second oldest ride in the park. I was in the first load of coaster nuts; when I got off, another load of skilled coaster nuts boarded, and instead of getting back in line again, I videotaped the cycle. You will rarely see as much action on a group of Flying Scooter tubs. A look at this video clip should indicate why the ride has so many fans, and demonstrate why this is no mild kiddie ride...at least not in the hands of a skilled pilot. I think the term "snapping" should be self-evident based on this clip.

Technical Note: (Updated 10/21/2004) This clip has been re-encoded using a different MPEG-4 codec. If you have QuickTime 6, or QuickTime 4 (or later) and a DivX or other MPEG-4 codec, it should play. The audio is now MPEG-4/AAC, so QuickTime 6 is probably your best bet. Best of all, I was able to reduce the data rate a little and make the file a half-meg smaller with better looking video.

Running time: 1:27