On it, you come around this bend that's full of trees blocking your view,

乘坐在上面時，會繞過這個滿是樹木的彎道，擋住視線，

and before you know it, you're hurtling down the track at 45 miles per hour toward a thrilling 75-foot loop.

在意識到之前，你的人正以每小時 45 英里的速度沿著軌道衝向一個刺激的 75 英尺的環形軌道。

According to Hershey's website, it's the "first-ever looping roller coaster on the east coast".

根據好時公司的網站，它是 「美國東岸有史以來第一座環形雲霄飛車」。

But the good people at the Hershey company have that wrong.

但好時公司的人搞錯了。

Because about 75 years before the SooperDooperLooper, Coney Island — in my hometown of New York — was home to the first two looping coasters in America.

因為在 SooperDooperLooper 出現的大約 75 年以前，康尼島——在我的家鄉紐約——是美國最早的兩個環形雲霄飛車的所在地。

Unlike the SooperDooperLooper, which has been around for almost 50 years, these early looping coasters didn't even last a decade.

不像已經存在近 50 年的 SooperDooperLooper ，這些早期的環形雲霄飛車甚至撐不到十年。

Because, it turns out, loops shouldn't be made like this.

因為，事實證明，雲霄飛車的軌道不應該是圓形的。

Looping roller coasters got their start in Europe as early as 1842.

環形雲霄飛車早在 1842 年就出現在歐洲。

Back then, they were called centrifugal railways.

在那時，它們被稱為離心飛車。

They... weren't super popular or successful.

它們......並沒有超級流行或成功。

They tried a few more in Europe, as we understand it, these were short lived and more a novelty.

他們在歐洲又試過幾次，據我們瞭解，這些雲霄飛車的壽命都很短暫，更多只是覺得很新奇。

That's Randy Geisler, former president and current member of the historical committee for American Coaster Enthusiasts.

那是蘭迪·蓋斯勒，他是美國雲霄飛車愛好歷史委員會的前任主席和現任成員。

I've loved roller coasters my entire life.

我這一輩子都很喜歡雲霄飛車。

The movements, the speed, and just the world whipping by you in every direction.

雲霄飛車的移動、速度，以及世界感覺從你身邊的各個角度呼嘯而過。

People in the 1800s didn't have the same fondness for looping coasters.

19 世紀的人們對環形雲霄飛車沒有像現代人一樣的喜愛。

And that didn't change much when America built its first looping roller coaster in 1895: Coney Island's Flip Flap Railway.

當美國於 1895 年建造第一座環形雲霄飛車——康尼島的 Flip Flap Railway 時，並沒有太大的改變這個狀況。

That's because these coasters had a few major problems.

那是因為這些雲霄飛車有幾個重大的問題。

The biggest one being, they made the loops circular.

最大的一個問題是，他們把軌道做成了圓形。

In physics, we love perfect circles. It's an easy shape.

在物理學中，我們喜歡完美的圓。這是一個簡單的形狀。

But from a human experience point of view, it is a nightmare.

但從人類經驗的角度來看，這是一場噩夢。

That's Matt Anderson.

那是馬特·安德森。

I'm a physics professor at San Diego State University.

我是聖地亞哥州立大學的一名物理學教授。

To make it all the way around the Flip Flap's circular loop, cars needed to move really, really fast while changing directions.

為了繞過 Flip Flap 的圓形軌道，雲霄飛車的車廂在改變方向時需要非常快速地移動。

The coaster itself is trying to push you up into a new direction.

雲霄飛車本身試圖把你推向新的方向。

Your head, your spine, everything else wants to keep going in a straight line.

你的頭、你的脊椎，以及其他身體的一切都想保持在一條直線上。

But the coaster is saying, "No, you gotta curve into this arc."

但雲霄飛車像是在對你說：「不行，你必須繞過這個彎。」

Changing directions so rapidly causes a spike in g-forces.

迅速地改變方向會導致重力激增。

You've gone from one G instantly to 12 or 14 Gs.

身體承受的重力從 1G 立即變為 12 或 14G。

That's a big problem.

這會造成很大的問題。

6Gs is really the most a human body can handle on a rollercoaster and only for about a second.

6G 是人體在雲霄飛車上所能承受的最大極限，而且只有大約一秒鐘。

At that force...

在這種力量下...

Literally, all the blood is just being pulled out of your head and you will pass out.

所有的血夜離開了你的大腦，你就會昏倒。

You can see how wild the G-forces are in this looping-coaster-simulation chart created by George Sidebotham, a mechanical engineering professor at the Cooper Union.

在 Cooper Union 的機械工程教授 George Sidebotham 製作的環形雲霄飛車模擬圖表中可以看到它形成的重力有多麼誇張。

Because of our chat, he became so obsessed with the circular loop problem that he made a bunch of looping-coaster-simulation charts.

因為我們聊天的內容，他開始對圓形軌道的問題非常著迷，於是製作了一堆環形雲霄飛車的模擬圖。

This line represents a circular loop like the Flip Flap's.

這條線代表一個圓形軌道，就像 Flip Flap 一樣。

After jumping from 1 to 14 Gs, it would decrease as you reached the top of the loop then ramp all the way up again to 14 at the bottom, and then back to 1 as the coaster leaves the curve.

從 1G 激增到 14G 後，重力會隨著你到達圓形軌道的頂部而減少，然後到軌道底部時再次上升至 14G，然後在雲霄飛車駛離彎道時回到 1G。

Passengers were completely rattled.

乘客們會徹底驚慌失措。

The Flip Flap, being made mostly of wood, didn't help either.

主要由木頭製成的 Flip Flap 也沒有什麼幫助。

Wood is stretchy and compressy.

木材有彈性和壓縮性。

You can see the circle moving as the cart goes around.

你可以看到圓形軌道隨著車廂的移動而移動。

It's stressing it this way and then it's stressing it that way.

往這邊伸展，又往那邊伸展。

It just looks like an engineering catastrophe about to happen.

看起來就像一場工程災難即將發生。

The next looping coaster built on Coney Island, the Loop the Loop, was crafted to avoid all those issues.

在康尼島建造的下一個圓形雲霄飛車 Loop the Loop 旨在避免以上提到的問題發生。

It was made entirely out of steel, which offered more stability.

它完全由鋼製成，提供了更高的穩定性。

And the circle was switched to more of an upside-down teardrop shape.

圓形軌道變成了上下顛倒的淚珠形狀。

Squeezing the sides in helped ease the transition into and out of the curvature, reducing the G forces and creating a smoother, less body-damaging ride.

向內擠壓兩側有助於緩解進出軌道時的過渡期，減少重力並創造更平穩、對身體傷害更小的乘坐體驗。

But still, they had the capacity problem.

但是，它們仍然存在乘載量的問題。

Neither the Flip Flap nor the Loop the Loop could support more than a few riders at a time because the loops were small, and so the cars had to be small, too.

Flip Flap 和 Loop the Loop 同時能夠搭載的乘客都不多，因為軌道很小，車廂也必須很小。

Most of the cars, they seated four people, and pretty much you could only send people about once every 5 minutes.

大多數的車廂可容納四個人，幾乎每五分鐘才能送出一個班次。

They just couldn't make enough money.

他們無法賺到足夠的錢。

There were more people that would watch than ride.

看的人比實際搭乘的人多。

The Flip Flap lasted 7 years, the Loop the Loop lasted 9.

Flip Flap 撐了七年，Loop the Loop 撐了九年。

And all other looping coasters around the world shut down shortly after.

世界上所有其他環形雲霄飛車不久之後也都關閉了。

It seemed like the end of the track for loops.

這似乎是環形軌道的終點。

That is... until something new came along.

本來是......直到有新的東西出現。

In 1959, Disney unveiled the Matterhorn.

1959 年，迪士尼推出了馬特洪峰雪橇飛車。

It didn't have a loop but it was the very first tubular steel coaster.

它沒有環形軌道，但它是第一個管狀鋼製雲霄飛車。

Unlike regular steel which was solid throughout, tubular steel was hollow in the middle, making it lighter-weight, and easier to bend into smooth arcs and curves.

與整體實心的普通鋼材不同，管狀鋼材中間是空心的，因此重量更輕，更容易彎曲成順暢的弧線和曲線。

Unlike wood, tubular steel could support heavy weight and more dynamic movement.

與木材不同，管狀鋼可以支撐重物和更動態的移動。

And in 1976, Six Flags Magic Mountain debuted the first modern vertical looping coaster made with tubular steel.

1976 年，六旗魔法山推出了第一個由鋼管製成的現代垂直環形雲霄飛車。

The Great American Revolution squeezed the loop even more than the Loop the Loop, creating what's known as a "clothoid loop".

Great American Revolution 比 Loop the Loop 更擠壓了軌道，創造了所謂的「羊角螺線軌道」。

It gets smaller and smaller as you get to the top to try and even out the G forces.

隨著車廂到達軌道頂部時，重力會變得越來越小來保持平衡。

And then it does exact opposite as it comes back down.

然後當車廂下降時會發生恰恰相反的情況。

With clothoid loop-shaped coasters, designers could distribute the G's more evenly and decide more precisely how many Gs to hit.

使用羊角螺線軌道，設計師可以更均勻地分佈重力並更精確地決定要產生多少重力。

About 4.9 in the case of the Great American Revolution.

Great American Revolution 雲霄飛車的重力大概是 4.9G。

A much smoother experience compared to the Flip Flap's uneven G force spikes from 1 to 14 to 9 to 1.

與 Flip Flap 從 1G 到 14G 到 9G 再到 1G 如此不均衡的極強重力相比，前者的乘坐體驗更加流暢。

This clothoid loop — crafted using strong and easy-to-bend tubular steel and built 113 feet high meant that the Great American Revolution could support 20 riders at g-forces that feel exhilarating instead of harmful.

這個羊角螺線軌道使用堅固且易於彎曲的管狀鋼製成，高 113 英尺，這表示 Great American Revolution 可以乘載 20 名乘客，並且產生的重力會讓人感到興奮而不是有害的。

And since then, loops have exploded in popularity.

從那時起，環形軌道就開始流行起來。

Double loops!

雙環軌道！

Crazy loops!

瘋狂的環形軌道！

And that SooperDooperLooper in Hershey Park which, by the way, can proudly claim that it's the first 'modern' looping roller coaster on the east coast.

還有好時遊樂園的 SooperDooperLooper，順便說一下，它可以自豪地宣稱它是東岸第一個「現代」環形雲霄飛車。