How Drop Tower Rides Work

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A look at the mechanics of electromagnetic and pneumatic drop tower rides.
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Video footage courtesy of:
Canada’s Wonderland
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Coaster Studios
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Theme Park Maniacs
/ themeparkmaniacs
Video Links:
Official POV - Drop Tower - Canada's Wonderland
• Official POV - Drop To...
Power Tower Off-Ride Cedar Point HD 60fps
• Power Tower Off-Ride C...
Zumanjaro Drop of Doom Off-Ride Six Flags Great Adventure Worlds Tallest Drop Tower
• Zumanjaro: Drop of Doo...
Canada's Wonderland: Scream Zone Drop Tower off Ride POV / August 26, 2014 / 1080p
• Canada's Wonderland: S...
Carowinds: Scream Zone Drop Tower off Ride POV / July 12, 2014
• Carowinds: Scream Zone...
Dorney Park Demon Drop off ride POV 1080p
• Dorney Park: Demon Dro...
Dorney Park Dominator Down off Ride POV 1080p
• Dorney Park: Dominator...
Dorney Park Dominator UP off Ride POV 1080p
• Dorney Park: Dominator...
Kings Dominion: Drop Tower / On Ride POV / June 19, 2015
• Kings Dominion: Drop T...
Kings Dominion: Drop Tower / On Ride POV / May 9, 2015
• Kings Dominion: Drop T...
Kings Island: Drop Tower / Off Ride POV / August 21, 2015
• Kings Island: Drop Tow...
Anubis Free Fall Tower Onride POV | Holiday Park
• Anubis Free Fall Tower...
Busch Gardens Tampa- Falcon's Fury on ride (2014)
• Busch Gardens Tampa- F...
Photo Links:
1939 New York World's Fair
www.flickr.com...
The Drop Zone at King's Dominion
www.flickr.com...
Coney Island Boardwalk
commons.wikime...
Parachute Tower at Chesterfield in Derbyshire
commons.wikime...
Leviathan Brake Run
commons.wikime...
Photographs of the Parachute Jump licensed from Glasshouse Images / Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo
Music from Epidemic Sound
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#DropTower #Themeparks #ArtofEngineering

[@ArtofEngineering]

Thanks for _dropping_ in!

[@irooki9857]

🗿

[@midievalcat7770]

Art of Engineering please no

[@ChadWSmith]

Happy Father's Day to that Dad Joke.

[@AmusementLabs]

*facepalm*

[@bobsagget823]

thanks for shoving 2 minutes of ads and reminders to subscribe and pay you on patreon i wont be doing that :) another toxic channel

[@Maltanx]

Unpopular opinion: towers that shoots you up at high speed are much better than simple drop towers, expecially if the fast climb is immediately followed by a free fall. That way you basically experience two rides in one with also the brief but intense moment of absence of weight when you reach the top. BTW, amazing video as always! With your consistent and great production quality there shouldn't even be the need to say it anymore

[@flipclone]

hell yeah, i love the pneumatic ride better, shoot up, experience weightlessness for a second or two, then drop!

[@user-K8T]

I'm a big fan of the fear and intimidation factor. I want to reconsider all the choices in my life that lead me to getting on that godforsaken ride before it drops me.

[@hoshimaruhajime7933]

I really love 🍎

[@tsunghan_yu]

Is that unpopular? lol

[@sleet1650]

余宗翰 yeah this seems like a really popular opinion. “I like my rides to be more thrilling!”

[@ecoomber]

I was really excited when I saw the aerial views of Canada's Wonderland at the start!

[@samgu619]

Agreed.

[@dewitter323]

me too! what a feeling seeing some familiar views

[@aidanmanuel7254]

Me too! I live about an hour away and I visit frequently

[@bucci6344]

Would make sense, Art of Engineering is Canadian!!

[@DRockeh]

Same here. I once worked at Canada’s wonderland. Drop Zone was my first year ride group:)

[@lovelydolltime8006]

The drop tower: The ride where you get exited for in line, freak out once you get to the top, and then want to go on again when the ride is over.

[@megomi652]

Felt that

[@thesily]

exactly

[@moritzvh1702]

So true

[@sarahnade8663]

This actually makes drop rides far less scary when I know its practically impossible for them to not slow down at the bottom.

[@Kudown]

Yup science👌

[@cssSUL]

except the kid that died the other year died because the harness malfunctioned

[@mandi8345]

@@cssSUL And THAT is what keeps me off of rides that go upside down or too high.... Im mechanically inclined, I didnt build it, Im not maintaining it, I have no idea who is.....No thank you. Still love puke rides (carnival rides, like scrambler, octopus, the UFO, zipper, etc), and wooden coasters. but yeah...all it takes is for someone to get in the habit of not checking a pin, or they do check the pin but that pin has a flaw in the metal....NOPEITY NOPE NOPE!!!

[@mandi8345]

I was the same way with airliners and their wings....until I saw a video of how they test them. They literally strap the plane down, put a winch on the wing tip, and bend it till it breaks. Go check one of those videos out, I guarantee the wing tip goes far higher than you thought it would...

[@tristramcoffin926]

I love roller coasters but I find drop towers much more frightening.

[@Br1ttany1992]

Me too! I can't ride drop towers but I could ride roller coasters for days.

[@randomvideosn0where]

I don't find either frightening, the only ride that really got me was the water slide with free fall at the top. When the floor dropped out there was definitely a moment.

[@abbymango3452]

I rode one too many drop towers and now I’m afraid of elevators

[@pypeapple]

Right? any coaster any day, but a 100 ft tower is a hard pass

[@irrelevance3859]

Same. This is why I have never been on one lmao. They're frightening. I'll stick to roller coasters

[@ragnarok9899]

Is the pneumatic tower really a better and safer design? I'm not not an expert by any means, but a ride that relies on pistons and cables literally running through compressed air containers, and you just have to hope the seal holds, just *feels* worse than a magnet which has no moving parts and just works, even if you need the extra hydraulics at the end to soften the fall.

[@JannikVogel]

I'd also be interested in more details about this. And maybe analogous situations to explain the forces / pressure that is involved. How strong are those cylinders? What do those seals look like? ... I'm impressed you can have such a long pressurized cylinder in this mode of operation (repeated changes of pressure, outdoors, very long, cables/seals which probably have a lot of friction, ..).

[@keco185]

It doesn’t seem safer. On a side note I remember an instance of a cable snapping on one of these and getting caught on a rider and severing their feet. I’m guessing this setup requires extra maintenance to make sure the cable traveling through the seal doesn’t wear and if that maintenance isn’t performed, the ride becomes less safe.

[@annelorraine9529]

keco185 What you’re talking about actually happened on one of the magnetic breaking Intamin models, Superman Tower of Power at Kentucky Kingdom. The lift cable was worn down and not properly maintained and snapped mid-lift, wrapping itself around her foot. The ride operator failed to notice this and stop the ride, allowing the “drop” to take place. The force of the free fall pulling on the snapped cable wrapped around her leg was what severed it, not the cable breaking itself

[@ma9c]

@@keco185 actually that accident happened on an electromagnetic brake tower from Intamin in Kentucky kingdom. The cables were from the catch car that lifts the vehicle, not from the dropping mechanism. It wasn't properly maintained.

[@VIctorAbicalil]

It probably has other safety features for the case of emergencies, just like regular elevators.

[@fatha2092]

So, can this magnetic braking system can be used for an elevator emergency brake?

[@erwanrc8117]

Great question !

[@Maltanx]

Yes, they are already used in some elevators. The final brake is done by basically putting a giant spring or a piston at the end of the shaft

[@Stubwood_on_YT]

Tom Scott made a video which uses magnets, kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZW3pJV8iJmro6s

[@DomDoesCoasters]

Not really... This braking system is quite expensive, worth the investment if its intentionally being used every 30 seconds over and over again, but in an elevator where it will never be used unless there is a catastrophic failure its just not worth it, also elevators are already really safe as they are Another issue is that these brakes are so safe BECAUSE they are permanent, they can't ever be switched off, this is great for safety, but remember we do have to lift the dropcar up there in the first place, this means you will always have a braking force applied to the dropcar as it is pulled up, but remember, the faster the dropcar the greater the breaking force. basically the drop car starts off being lifted very slowly to minimise the braking force but speeds up once it clears the brakes if you built an elevator with this system it would be REALLY slow and inefficient and a lot more expensive without any actual benefit because they're already really safe and accidents are extremely rare.

[@FireCat_P]

Elevators already have more usefully braking safety systems

[@eoinforkan1442]

leaving cert engineering how are ye doing

[@solidsumo1976]

who ever set the maximum dimension to 400mm was smoking crack. also don't forget to list your sources lads.

[@lukeflynn6301]

sources: Google@@solidsumo1976

[@chaumas]

"Safety is the number one priority at any amusement park." Action Park has entered the chat.

[@StasherDragon]

Saw the docu on HBO Max. Wow! What a mess!!!

[@triple7marc]

Action Park wasn't an amusement park. It was a water park.

[@chaumas]

@@triple7marc First of all, waterparks are amusement parks. It's just a subset. Secondly, Action Park was not only a water park.

[@triple7marc]

@@chaumas I don't personally consider waterparks to be amusement parks. Amusement parks focus on mechanical dry rides, and while Action Park did have an S&S drop tower, it resembled a family entertainment center and water park way more than it did an amusement park.

[@chaumas]

@@triple7marc I guess you're free to personally define words however you want, but that's not the way other people use them. Waterparks are generally understood to be a subset of amusement parks, and Action Park had a number of land based attractions.

[@Jonas95]

The best pneumatic free-fall I have ever done is probably Mystery castle at Phantasialand. There is a very impressive thematisation and a whole story told with 3 different fall-patterns that are randomly displayed during the day and it is completely in the dark. Very thrilling experience if you like free-fall rides

[@mirvha714]

Hands down my fav was the original Universal Studios Tower of Terror (when it was first released). It went up and down rougly 10 times and had 12 different patterns. You are fully enclosed only to see how high you really are when the elevator door opens to reveal the outside world. They changed how it operates now, so it's no longer as varbible.

[@Br1ttany1992]

Drop rides are the only rides that legit scare me 😂

[@Sp00kq]

Yea same. I can handle 103 foot drops on roller coasters with no issue, but drop towers are the rides that scare me a little bit

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The Parachute Jump! Nicknamed the Eiffel Tower of Brooklyn. That was the tallest structure at the 1939 World’s Fair. Moved to Coney Island in 1941. It was abandoned for a while after it closed, several people even tried climbing it. Luckily there’s been a restoration and it was renovated with LED lights

[@kasity]

I live in Gothenburg in Sweden where we have a 90 meter intamin droptower and I just love regretting my life choices when taking the long journey up and then screaming at the top of my lungs when it falls. The ride is called AtmosFear if you want to see a POV :)

[@ThunderDashHub]

Love drop towers. They are intense but loads of fun. PS. With my perfect pitch, I've determined that the highest pitch produced by the magnetic fields and eddy currents when the gondola travels through the magnetic brakes is a G#3 on early intamin drop towers (the 4-gondola version). This pitch correlates with the speed of the car. It sounds like a synthesized descending glissando.

[@ReviewTyme]

Another spectacular video, the struggle to fight through After Effects definitely paid off! Drop Towers will forever be the most terrifying rides for me, no matter how many of them I go on!

[@Ayare4]

These are my favorites because it’s really the only thing making my adrenaline pumping.

[@benjaminarnold741]

It’s brilliant to finally see an explanation of my favourite amusement rides. You can keep your rollercoasters. Just give me an intamin gen 2 and I’m good

[@Benderboy121898]

When I was a kid I would go to my country's only proper Amusement/Theme Park, Oakwood. There's a ride there called 'Bounce'. It's a drop tower ride that uses pneumatics. But as you can probably deduce from it's name, it had a car that went all around the main tower, however was square-shaped. The ride would start by shooting you high into the sky, and I always remember the violent hissing and screeching of the ride that just added to the terror and anticipation. Then it would fall after reaching two thirds up, then come down and bounce a few times. Then it would fully lift you up slowly, and hold you for a few seconds and the ride operators would always fake a countdown and drop you without knowing. You would then plummet and bounce up and down a few times before coming to a gentle landing. That ride was probably the most (or joint-second) fun ride in the entire park! But as you can imagine, with H&S getting stricter and stricter as the years went on, it ended up transitioning to just a regular old drop tower, as it did tend to jar you and hurt your back a little. That park is dead now. They try to revitalise it and keep it going, but it's so run down and boring, it's just not worth the insanely expensive £30 entry. Plus there's like literally only one place to get a takeaway burger from and it's super expensive.

[@paul-wieting]

Thank you for the theme park videos. Very nice animations.

[@MrMichelNL]

Best droptower I have been on is the one at phantasialand. Theming is top notch and the experience is something else. Also, kinda spoopy

[@viddork]

Is that the one where you're inside the tower?

[@lumarc5513]

0:00 nice footage from wonderland, thats my home park

[@princesscadance197]

Yeah... Even if these things go through extensive research, testing and maintenance, still not riding one, ever.

[@amigman7199]

Ok, boomer

[@mozarteanchaos]

@@amigman7199 can people not be scared of things these days

[@jodyjohnson265]

I got to ride my first drop Tower ride and it was awesome it was a traveling fair ground version of the ride it's always great to be educated on flat rides

[@pringlesthegoose1702]

I loved the Leviathan cameo! My favourite ride at Wonderland. Even better than the Yukon Striker in my opinion!

[@toxdazcubing]

the canadas wonderland drop tower u showed at the beginning is the only drop tower ive been on.

[@Sindollx666x]

1:46 looks like "The Edge " which was bright orange in California at Marriott's/Paramount's Great America for years. I loved that ride!

[@triple7marc]

Yep, same model!

[@AmusementInsiders]

Your videos are absolutely amazing!

[@vinycius35]

Awesome content, congratulations! Drop Towers are my favorite kind of flat rides in a amusement park. It’s very interesting how it works.

[@195511SM]

Back in the 1990s, I happened to be at Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, CA....when there was a widespread power outage from Canada to Mexico. I wasn't on any rides at the time, but spent a couple of hours walking around, waiting for the park to come back online. I remember seeing riders still locked into their seats.....but it was at the very bottom of the tower. They just couldn't get the harnesses to raise, so that people could get out of the seats.

[@triple7marc]

That means that the restraints are locked in the event of a power failure, which is a safety feature. If the carriage was on the top of the tower, you wouldn’t want the restraints to open if the power goes out.

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Drop Zone is always my 1st hit at Wonderland!! Gets me every time!!

[@FromtheWindowSeat]

I love drop towers. Great to understand how they work. Thanks! 👍

[@pjfleury4]

I want to know more about the cable seals on the pneumatic tower. How can a moving cable pass through this air tight tank at suck high pressures without air leaks?

[@shawnspencer8766]

There is actually always air leaking through the cable seals. It used high density rubber tight on the cable and grease to help it pass through the seal. Since there is always a small amount of air leaking, the gondola will always slowly return to the ground in the event of a power failure, making it virtually impossible to get stuck on one of these rides

[@oakraidergrl4lif]

My first and only drop tower was Supreme Scream at Knotts Berry Farm California...Over 300 feet in the air. Never again.

[@Project_EG2]

Supreme Scream at Knott’s Berry Farm is king.

[@excavateboy]

I'd like to see the design of those cable air seals on the compressed air system

[@billofwrights7695]

I have ridden three drop towers; all of them being pneumatic types. These towers shoot passengers to the top. In anticipation of this, I usually say “And…we’re…LAUNCHING!” when the ride cycle begins.

[@gumerzambrano]

Drop of doom at six flags always gets me the chills

[@Zanezzzzzzzzz]

i cant wait to see one of these and try to paraphrase this video

[@TrashBulldogProductions]

The Supreme Scream drop tower at Knott's Berry Farm is definetly an air system. You can hear the pressurized air being released from the street once the passenger car reaches the top. Nice video.

[@triple7marc]

That is correct!

[@hardcoreuproar2322]

I first went on that in 2000

[@jasminejohnston6393]

Thanks for the info but I’m still not ready for Playland At The PNE’s Hellevator...

[@Lettuce2.]

0:01 : that's a boomerang...I'm leaving

[@nick5422]

U realize the camera was on the drop tower, right?

[@DennisGr]

i love the drop tower. i can't really do roller coasters because i get really sick to my stomach from all the janky movements. the tower is perfect tho, it provides a thrill which does not make me sick to my stomach. i ride every one i see here in germany.

[@hayleyb1981]

RIP to my local electromagnetic intamin drop tower, Drayton manor. It was called Apocalypse. I used to be able to see it from my window.

[@sml2k186]

Living next to kings island it’s nice to understand how drop tower works

[@andreicampbell6299]

We have the same drop ride in New Zealand theme park called rainbows end. It's called the fear fall

[@tachibanacanada1978]

Yay, another vid!

[@6speedguy845]

drop towers are one of my favorite types of amusement rides

[@adamcg1112]

RIP to the PittFall. Kennywood Park, Pittsburgh PA

[@ItsPhillip]

Please do 'How Disney's Rattatoiie Ride Works'! I love it so much and really want to know how the effects work!!!

[@gabrielhuke-jenner7030]

this channel is so underrated

[@chefyirecetachina8386]

字幕翻译很不错，能看得懂！ 感谢分享

[@zilchdevotegaming6710]

I always love seeing my local amusement park in these :)

[@PainekattilaStudiosOfficial]

can you make same kind of video about the gravitron?

[@DanielRodriguez-wp4fo]

Falcons Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay makes me pucker up every time .

[@Joypyf]

Very informational video! 👍🏼Thanks for explanation! ☺️

[@NebulaShadow3280]

Can you do a video about the safety mechanism for these rides?

[@UKFunfairsTV]

Loved this! Very informative and helpful 👍🏻

[@ChrisJones-gx7fc]

For me it's not so much the drop I'm scared of (I've ridden Tower of Terror and loved it!), it's being that high up in the air. In a dark ride you don't know how high up you are, and only feel the sensation of falling without seeing it.

[@natethegamer24]

Haha I knew it gotta love Canada's Wonderland

[@jaystarr6571]

Operating a drop tower can be a lot of fun too.

[@carolinegoossens1987]

I never operated one, but during the waiting time, I like to watch the reactions of other people.

[@djaydeved]

alwase wondered how those things worked i remeber riding the one at an amusment park years back, back when thats something i did (it was basicly me and my family going out and having fun for the day) i know its a pnumatic one it would make theses wierd noises kinda a high pitch air release and then send you in the air before droping you, then going back upp then down and so on then it would stop

[@alisonfink474]

My 8 year old son tackled the Drop Tower alone. Gutsy little twerp was the only one willing to take the dare. I wish I was there with him. Gutsy little twerp! I'm so proud of him!

[@CoasterLabs]

Thanks

[@FELiPES101]

nice transition

[@jordanrader9281]

What's 2 the meanings of lyf

[@mrb5217]

I recognized the pneumatic one from Roller Coaster Tycoon.

[@IainHendry]

Fantastic video - well done!

[@AsifTown]

It’s all fun and games till you shit your pants during Doctor Doom's Fearfall.

[@buttercup.1004]

I’ve been waiting for this

[@MixTuBOGirlBoY]

Thanks for these amazing videos. Please make more 😃😃😃

[@brady_06]

I'm a seasoned coaster enthusiast. Drop Towers are still terrifying

[@StefanReich]

My God I was in one of these and it was a spiritual experience. Truly amazing

[@hardcoreuproar2322]

The one at Portaventura (84m) shakes intensely as you're coming down. Intamin. When it breaks & you're standing it's a bit rough.

[@----5247]

That's Canadas wonderland :D

[@eggyegg7424]

I honestly hate Drop towers, I'm not scared I just disgust that feeling of being slammed down. But there is difference between towers, I absolutely love the towers where you get launched from the bottom with air. It's so different, you truly feel the freedom of freefall at the highest point instead of just getting some G's smacked on your head.

[@TritoneTrickster]

Great video, still not going on them LMAO. I felt sick just watching them drop haha!

[@davidsael21]

can you do a video about transmission towers?

[@AnasMations]

ok this was really cool

[@theanarchist9733]

1:56 I know that one! i live right down the street!

[@MatthewStinar]

8:26 "Safety is the number one priority," said no private equity partner ever.

[@davidlincolnbrooks]

I'm old enough to have ridden one of those early drop towers in which the car rolls 90-deg at the bottom in order to slow down.

[@bsperoz]

5:15 So SCREAM at SFNE is that then (I know because t has those hydraulic things a the bottom)

[@jtill683]

here after the 14 y/0 boy passed away 🙏🏾

[@reginonegron955]

8:20 omg is that from the theme park Maniacs 😢

[@adamrodgers9175]

What are their safety features if all fails.

[@triple7marc]

Why don't you watch the video? Everything is explained.

[@Jaemeli]

I didn’t watch the full video so idk if this is discussed in it but what are the air tanks for on drop towers? I always hear them filling up with air and then it launches the riders into the air but then i hear these sort of thud sounds that sound like they are coming from the air tank. I was wonder what that was.

[@shawnspencer8766]

That's what we call the turbo tank. System air for the ride valves are separate and always on. The turbo tank will fill when ready (that's the air you hear) charging the other side of the piston to launch. The thud you hear is the piston starting to compress on the supply side, which in turn causes you to bounce.

[@Jaemeli]

@@shawnspencer8766 oh pretty cool

[@Jaemeli]

@@shawnspencer8766 the sound is like a shock wave ish sound, just making sure we’re thinking of the same sound lol

[@shawnspencer8766]

@@Jaemeli yah, it happens when the gondola is about half way down right? Right before it's starts to decelerate before the bounce is when you hear it?

[@luismurillo9610]

Cable snapping, wrapping around your ankle and ripping them off.

[@antoineosburn3435]

Loved it.

[@siechamontillado]

That intro do me a scared.

[@gig78000]

I remember the first time I went on a 100m free fall tower. It was... terrifying. :D

[@colunhk]

impressive

[@magiclarry7688]

Do they harness the electricity produced during the magnetic braking system?

[@Ravaxr]

No, and I don't want them to. In order to harvest the electricity, you need to have coils of wire insulated from each other that the magnetic field passes through. If you break the wire at any point by even the tiniest amount, then the braking effect _disappears completely_ Here's a video demonstrating this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXaxmJeJe52jpqM The wire in the coil is enamel coated, so the wires are insulated from each other except right at the end where it was scraped off. With plates that are not harvested, the current can flow freely through the plate, and so long as the plate goes between the magnets, it will brake the car every single time.

[@RicJG7]

@@Ravaxr nice yeah that makes sense, can't have that current freely flowing

[@bootlegcaesar7481]

the electromagnetic solutions seems so much more elegant to me

[@Kana0211]

The 2drop tower at the 6 flags I go to goes up slowly and drops down and goes back up and comes back down and does it a 3rd time. A 3rd tower shoots you up and comes back down a few times. Edit just found out he explained it lol.

[@terrysansom3862]

Shame you didnt include the other method involving hydraulics and wire ropes such as is used by the italian company sbf

[@ludwigvanbeethoven61]

Could be used for a space elevator, doesn't it?

[@zXDaishiXz]

Over the years I've seen people get stuck in the magnetic kind part way down (near the start of the break zone). Is this because the magnets are too strong and wasn't calibrated properly?

[@triple7marc]

The magnets can't be too strong. You probably saw them get stuck on the way up.

[@Ravaxr]

The way magnetic brakes work is that the car has to move relative to the fin or magnet for it to apply force. The faster the fins and magnet move relative to each other, the greater the current flowing through the fin and the greater the resistive force. If the fin and magnet are stationary, then they don't put out any force at all. The effect of this on a drop tower is that once the brakes engage as the car falls, they put out maximum force as the car is moving fast, and as the car slows down it smoothly tapers off the force until it reaches an equillibrium, where the speed the car goes down the tower puts out a certain amount of resistance that exactly matches the weight of the car. This is why magnetic brakes are always paired with friction brakes or pistons to fully stop the train or car, because once you get to a certain slow speed, the magnetic brakes do almost nothing. They can't bring it to a complete stop, but the lack of moving parts, wear, and the smooth comfortable taper of the braking force makes them very popular for modern coasters.

[@leeowen4989]

As an engineer I think this video is excellent as always. However your description of S&S towers isn't quite correct. The large cylinder in the middle is the main air receiver and this can take up to 10 minutes to pressurise to 120psi depending on the size of the compressor. This tank is divided into 3 seperate sections which are isolated from each other. The middle section is supplied by the compressor and is maintained between 100 and 120psi. The upper section is the shot tank, this is filled by the middle section after the car is weighed and is then re-isolated from the system. When the ride is in the launch position and the shot tank is at the calculated pressure which is usually between 70 and 85psi, the shot tank is opened up to the 4 cylinders using an enormous electro-pneumatic gate valve. After completing the space shot, the car is raised to the top of the tower and held by the brakes. The bottom section of the centre tank, called the turbo tank, is filled to about 30psi. There is no gate valve at the bottom however, so the pressure in the turbo tank is applied to the bottom of the pistons at the same time as the tank is filled. The brakes release allowing the pistons to shove the car back down. An interesting safety feature of the S&S towers is that the restraints can't be opened if there is more than about 12psi still in the shot tank when the car is back on the ground. So if you have just had a ride on one and there is a delay of more than a minute or so in letting you off, this is likely the reason why.

[@shawnspencer8766]

That's cool. The one at the park I work at operates a little differently, sounds like it's probably an older model. I'm sure the letdown valves are still the 4-20ma positioning valves though on the tower you work on?

[@Henrix1998]

8:15 also because they require almost no area