| 摘要 |
<p>An amusement ride for catapulting a human rider, enclosed within a capsule, into the air in much the same fashion as ancient armies would hurl large boulders over the walls of castles. The ride provides many of the sensations and thrills encountered by fighter pilots launching from the decks of aircraft carriers without the requirement for flight training or the associated dangers. The ride essentially consists of a siege type catapult and a releasably connected launch pod. When in the launch position, a release mechanism is triggered by the operator and the rider is catapulted into the air at a physiologically safe rate of acceleration along a predictable free-flight arc. When an acceptable elevation is reached, the rider is separated from the capsule and gently brought back to earth using an automatically deploying parachute or similar device. An alternate embodiment envisions the use of a similar device to project a conveyance vehicle along a horizontal track similar to a stone skipping across the water.</p> |
