All language subtitles for The.Mightiest.S02E01.Need.for.Speed.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-Kitsune_track3_[eng]

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.