Mega Drop doesn’t equal megadeath

(My husband’s favorite story of me being scared of heights involves bluff jumping near my hometown of Mountain Home, Ark. He had just made a monumental leap of probably four stories. I was maybe 10 feet above the water, lined up with all the children. I was too scared to jump. Finally, one little girl got sick of me waiting and tried to shove me off. That’s when I finally took the plunge.)

So, if I were to pick an arch nemesis at the state fair, it would be the Mega Drop. It’s approximately 6 billion feet tall. Basically people sit in little chairs, slowly inch their way to the top and then fall 694 stories to the ground. I refuse, refuse, refuse to get on this ride because I’m positive the time I get on it will be the time the braking system doesn’t work.

But that’s the beauty of the Mega Drop. There is not braking system.

I learned this fascinating fact from Frank Zaitshik, the subject of my column on Saturday. Turns out, the Mega Drop doesn’t have to rely on something as trivial as a braking system. It uses the unbreakable rules of physics.