Flying Coaster

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B&M Flying Coaster Air in Alton Towers

When Flying (Roller) Coaster ( English for Flying roller coaster ) is called steel coasters in which the cars hang from the rail and where the passengers are taking a more or less lying on his stomach, "flying" position while driving.

Technically, the railways are related to the Suspended Coaster and Inverted Coaster, which also run under the rails . One of the special features of the Flying Coaster is that the lying position of the passengers also allows rollover to the front, which, with the exception of the 4th Dimension Coaster, is not possible with any other type of roller coaster. Furthermore, the trains can only run through loops if the passengers are lying on their backs when entering. The necessary lateral rotation of the train by 180 ° is called Fly To Lie (from flying to lying). If the train is then brought back into the position in which the passengers are lying under the train, then one speaks of Lie To Fly (from lying to flying).

The first system of this type was Skytrak in Granada Studios ( Manchester , England ). This railway, opened in 1997, with single wagons on a single-pipe rail for one person each, was only operated for almost a year due to technical problems and was later demolished.

Vekoma "Flying Dutchman" Batwing , in the foreground Fly To Lie in front of the station

In 2000, the first system built by Vekoma under the product name "Flying Dutchman" and named Stealth opened in the amusement park California’s Great America ( Santa Clara , California ) . In contrast to Skytrak , which technically resembled a suspended coaster with cars swinging out to the side, trains were used here similar to an inverted coaster with six cars for four people each. However, when boarding, the trains run on the rails and are only turned into the "flight position" after the lift hill. The passengers get on in a sitting position and are folded back into a lying position. Due to the rather rigid position to the rail, inversions are also possible with this type . At the IAAPA fair in 2008, Vekoma presented a new type of flying coaster called “Stingray”, which enables significantly more compact systems and for which the trains have also been redesigned.

Another type of construction similar to the Skytrak , but with a non-swinging car for two people, the Hoei Sangyo company was built in 2001 in Fuji-Q Highland ( Fujiyoshida , Japan ) as Birdman . After an accident with two injured people in the same year, the track was closed again and reopened in 2003 as the Inverted Coaster Fuwa Fuwa Osora No Dai-Bouken .

Seats of a B&M Flying Coaster in entry and driving position

The company Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) built their first two Flying Coaster in 2002 in the parks Alton Towers ( Alton , England ) as Air and Six Flags Over Georgia ( Austell , Georgia ) as Superman: Ultimate Flight . Similar to the models from Vekoma, B&M also uses trolleys similar to an inverted coaster with four seats next to each other, but which also hang in the station under the rail. The passengers are seated in the station, then the seats are folded back to the lying position.

The first “Volare Flying Coaster” by Zamperla (a design by Werner Stengel / Ingenieurbüro Stengel, D; construction by Martin & Vleminckx , CH) was opened in 2002 in Elitch Gardens ( Denver , Colorado ). With these roller coasters, single chaise-longues (wagons) are used for four people each. To get on, the car is unfolded, the passenger climbs a kind of small padded ladder, this is then folded upwards (backwards) and locked into place. The position is more horizontal than with the B&M or Vekoma trolleys. Zamperla has already been able to sell six almost identical versions of this train with a relatively small footprint. One of them with the name Volare has been in the Vienna Prater since 2004 .

As a relatively new type of roller coaster, there are so far only a comparatively small number of Flying Coaster systems. An important reason for this are the mechanically more complex trains compared to other railways.

The Flying Coaster type is - according to the engineering office Stengel - to be classified into the following two categories of roller coaster:

  • Inverted Coaster - the passenger "flies" (roughly) in the prone position, i.e. has his legs behind the upper body when viewed in the direction of travel
  • Suspended Coaster - the trolley hangs from the rail.

list

Surname Name reference park place country Manufacturer model opening status
Skytrak Sky path Granada Studios Castlefield, Manchester United Kingdom Skytrak International 1997 Closed in 1998, demolished
comet comet Encounter zone Dubai United Arab Emirates Select Contracts 1998 Closed in 2005, demolished
Batwing Bat wings Six Flags America Largo, Maryland United States Vekoma Flying Dutchman 2001 in operation
Galactica Milky Way Alton Towers Stoke-on-Trent United Kingdom Bolliger & Mabillard Air 2002 in operation
Superman: Ultimate Flight Superman Six Flags Over Georgia Austell, Georgia United States Bolliger & Mabillard 2002 in operation
Flying Coaster Elitch Gardens Denver , Colorado United States Zamperla Volare ("Volare Flying Coaster") May 18, 2002 Closed in 2007, moved to Coney Island
Hero Hero Flamingo Land Kirby Misperton United Kingdom Zamperla Volare July 16, 2013 in operation
Inertia Airplane Car Swing plane Kaeson Youth Park Kaesŏng North Korea Zamperla Volare 2010 in operation
Soarin 'Eagle Circling eagle Scream Zone , Luna Park Coney Island , New York United States Zamperla Volare April 2011, from formerly Denver in operation
Speed ​​roller coaster Speed ​​roller coaster Yancheng Chunqiu Amusement Land Wujin China Zamperla Volare 2012 in operation
NN NN Ankapark Ankara Turkey Zamperla Volare As of December 2016: Park opening announced for June 2017 under construction
Superman: Ultimate Flight Highest flight Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, New Jersey United States B&M 2003 in operation
Superman: Ultimate Flight Highest flight Six Flags Great America Gurnee, Illinois United States B&M 2003 in operation
Witch broom Witch broom Thale adventure world cable cars Thale Germany Wiegand 2003 in operation
Nighthawk
formerly Stealth 		Night hawk / night owl Carowinds
California's Great America
California
United States		 Vekoma

 2004
2000 		in operation
dismantled in 2003
Flying Coaster Genting Theme Park
(since 2016: Genting New Theme Park) 		Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Zamperla Volare December 2004 Closed on August 31, 2013
Great flight Playland Rye , New York United States Zamperla Volare 2004 in operation
Time Warp (2004-2007: Tomb Raider: The Ride) Star Trek technology Canada's Wonderland Vaughan , Ontario Canada Zamperla Volare 2004 in operation
Volare To fly (ital.) Wiener Prater Vienna Austria Zamperla Volare, modified April 3, 2004 in operation
Trombi tornado Särkänniemi Tampere Finland Zamperla Volare April 30, 2005 in operation
Tatsu Dragon (jap.) Six Flags Magic Mountain Santa Clarita , California United States B&M 2006 in operation
Crystal Wing Happy Valley Beijing China B&M 2006 in operation
Firehawk
formerly X-Flight 		Kings Island
Geauga Lake 		Kings Mills , Ohio United States Vekoma

 2007
2001 		October 28, 2018 closed
dismantled 2006
manta Giant manta ray SeaWorld Orlando Orlando , Florida United States B&M 2009 in operation
Starry Sky Ripper Starry Ripper World Joyland Wujin , Jiangsu China B&M 2011 in operation
Acrobat acrobat Nagashima Spa Land Kuwana , Mie Japan B&M 2015 in operation
Flying dinosaur Flying dinosaur Universal Studios Japan Konohana, Osaka Japan B&M 03/18/2016 in operation
FLY Flying Phantasialand Bruehl Germany Vekoma TBA under construction

literature

Web links

Commons : Flying Coaster  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Phantasialand: A flying coaster for the new steampunk theme world Rookburgh? Retrieved October 4, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Zijn dit de karretjes van de nieuwe flying coaster in Phantasialand? In: Looopings . August 13, 2017 ( looopings.nl [accessed October 4, 2017]).