Blue Hawk
Specific Type: MK-1200
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Six Flags Over Georgia was the second park to wave the Six Flags banner. It was opened in 1967 to build on the success of Six Flags Over Texas. The park grew over time and for the 1992 season they were looking to add a new signature steel coaster. They were able to buy Kamakazi, a large Vekoma custom looper when Conko’s Party Pier of Wildwood, NJ went bankrupt. They relocated the ride to Georgia and changed the name to Ninja, which would become the tallest and loopiest coaster at the park when it was installed. The park decided that for the 2016 season the coaster would be given a major renovation. The fans were given a choice of names to vote on as part of the revitalization. The name Blue Hawk won and the ride was given a military theme complete with a new blue paint job for the track, and grey for the supports. The renovation was not just superficial the whole track was inspected and repaired as necessary. Two new trains were purchased as well that featured improved vest style restraints that replaced the uncomfortable old over the shoulder style restraints. The overall goal was to improve the ride quality with smoother track and new trains. The coaster was featured in the 2015 film “Vacation” where the coaster represented Velociraptor at the fictional theme park Wally World.
Riders enter the station and choose their row, once the train is lock and checked the ride op yells, “All clear, all clear means you’re out of here!”. The train dips slightly and gain some inertia, the track turns to the right. The track leads over the water and climbs the 122 foot tall lift hill. Riders ascend right next to the complex and compact layout. The coaster was originally designed to fit on a pier at a seaside park, this leads the track to look like a complex knot ready to be pulled tight. The train crests the apex of the lift and dives in a banked main drop, at the bottom the train is going 52 MPH. The track skims the water and then rises sharply into a butterfly, a double inversion element. The track banks hard around to the left for a long wide banked turn and enters a Reverse Sidewinder, an element very similar to a Dive Loop where the entry and exit are perpendicular. The track gradually ascends and then banks to the left leading into the final element a double corkscrew. The train meanders around an S-turn and enters the brake run. This used coaster with hand me down trains has finally been given its own identity, and has been rejuvenated for the next generations of thrill seekers. |
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