Remember that old swing set you used to play with as a kid? You just couldn't wait till you got your next chance to head over to the local park on the weekend, run to the swing set for recess during the boring school week, or step out into your backyard for some play time. When you sat on that uncomfortable little seat, suspended between those two chains, you transmuted into your favorite superhero. Pumping your legs, trying to reach new altitudes, you could almost touch the sky and grab a cloud in your hands. Maybe as you got older, you would compete with your friends, vying for the most airtime, and even attempt a few death-defying jumps back to the ground. Or maybe, just maybe, that's still you today - the avid thrill-seeker, always looking for the nearest thrill. And maybe that little swing set just isn't the thrill that it once was. Well, if your local playground has a name like Cedar Point, Kennywood, Thorpe Park, or Valleyfair, you may just be in luck.

The past few years, since 2004, some new swing sets have started popping up in various cities around the world, but these swing sets were nothing like the big kids of this world have ever known before. Remember how proud you once were to swing those six humongous feet above the daunting ground? How about multiplying that by about twenty? These new swing sets are more like what you would imagine King Kong to use than any miniscule human being: over ten stories tall, swinging past the top to 125 feet and swooping towards the ground at sixty miles an hour. Not exactly like your normal backyard version. This is the Screamin' Swing, the latest concept taken to the extreme by the folks at S&S Power, the company that spiced up freefall towers with their compressed air in 1995, launched roller coasters off at well over 100 miles an hour in less than two seconds six years later, and has a propensity to take any given idea to the extreme.

The Screamin' Swing concept started off like all of the other concepts from S&S: at the company's factory out in the middle of nowhere near Logan, Utah. Back in the early twenty-first century, S&S was just beginning to branch out from a company known exclusively for their pneumatic freefall tower complexes. The company began introducing new ride concepts arguably even crazier, from giant 265-foot-tall sling shots, to wild mice turned on their sides featuring 180-degree drops, to oversized fly swatters with seating for humans. Then, the idea of an oversized swing set was introduced with a sixty-foot-tall, two-passenger version. Before long, the concept had made its way into amusement parks from Knott's Berry Farm in California to Pennsylvania's Dorney Park, with dual-vehicle, eight-passenger versions. However, these rides soon joined the ranks of skycoaster and skyscraper attractions, becoming upcharge rides due to their low capacities. Then, it grew to more gargantuan proportions when England's Thorpe Park and Pennsylvania's Kennywood purchased seventy-foot, thirty-two-rider versions. But when the Cedar Fair amusement park's two original parks, Cedar Point and Valleyfair, came into the equation, things were inherently taken to the next level.

Several weeks after Valleyfair announced their version, Xtreme Swing, Cedar Point pulled the veil off their plans for SkyHawk, the larger of the two rides, fitting in Cedar Point tradition, if only by three feet. And the skeptics asked, once more, where on earth does Cedar Point have room to fit another new ride without sacrificing an older attraction? Easy. Cedar Point sacrificed lockers adjacent to the Snake River Falls splashdown ride that had passed their prime. Once SkyHawk gets moving, only a small portion of the ride is actually in close proximity to the ground, meaning that riders simply fly over the heads of pedestrians. The new ride became Sandusky's third addition from S&S Power, the first being 1997's quadruple tower combo Power Tower, and the latter being the late VertiGo, an upcharge Sky Sling ride that fans will recall was removed in the offseason after its debut due to a weather-related incident. Throughout December and January, the new red, white, and blue toy rose over the back of Cedar Point, fitting in as much as possible with the local Frontier Town theme shared by the Cedar Creek Mine Ride mine train coaster and Antique Cars ride, with antique touches given to the new ride and its logo. However, there's nothing even vaguely old-fashioned about this new thrill attraction.

Visitors to Cedar Point entering through the main gate in the morning can take part in the daily "Running of the Bulls" event to get their head start for an early ride on SkyHawk. Heading towards the back of the 365-acre amusement park, guests pass beneath Power Tower and the latest record-holding coaster at the Point, Top Thrill Dragster, on their way to 2006's attraction. Jumping in line just in front of Snake River Falls, thrill-seekers line up to tackle the latest insane S&S creation. Once the ride attendants let the next group of forty loose to board the ride, they take seats on the two vehicles back to back with legs dangling over the concrete launch pad. Half face the midway on the front side of the ride, and the other half face Snake River Falls and Millennium Force farther off. No over-the-shoulder restraints are found on this contraption - just simplistic lap restraints providing riders with an added freedom - and apprehension, in some cases. But riders can rest assured that they'll live to see another day despite the ostensible inadequacy of restraints.

With the all-clear signal, the giant arms above begin moving, swinging each of the cars forward in opposing directions a first time about fifteen feet ahead. Riders then fall backwards - or forwards - a second time, gaining more speed. With the power of compressed air propelling the ride, SkyHawk gains more altitude and velocity with each swing, climbing higher and falling faster towards the midway and Snake River Falls. Finally, after about half a dozen swings, the ride receives its largest burst of energy, sending the two arms surging over the park to reach 120 degrees into the sky. Staring up at the heavens those full thirty degrees beyond vertical, riders' dangling feet float higher into the ethereal domain with several seconds of airtime before the gravity of the situation sinks in again.

Plunging back down, thrill-seekers are sucked to the bottom at sixty miles an hour, their feet passing within inches of the concrete launch pad directly underfoot. The other car whizzes past in the opposite direction at the base, passing by at a combined speed of 120 miles per hour. Another intense swing back up completes the 240-degree arc and leaves riders once more floating peacefully in the sky at a 120-degree angle. With the next swing, the ride decelerates slightly, only reaching a vertical angle at the next extremum. By the tenth swing, SkyHawk has slowed considerably as the air pressure completely ceases propelling the ride and riders are instead slowed. Another three slight swings gradually decrease the angle back to zero degrees and then the two arms meet up again for the unloading process to commence. Back on the solid ground, passengers exit and likely head off to conquer one of Cedar Point's many other attractions, discovering a throng of thrill-seekers filling the queue.

As Cedar Point fans enjoy SkyHawk in 2006, they suspiciously watch a six-acre clearing on the opposite side of Snake River Falls. Is something bigger, something staggeringly bigger, ready to put SkyHawk to shame at the back of the world's largest amusement park? The future grows near.