The concept of flying like the birds has always appealed to humans - soaring through the sky, dive-bombing the ground, twirling and looping in one aerial maneuver after another, feeling the wind on your body as you slice through the air - and it was but a mere fantasy until the year 2000, when dream became reality as the concept of flight was applied to its perfect match - a steel coaster. In Santa Clara, California, Stealth was unveiled as the world's first ever 'flying' coaster - the first extreme ride ever to send passengers soaring - head first - Superman-style through the air. The coaster was a pure success, with seven years of brainstorming and engineering behind it and a layout packed with aerial maneuvers. But Stealth would reign no longer as the ultimate flying coaster. In 2001, Largo, Maryland's Six Flags America pulled the wraps off of Batwing - a flying coaster with more flight time and a longer course than any that had gone before (along with Ohio's Six Flags Worlds of Adventure's X-Flight), riders traveling up a 115-foot lift on their backs before the track flips to an inverted position and passengers fly. And although looking to Batman's high-speed aircraft for its theme, Batwing deserves the Superman dubbing far more than the neighboring Superman: Ride of Steel ever will with 3,340 feet of yellow track and 1,800 degrees of inversion.

Passengers load onto Batwing in a 4-abreast arrangement and secure double-sided upper restraints and T-shaped lower lap restraints before the 24-rider train moves out of the split loading area with riders traveling backwards. After rounding a 90-degree curve, the journey upwards begins. The seating soon reclines to the lay-down position and riders are treated to a panoramic view of the park from a unique perspective as the lift carries the train to a maximum summit of 12 stories above the ground. Moving over the peak, the train tips over a first dip and begins to pick up speed. Suddenly, a 180-degree twisting, 180-degree curve rolls the train over into an inverted position and thrill seekers face the ground 100 feet below. Riders soar down the first drop Superman-style and then begin the over-banked Horseshoe Curve. Diving back down, a second 180-degree twist flips the train back on top of the track to begin the Vertical Loop head-first, up and around with over 4 g's being pulled. The third U-turning flip sends the ride around the lift-hill and back into the flying position. The track next heads around a banked curve feeding into the Double-Spin element. Leveling back out, Batwing beings the grand finale - a powerful 540-degree helix sending riders flying just inches above the ground. With a final Half-Flip, the train glides into the brake run.