Specific Type: Wing Coaster
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Six Flags Great America has been one of the “pioneers” of the modern steel coasters. They were put on the map back in 1990 by the first B&M coaster, Iron Wolf (which has been relocated to Six Flags America to open in 2012, where it will open as Apocalypse: the Last Stand). This Stand-Up coaster was one of the most high-tech coasters of its day, with high capacity and low maintenance costs. Two years later, the park opened Batman the Ride, the first suspended coaster to feature inversions, which B&M called the Inverted Coaster. Batman the Ride was an instant hit not only because of its theme, but also its low maintenance costs, capacity, and its compactness. The ride was cloned many times, even outside of the Six Flags chain. Then in 1999, the tallest coaster at Six Flags Great America opened, Raging Bull. This was the second B&M megacoaster, and differentiated a lot from the first. Raging Bull was more similar to the Coney Island Cyclone than Apollo’s Chariot, the first B&M Megacoaster. A couple years later, in 2003, Great America opened its fourth B&M coaster, Superman: Ultimate Flight. This ride was very unique for the fact that it set riders in a face-down position, which gives the illusion of flying.
Now Six Flags Great America is going to open its fifth B&M Coaster: X-Flight. X-Flight is a newer type of B&M Coaster, called a Wing Coaster. A Wing Coaster is exactly how you would imagine it, a coaster with seats on the side of the track instead of above or below it. The ride is competing with Dollywood to be the first Wing Coaster in America. Dollywood’s ride, Wild Eagle, is very similar to X-Flight, but uses the park’s terrain to its advantage. Wild Eagle is 210’ high, but doesn’t seem that tall from the ground. The lift is built in to a natural hill, and rises about 70’ above the apex of the hill. However, the ride does pack a punch, with four inversions along a 3127’ long course. Heading to the old lot of Splashwater Falls and the old Antique Cars in the County Fair park section, future riders find a newer looking ride with similar colors. Once riders are seated on their wings, they pull down their shoulder restraints and buckle their seatbelts. After the thumbs up is given, riders are out of the station and up the 120’ lift. Once the train crests the top, it heads into a dive bomb element, one of the first B&M coasters to feature it. Then the ride flies up into a zero-g-roll, which goes through a tunnel and up into an immelman, which turns on the opposite side of the direction it goes, similar to Krake at Heide-Park Soltau. The trains dive under a segment of track and turn to the right, into another smaller zero-g-roll. After a turn to the left, the ride flies through an inline roll, which goes through a structure. After another turn to the left, the trains hop up into the final brake run. |
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