The thought of being able to fly has probably passed through the minds of every person on the
planet. Soaring through the air, experiencing the world from above, sounds like something
from a dream. With that in mind, it’s really not surprising that we’ve come up with our own ways
to experience flight. Theme parks especially have capitalised on this universal fascination. This is
a flying roller coaster. It’s like a normal roller coaster, but instead of being above the track,
you’re suspended, facing the floor, below it. Flying roller coasters offer an experience
traditional rides simply can’t. With nothing between you and the ground below, you feel as if
you’re soaring independently through the air and instinctively want to assume that Superman pose.
Like all rides, flying roller coasters come in a range of shapes and sizes. Some drag you 52m 170ft
up into the air, whilst others launch you around a heavily twisted layout. But where did the idea
first come from, what makes these types of rides special, and most importantly, how do they work?
The explosion of new types of roller coasters
In the run-up to the new millennia, a flurry of new types of roller coasters appeared.
Traditionally, most roller coasters were the same. You’d board a train which lies above the track and
you’d sit down in your seat - simple. However, this wouldn’t be the only option for long. In
the early 1980s, manufacturers of roller coasters began to experiment with stand-up roller coasters,
which saw guests stand up as they went around the track. Then, in the 1990s,
new rides were designed which saw guests sit below the track, instead of above it,
known as inverted coasters. By the late 90s, the dive coaster had been invented, as had the
classic hypercoaster, and the floorless coaster too! All of these different seating positions
got manufacturers of rides thinking - what other ways could guests experience a roller coaster?
It’s not surprising the idea of a flying coaster popped up next, not just by one company,
but by several. The race to build the world’s first flying roller coaster wasn’t won by one of
the major players in the world of amusement designers, nor a big theme park either.
It was a small company, building a one-of-a-kind ride for a random studios tour amusement park in
the UK. Weird. In 1988, Granada Studios Tour, a theme park, studios tour hybrid attraction,
popped up in Manchester, giving visitors the chance to see various sets from British TV
at the time. The tour was more popular than expected, leading to a range of investments,
including the debut of a new ride. In 1997, Skytrak International debuted its first and
only roller coaster, the Skytrak. The Skytrak became the world’s first flying roller coaster,
one which placed guests on their fronts, facing the ground, as they soared around the twisty
track. The attraction was a ‘solo coaster’. The difficult and slow boarding procedure saw a single
ride climb into the capsule-like ride vehicle, which would raise and lock into position prior
to dispatch. Despite being the first of its kind, the Skytrak was short-lived. It suffered heavily
from reliability issues, the same issues which caused it to open several months late. Sadly,
the ride closed before the end of 1998, operating for less than a year. The entire
tour shut its doors the following year, making the Skytrak a rare experience.
All was not lost, however. The big roller coaster companies were watching. They wanted to continue
their expansion, promising new ride types for theme parks across the world to buy. One of these
was Vekoma, a Dutch amusement rides manufacturer, known at the time for producing a whole host of
roller coasters. Vekoma had recently introduced some new products to their portfolio, including
the suspending looping coaster, the SLC, as well as a suspended version of their well-known compact
roller coaster model, the boomerang. In 1998, California's Great America built one of these
new boomerang rides, named Invertigo. Finding success with Vekoma, the park was intrigued by
a new prototype ride the Dutch manufacturer was offering, nicknamed the Flying Dutchman.
Radical change - Vekoma’s Flying Dutchman The first Vekoma Flying Dutchman, Stealth at
California’s Great America, debuted to the public at the beginning of the year 2000. Unlike Skytrak,
the ride was a proper roller coaster. It featured large 24-rider trains and multiple inversions.
Because of this, the park marketed their ride as “the world’s first true flying coaster” - that’s
a bit mean really. Is this not a roller coaster? Nevertheless, Stealth, known now as Nighthawk,
is considered the world’s first large-scale flying coaster. But, how does it work?
Whilst flying around the layout guests hang below the rides track, but they actually
board the train while it’s above the track. At first, you climb into the four-wide car,
which is angled at 60 degrees. Each seat in the train has three restraint pieces - two
individual harness segments which combine across the chest and a lap bar. Attached to the lap bar
are ankle restraints, which hold your legs in a prone position throughout the ride. Once all of
the restraints have been verified as closed, the magic happens. The entire train begins
to recline backwards. Each row of riders tilts backwards until they’re flat on their
backs. Small wheels resting on metal “blocks” control this movement. As the blocks move down,
the cars recline backwards. On the newest version of the Flying Dutchman, this movement is achieved
through hydraulic pistons, rather than metal “blocks”. Nevertheless, the result is the same.
The trains are in the flying position, albeit, upside down. At this point, the ride begins. You
exit the station and climb up the lift hill. At the top, the second magic thing happens. As the
trains drop off the lift, they rotate 180 degrees, placing you on your front. And, the flying begins!
The Vekoma Flying Dutchman was the world’s first large-scale flying coaster, but like the Skytrak,
it had issues. Firstly, Stealth’s capacity, the number of people able to ride every hour,
wasn’t very good. The entire boarding process was long. The three restraint types, combined
with the additional time required to raise and lower the train, meant it took extra time to
load each vehicle. Secondly, the reliability of Stealth was questionable. The electrical box,
which monitored the train's restraints and the raising and lowering system,
was mounted on each ride vehicle rather than in a separate electrical room. The consistent
g-forces caused these components unnecessary stress, which ultimately affected the ride's
reliability. Their solution at the time? Move the entire roller coaster. Brilliant! Paramount Parks,
the parent company of California’s Great America decided to relocate Stealth to one of its quieter
theme parks, Carowinds. During the relocation, time and money were also spent on improving the
ride’s system, making it more consistent, and ultimately reliable. Stealth opened at Carowinds
in 2004 as Borg Assimilator, before being renamed to Nighthawk, as it remains now, in 2007.
Despite the problems, the novel premise alone was enough to see two more of these rides built. At
the time, Paramount Parks had originally planned to construct new Vekoma Flying Dutchmans at their
other parks. After the problems with Stealth, they reconsidered. In the end, Six Flags
purchased two new flying coasters instead. In 2001, X-Flight opened at Six Flags Worlds
of Adventure and Batwing debuted at Six Flags America. Modifications were made to these rides to
improve their capacity compared to Stealth. Both opened with two loading stations, which are placed
side by side, in parallel, allowing two trains to be loaded at the same time. The additional station
improved each ride’s capacity, despite the extra time required to load and unload guests. Sadly,
this didn’t make this version of the flying coaster any more appealing to theme parks.
Only three Vekoma Flying Dutchman’s were ever built, and just two remain in operation today.
Fortunately for theme parks around the world, Vekoma weren’t the only
roller coaster company looking to sell flying roller coasters.
B&M’s Flying Coaster - Perfecting the design Through the 1990s, a Swiss roller coaster firm
known as Bolliger and Mabillard, B&M for short, had been introducing and perfecting a whole host
of new ride types. In 1992, they introduced the inverted coaster; 1998, the dive coaster,
1999, the floorless coaster - impressive. What was next? The flying coaster. In 2002,
two years after Vekoma, B&M built their first flying coaster, Air at Alton Towers. This wasn’t
the plan, however. Together, Alton Towers and B&M had been planning the flying coaster
for a while. They wanted it to open in 1998. Sadly, technological limitations delayed the
project. Alton Towers’ Oblivion opened in 1998, while Air, and B&M’s flying coaster,
was pushed back to 2002. Nevertheless, Air opened to great fanfare. The ride played heavily on the
flying sensation, featuring a low-to-the-ground, graceful layout, flying-themed TV marketing,
and a flying-themed name, Air, an acronym of Aerial Inversion Ride (apparently).
At face value, B&M’s flying coaster doesn’t look very different from Vekoma’s - they both feature
four-seat wide trains and navigate the majority of the layout suspended underneath the track.
In reality, B&M’s flying coaster works quite differently. Firstly, within the station, the
ride resembles B&M’s inverted coaster. Each car is suspended at a 90-degree angle below the track,
allowing you to board in a familiar way. You pull down a thick vest-like harness, which closes a
pair of ankle restraints at the same time. Once the restraints are locked and have been verified,
the cars tilt upwards towards the track. This is achieved by a metal arm which stretches along the
station on both sides of the train. At the top of each car is a small wheel which rests within
the arm. To begin the ride, the arm is forced down by hydraulic pistons. This causes the top
of each car to pivot forwards, raising you into the flying position. At this point, you’re free
to enjoy the ride. You climb the lift hill, fly down the first drop, and swoop around the track.
Unsurprisingly, B&M’s flying coaster is technically complicated. Alone, the rides
restraint system features multiple redundancies and unique mechanisms to ensure your safety. For
example, the lap bars are locked in using pins on each side. On both sides of the restraint
are gaps that serve as locking points for the lap bar. When locking into position, the pins extend
and are able to click into each locking point. The restraint can tighten, but cannot be opened.
Prior to dispatch, the pins extend completely and are fully locked. Additional pins attached to the
end of the lap bar locking mechanism extend during the tilting process, stopping the restraint from
fullying opening during the ride. On top of this, like Vekoma’s later flying coasters, Air, now
named Galactica, features 2 stations to improve capacity. Furthermore, similar to B&M’s inverted
coasters, the floor retracts downwards prior to tilting, to stop guests from contacting the floor.
With the trains containing an abundance of components, B&M’s flying coaster quickly grew
to be one of the most expensive coaster types out there. On top of this, B&M stated that the
elements their flying coaster could navigate are more restrictive compared to traditional
roller coaster models. Ultimately, due to the unique rider position, the layout had to flow
in a smooth and graceful manner. In some aspects, this makes flying roller coasters tamer. However,
the flying position does allow for unique elements that can’t be found on traditional rides. Whilst
Air focused on the sensation of flight, Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Over Georgia,
which opened just a few weeks after, introduced the world to the Pretzel Loop. The Pretzel loop
is effectively an inverted classical loop, with the trains rising into the sky before
diving underneath itself to provide a burst of intensity. At the base of the loop, guests are
placed briefly on their backs, before ascending back up into the flying position. Fortunately,
Air and Superman: Ultimate Flight were a hit. This led other theme parks across the world to
debut flying coasters of their own. Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain quickly became one of
the park’s flagship attractions in 2006. Whilst Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan opened
as the world’s longest flying roller coaster at the time, featuring a unique zero-g roll element,
as well as the beloved Pretzel loop inversion. Over the course of two decades,
B&M has constructed 11 flying coasters, four of which reside at Six Flags parks across the US.
Zamperla’s Volare - Flying with a budget
The flying coaster was finally a success. Success at a price, however. Both Vekoma’s and B&M’s
flying coasters were expensive, not the type of ride smaller theme parks could typically invest
in. Cue the Italian ride manufacturer, Zamperla. Zamperla realised that there would be a demand
for a smaller, more compact flying coaster at a cheaper price point. So, in 2002, they debuted
their own flying coaster, a model they called the Volare, which fittingly means “to fly” in Italian.
The first Volare debuted at Elitch Gardens and was creatively named ‘Flying Coaster’ - genius.
Zamperla aimed to make their ride extremely compact and space efficient. Volare’s feature
wild mouse-esque designs, with tight turns, several inversions, and a spiral lift hill.
Due to the tight track layout, each ride operates single 4-person-wide cars These
resemble the capsule-like ride vehicles first seen on the Skytrak several years earlier. The
ride also boards like the Skytrak too. Guests climb into the ride vehicle in
an upright position while it continuously rolls through the station. Once in, two metal grates,
one for each pair of ‘seats’ close guests in from above. This creates a cage-like situation and acts
as the primary restraint for the ride, as it features no dedicated lap bars or harnesses.
While the train exits the station, a guide wheel engages with a ramp to push the car up into the
flying position. The guest then climb the spiral lift hill and begin the heavily turn-based ride.
Zamperla’s Volare seems like a hit on paper. It’s a low space, high thrill addition,
that doesn’t break the bank and gives visitors a unique flying experience. Unfortunately,
they have a downside. The actual ride isn’t very good. The general consensus points towards a
ride experience which is rough, uncomfortable, and simply unenjoyable. Despite all this, between 2002
and 2019 the Italian manufacturer sold 10 Volares before recently discontinuing the model forever.
Take two - Vekoma’s Stingray After seeing the
initial success of the Zamperla Volare, Vekoma hoped to relaunch their Flying Dutchman model
with a few changes. In 2009, they debuted Stingray at Ferris Wheel Park in China,
a more compact version of their flying coaster. The ride featured a vertical lift hill,
many tight inversions, and short two-row trains. Vekoma also improved the rides restraint system,
employing a vest and lap bar with shin guards to secure riders. Whilst innovative
and a marked improvement compared to the compact offering of Zamperla,
Vekoma’s 2nd generation flying coaster failed to take off. Stingray remained the only one of
its kind and closed its doors for good in 2018 after nine years of operation.
The Next Generation of Flight - Vekoma’s F.L.Y. Fortunately for us, Vekoma’s interest in flying
roller coasters didn’t end there. In 2020, the industry was in awe at the debut of the most
advanced flying coaster yet. The creatively named FLY opened at Phantasialand with the hopes of
pushing the flying coaster into new territory. Phantasialand themselves wanted to create an
experience, one which expanded beyond the ride itself. Vekoma and Phantasialand worked together
to not only overcome the challenges of previous flying coasters, but also the unique obstacles
present within the compact German park. Instead of previous rides which saw guests tilt forwards or
backwards into the prone position, FLY would use a rotating system instead. The ride was designed to
be boarded like any normal attraction. You enter the seats, positioned horizontally against the
station wall. You pull down a familiar harness, consisting of a lap bar, vest and a set of leg
flaps securing everyone’s legs. The train then exits the station, moving horizontally along the
track. Then, at some point during the ride, the seats of the trains rotate, placing you in the
prone position. Interestingly, FLY places riders slightly less prone than other flying coasters, at
75 degrees, rather than closer to 90. This makes it more comfortable for guests to look forwards.
To overcome Phantasialands strict noise limits, the entire ride was encased by walls, which help
to contain sound and create the steampunk land of Rookburgh. A magnetic launch system,
known as LSMs, is also used to propel the trains through the layout - a first for a
flying roller coaster. This allows for a high top speed despite the land’s low
wall height. Vekoma also enabled the ride to be more compact than previous iterations of
the design. FLY opened as the world’s longest flying coaster, despite taking up roughly half
the space of the previous record holder, B&M’s Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan.
It’s clear that the idea and even feasibility of the flying coaster has changed over the
decades. From the unreliable Skytrak, to the technologically advanced FLY - not every
concept has been a success. Despite this, the flying coaster continues to develop. B&M found
success in the early 2000s, producing popular and more reliable large-scale flying coasters;
while Vekoma’s next iteration of the flying coaster has been meticulously engineered to be
the best of its kind in the industry, offering more flexibility than ever before. The flying
coaster continues to be one of the world’s most advanced roller coaster types - an investment
only a small proportion of the theme parks could undertake. With the introduction of FLY,
will we see more flying coasters be built in the future? Let me know your thoughts in the comments
below. Thank you for watching, subscribe if you enjoyed it, and, we’ll see you all next time.