The Race for the Sky by: Jim Mosier on June 24th, 2009
Kingda
Ka’s reign as tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world is coming to an
end but not without crossing one more milestone.On this day June 24th, 2009 “Kingda Ka” at
Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ has now reigned as tallest and fastest
roller coaster for exactly 4 years 1 month and 4 days; precisely twice as long
as its predecessor “Top Thrill Dragster” at Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH, whom
held the title for 2 years and 17 days.While for the Great Adventure fan this is truly something to be
celebrated the celebration shall be short lived as Kingda Ka's reign as fastest
roller coaster shall end this July through a race which started years ago.
It was a little over 20 years
ago when Cedar Point opened the first hyper-coaster, “Magnum XL-200”, on May
6th, 1989; beating out the mere 2 month tallest and fastest coaster record of
none other than “Great American Scream Machine” at Six Flags Great
Adventure.However comparing Magnum, the
first roller coaster over 200 feet, to Scream Machine would be like comparing
apples to oranges!Sure designed &
built by the same company (Arrow Dynamics), opening just months shy of each
other; it does not seem hard to assume there should be plenty in common between
the two. However, it does not take much to see the differences.The major of the differences being Scream
Machine has loops.....in fact the most ever at the time with seven; while
Magnum simply has a bunch of hills, turns and tunnels!You might think “what exactly was Cedar point
thinking?!”It almost seems like they
were back-tracking to the old elements of the classic wooden roller
coasters!Though not without skepticism
Magnum XL-200 turned out to be a major success!Roller coaster enthusiasts and the general public could all agree Magnum
was a hit for Cedar Point, Arrow Dynamics and the entire coaster
community.Even coaster enthusiasts’
favorite elements began changing from what used to be loops & corkscrews; to
steep drops & the ever beloved airtime.In fact it is the differences between Scream Machine and Magnum that
shall always represent a change to a new era in the coaster world.What once was all about new ways of flipping
riders upside down, changed to how high and fast you could safely take the
riders.This new change, which came with
Magnum XL-200, spawned what will forever be known as the “race for the sky”.
Five Years and twenty two days; that
is how long Magnum XL-200’s reign as tallest and fastest roller coaster would
last!Though the coaster that spawned the
race for the sky, you always need at least two contestants to start a race and
with that comes Magnum’s successor.It
would be our friends overseas that would wave that checkered flag and take the
next bite out of the sky as another Arrow Dynamics creation “Pepsi Max Big One”
at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England opened to the public on May 28th
1994.At 213 feet and 74 miles per hour
Pepsi Max Big One beat Magnum’s record by 8 feet and 2 miles per hour.Though, short-lived, as another Arrow creation
opened later in 1994 (“Desperado” at Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino in Las
Vegas, NV); Pepsi Max Big One is to date the only tallest coaster record ever
held by a European park and is still the second tallest coaster in all of
Europe!Met with much controversy over
the record Desperado opened as the first coaster ever to reach 80 miles per
hour, yet was the same height as Magnum.This is due to Desperado’s first drop being tunneled under ground giving
it a drop height of 225 feet.So,
although never having the record for tallest coaster, Desperado did indeed
carry the fastest coaster title splitting the two records of tallest and
fastest for the first time….ever!
1994 would be Arrow Dynamics
last year in the business of building these “hyper-coasters” (or roller
coasters that range in height from 200 to less than 300 feet) Desperado would
be Arrow’s last record holder, or would it…..It would be two years before we would see the next tallest and fastest
roller coaster and this one would be claiming both records.The first company to ever build a hyper-coaster
other than Arrow dynamics; it would be Togo international building “Fujiyama”
at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan that would take that next step up in the
atmosphere.Japanese for “King of
Coasters” (interesting choice)
Fujiyama opened to the public in July 1996 and stood a massive 259 feet 2
inches in the sky reaching a top speed of 80.8 miles per hour!Plagued by their terribly uncomfortable
trains Togo international was never hired again to build a hyper-coaster!Still Fujiyama reigned as “king of coasters”
for an impressive 3 years 7 months!
It is important to note that in
1997 roller coaster designer Intamin AG designed a ride that, to this day, is
met with much skepticism and controversy as to its legitimacy as a roller
coaster.Due to this skepticism you will
not see this ride getting any credits or claim towards a height or speed
coaster record in this article.However,
the ride “Superman: The Escape” at Six Flags Magic Mountain is none-the-less an
icon of extreme historical importance in the roller coaster race for the
sky.Through the use of a Linear
Synchronous Motor, which utilizes a form of electro-magnetic propulsion,
Intamin designed a launch that was able to propel the ride to a speed once
thought unimaginably impossible!Superman: The Escape was the first ride to ever reach the speed
of 100 miles per hour!Whether you
believe this is a roller coaster or not this is a feat that deserves admiration
and historical respect.
The year 2000, the new
millennium!And with a new millennium
comes new records!In fact in that first
year alone we saw three record breakers in just a few short months of each
other.The first being Giovanola’s
creation named “Goliath” opening to the public on February 11th,
2000 at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California.Though not taking the height record Goliath
utilized the same tactic as Desperado with the first drop being tunneled
underground to reach a maximum speed of 85 miles per hour.However, Goliath’s record would be very
short-lived as 3 months later on May 13th, 2000; Cedar Point would
once again shock the world!Hiring a
company who had only previously built one coaster over 200 feet, Cedar Point
had Intamin AG design and build the first ever “Giga-coaster” (any coaster that
ranges in height from 300 feet to less than 400 feet).The coaster suitably named “Millennium Force”
reached a height of 310 feet and a maximum speed of 93 miles per hour!As impressive as this feat was even this
record was short-lived as 2 months and 19 days later Nagashima Spaland in Japan
opened Chance-Morgan’s creation “Steel Dragon 2000”.At 318 feet 3 inches tall and 95 miles per
hour Steel Dragon 2000 is to this day still the tallest and fastest lift-hill
roller coaster (any roller coaster that pulls its train to the top of its
highest point by chain or cable) in the world!
Fuji-Q highland was
none-to-happy that its “king of coasters” Fujiyama was no longer king, however
the park did not have the means to build the impressive new giga-coasters that
had now taken to the sky.Determined to
strike back Fuji-Q highland hired S&S power a company known mostly for
their design of drop towers but what would be their first attempt at a roller
coaster to build the park a roller coaster that would break the speed record
with a launch system.S&S utilized a
compressed air system which they had used on their drop towers for years to
create a launched system known as the thrust-air launch.On December 21st, 2001 “Dodonpa”
was introduced to the public.At 106.9
miles per hour it was the first roller coaster to ever break the 100
mile per hour barrier!But, even more
impressive was the acceleration of the launch.To this day no launch in the world is more intense than the thrust-air
launch of Dodonpa going from 0 to 106.9 miles per hour in 1.8 seconds it could
theoretically reach the same speed as Kingda Ka in 2.1 seconds….it takes Kingda Ka 3.5 seconds to reach its maximum speed!Still it was not without its flaws and S&S power’s thrust-air launch
roller coaster suffered from the same uncomfortable train issue as Togo had and
no other thrust-air launch coasters have been built since…..at least not
yet!Fortunately for S&S power they
had other projects to fall back on.Still S&S power brought with their thrust-air creation a new era
within an era; it seems launching would be the new approach towards the
heavens.
Perhaps bitter over their last
record lasting a mere 2 months, nobody may ever know the true reason as to why
Cedar Point decided to shock the world yet again less than 3 years after the
first giga-coaster, but calling upon the powers that be once again of Intamin
AG, Cedar Point would open the first ever strata-coaster (any roller coaster
ranging in height from 400 feet to less than 500 feet) “Top Thrill Dragster” on
May 4th, 2003.Utilizing a
new hydraulic launch system which Intamin had first used on “Xcellerator” at
Knott’s Berry Farm (ironically…..or not…..another park owned by the same company
as Cedar Point) Top Thrill Dragster silenced any and all records launching at
120 miles per hour and punching a 420 foot hole in the sky!Though seemingly not much to Dragster the
whole experience from the launch to the brakes lasts less than 30 seconds, but
it is unquestionably the most intense 30 seconds you can ever experience on any
roller coaster anywhere!Who could possibly guess what park would
attempt to beat this record?!
Well paybacks a….well you know,
call it revenge or not but 16 years after Cedar point went with thinking
outside the box while Great Adventure went with a bigger version of old news it
is Six Flags Great Adventure whom take Top Thrill Dragster’s titles 2 years and
17 days after its introduction.From a
company that had really not been known to build many Intamin roller coasters to
a park that had been rumored for years to have a height restriction due to the
nearby air force base….you name it this had every element of surprise……nobody
could have seen this one coming! Kingda
Ka (a Six Flags created name for “King of coasters” hmmm I think I’ve heard
that before) opened to the public on May 21st, 2005 launching 128
miles per hour and flying 456 feet into the air!To date Kingda Ka is still the tallest and
fastest roller coaster on Earth, on this very date exactly 4 years 1 month and
4 days reigning as “King of Coasters” which is exactly twice as long as its
predecessor Top Thrill Dragster.Kingda
Ka’s reign is the longest of any of the roller coasters involved in the race
for the sky except one….the original, the one that started it all: Magnum
XL-200 whom held on to both records for 5 years and 22 days.Kingda Ka will fall short of breaking
Magnum’s double title reign when it loses the fastest coaster title this July;
but Great Adventure fans can take solace in knowing that it will hold on to its
tallest record.For how long however,
who’s to say?With most roller coaster
projects known for next year at this point, however, it is pretty good to
assume that Kingda Ka will surpass Magnum’s tallest roller coaster title
reign.
So what is next for the roller
coaster world in the race for the sky?In less than a months time the next fastest coaster is due to open.Built and designed by two now merged companies
it is the return of the thrust-air launch coaster by the company whom is now
known as S&S-Arrow (yes S&S power and Arrow dynamics have now merged). At 134.8 miles per hour “ring°racer” at Nürburgring will bring the fastest coaster
title to Germany and to Europe a continent who hasn’t seen a record breaker in
15 years!With any luck S&S will be
able to redeem themselves with this creation and have hopefully worked out a
more comfortable ride experience; we shall soon see.But, even this record is expected to be short
lived as the new Ferrari-world Park in Abu Dhabi is expected to open the “F1
coaster”, designed by Intamin and boasting a speed of 145 miles per hour,
sometime next year.
But what coaster will be next to
take the height record is quite truly anybody’s guess.The only factual concept known to break
Kingda Ka’s height record was a 550 foot tall intamin hydraulic Launch roller
coaster concept for Blackpool Pleasure Beach….however, it never passed the conceptual
planning stages and the idea is unfortunately thought to have died with the
parks’ former owner.The only other
mention of a roller coaster breaking the height record was a Six Flags park
planned for Dubai, however with the decline in the world’s economy many of the
vast projects are now slowing or coming to a halt altogether over in Dubai and
if the Six Flags Park ever does even see the light of day there is no guarantee
it will truly have the tallest and fastest roller coaster.
Does this mean we will never see
it….that Kingda Ka is the finish line in the race for the sky…..of course not, eventually
someone will beat it.Looking into the
future what kind of coaster could possibly break the 500 foot barrier?Will it just be an expanded version of the
hydraulic launch as planned for Blackpool Pleasure Beach or will the powers
that be come up with something totally new; who is to say?Its become apparent that with ever increasing technological advances if given enough land, time and money roller coaster
designers can create roller coasters that go almost any speed and to any height
imaginable!Is there a finish line in
this race for the sky?Maybe the finish
line is the forces to which our bodies can handle?Or maybe technology will find a way to even
conquer that?These are questions to
which are just beyond the scope of my knowledge, if you asked roller coaster
designers 20 years ago if there would be a roller coaster that went 128 miles
per hour and 456 feet high they would have called you crazy.In the end the race for the sky is a race
that will always have someone winning yet will always be on-going; it is a race
which may never truly end……
Photo Copyrighted RCDB.com and it's owner.
Photo Copyrighted RCDB.com and it's owner.
Photo Copyrighted RCDB.com and it's owner.
Photo Copyrighted RCDB.com and it's owner.
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