Flying Coaster (B&M model)

Flying Coaster
Superman: Ultimate Flight's inline twist at Six Flags Great America in Illinois.
Status	In Production
First manufactured	2002
No. of installations	10
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Vehicle type	Flying position
Rows	7 - 8
Riders per row	4
Restraint Style	Over-the-shoulder (most common style)
Flying Coaster [1] at RCDB

The Flying Coaster is a model line from Bolliger & Mabillard. It has produced 10 models in 18 years of production, one of the more average selling models in the company.

History

Bolliger & Mabillard came up with the idea in the late 1990s. Over the 5 years and with the help of John Wardley they developed and finalised the concept for the flying coaster and unveiled it in 2002 with Air at Alton Towers (renamed Galactica in 2016), followed later in the year by Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Over Georgia. In this version, the rider takes a sitting position with their legs dangling in a similar fashion to B&M's inverted roller coaster. Mechanisms in the station lift the car up to the track, placing passengers in a flying position for the duration of the ride.

Flying roller coasters from B&M use a combination chest/waist harness that is hinged above the riders' heads. Once seated, the rider pulls down the harness, which (like the Vekoma model) locks into slots in the sides of the armrests. This single mechanism locks the rider's waist in place with a large padded cushion and provides a rubberized padded vest to secure the chest. The vest includes seat-belt-style tensioners above the shoulders to support a wider range of body types. At the ankles, two flaps hold the legs in position and close as the harness is locked in place. Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain was the world's longest flying coaster until The Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan surpassed it in March 2016.

Bolliger & Mabillard currently holds the record for the tallest and fastest flying roller coaster in the world, Flying Dinosaur, at Universal Studios Japan.

Design

The idea of the flying coaster was to simulate the idea of flying through the air; this is done by bringing the riders to a lying position.

Layout

At the start of the attraction, the train ascends the lift hill and takes a banked drop. Normally at this point of the layout, the B&M Flying coaster will normally include its signature element: The pretzel loop. This is the most intense part of the ride, bringing in positive-g forces. Galactica is the only B&M flying coaster not to feature this element. Following this, trains will go into helixes, inversions, and brake runs to let the roller coaster run smoothly.

Superman clones

There have been 4 clones of this version. The layout follows:

Elements

● Chain lift hill ● 78 ft Pretzel loop ● Horseshoe ● Inline twist ● Final Brake run

Manta Clones

There have been 2 clones of this version. The layout follows:

Elements

● Chain lift hill ● 98 ft Pretzel loop ● Zero-g roll ● Corkscrew ● Mid-course Brake run ● Helix ● Final Brake run

Station

Compared to usual roller coasters, most B&M flying coasters have two stations parallel to each other to load simultaneously because of the slow nature of loading. In the station, the car looks like an Inverted Coaster and when it is ready it pivots into a flying position. This is shown in the image source to the right of this text.

Restraints

Flying roller coasters from B&M use a combination chest/waist harness that is hinged above the riders' heads. Once seated, the rider pulls down the harness, which (like the Vekoma model) locks into slots in the sides of the armrests. This single mechanism locks the rider's waist in place with a large padded cushion and provides a rubberized padded vest to secure the chest. The vest includes seat-belt-style tensioners above the shoulders to support a wider range of body types. At the ankles, two flaps hold the legs in position, and close as the harness is locked in place. Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain was the world's longest flying coaster until The Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan surpassed it in March 2016.

Installations

Some B&M Flying Coasters

Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Manta at SeaWorld Orlando

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The Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan

Name	Amusement Park	Country	Layout	Opened	Status	Operator	RCDb
Galactica (Formerly AIR)	Alton Towers	UK	Custom	March 16, 2002	Operating	Merlin Entertainments
Superman: Ultimate Flight	Six Flags Over Georgia	USA	Superman	April 6, 2002	Operating	Six Flags
Superman: Ultimate Flight	Six Flags Great Adventure	USA	Superman	April 17, 2003	Operating	Six Flags
Superman: Ultimate Flight	Six Flags Great America	USA	Superman	May 3, 2003	Operating	Six Flags
Tatsu	Six Flags Magic Mountain	USA	Custom	May 13, 2006	Operating	Six Flags
Crystal Wing	Happy Valley Beijing	China	Superman	July 9, 2006	Operating	Happy Valley
Manta	SeaWorld Orlando	USA	Manta	May 22, 2009	Operating	SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
Starry Sky Ripper	Joyland	China	Custom	April 30, 2011	Operating	N/A
Acrobat	Nagashima Spa Land	Japan	Manta	July 18, 2015	Operating	N/A
Harpy	Xishuangbanna Theme Park	China	Custom	October 26, 2015	Operating	N/A
The Flying Dinosaur	Universal Studios Japan	Japan	Custom	March 18, 2016	Operating	Universal Parks & Resorts

Guinness World Records

	Tallest flying roller coaster	Fastest flying roller coaster	Longest flying roller coaster	Longest flying roller coaster drop
2002	Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Over Georgia)	Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Over Georgia)	Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Over Georgia)	Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Over Georgia)
2003
2004
2005
2006	Tatsu (Six Flags Magic Mountain)	Tatsu (Six Flags Magic Mountain)	Tatsu (Six Flags Magic Mountain)	Tatsu (Six Flags Magic Mountain)
2007
2008
2009				Manta (SeaWorld Orlando)
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016	The Flying Dinosaur (Universal Studios Japan)		The Flying Dinosaur (Universal Studios Japan)	The Flying Dinosaur (Universal Studios Japan)
2017
2018
2019
2020			Record now held by Vekoma

See also

• Flying roller coaster
• Bolliger & Mabillard

External links

This article "Flying Coaster (B&M model)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Flying Coaster (B&M model). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Corkscrew with Bayerncurve
• Inverted Coaster (B&M model)
• Crystal Wing
• The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge

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