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| Inverted roller coaster | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Nemesis atAlton Towers in 2010 | |
| Status | In production |
| First manufactured | 1992 |
| No. of installations | 189 |
| Manufacturers | Bolliger & Mabillard,Vekoma,Intamin,Gerstlauer, andMack Rides |
| Vehicles | Suspended trains |
| Restraint Style | Over-the-shoulder (most common style) |
Aninverted roller coaster is a type ofsteel roller coaster in which thetrain runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars, letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster was pioneered by Swiss roller coaster manufacturerBolliger & Mabillard in the early 1990s with the development ofBatman: The Ride, which opened atSix Flags Great America on May 9, 1992.
Versions of inverted coasters have since been produced by other major coaster manufacturers such asVekoma andIntamin. Intamin has few designs classified as inverted coasters, although they do install inverted coaster trains on some of their launched designs. Vekoma, however, predominantly mass-produced the same design (Suspended Looping Coaster) with 41 identical coasters installed around the world, though Vekoma now markets a newer style of inverted coaster, the Suspended Thrill Coaster, which utilises lap-bar restraints instead of the traditional over-the-shoulder restraints.[1] Vekoma was also the first manufacturer to install afamily-friendly inverted roller coaster with the opening ofFlying Ace Aerial Chase atKings Island in 2001.Giovanola also has a single inverted coaster operating, which uses the box-track design, also used byBolliger & Mabillard.
The inverted coaster differs from the oldersuspended coaster, which runs under the track, but features cars that enclose the rider's legs and lower body and are attached to the track above by a pivoting bar, whereas the trains on inverted coasters are directly attached to the track. This direct attachment facilitatesinversions, which aren't possible on suspended coasters. Inversions typically featured on inverted coasters includevertical loops,zero-g rolls,Immelmann loops,cobra rolls, andcorkscrews, though Vekoma's suspended loopers typically featuresidewinder and in-line twist elements.
The inverted coaster was developed in the early 1990s by engineers Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard of the Swiss roller coaster manufacturerBolliger & Mabillard in cooperation with engineer Robert Mampe and Jim Wintrode, at the time thegeneral manager ofSix Flags Great America, who first envisioned a suspended coaster capable of inversions.[2][3][4] The result of this partnership,Batman: The Ride,soft opened at Six Flags Great America as the first inverted coaster in the world on May 2, 1992, officially opening on May 9, 1992.[3] With the coaster's success,Time Warner,Six Flags' parent company at the time, moved to construct a series of duplicates of the ride at various Six Flags parks. In 1993, a second installation of Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great Adventure opened as the second inverted coaster in the world.[5] Six Flags has since gone on to construct five additional duplicates of the ride.[6]
The second unique inverted coaster wasFlight Deck which opened in 1993 atCalifornia's Great America as Top Gun.[7]Nemesis Reborn was the first inverted coaster constructed outside the United States when it opened atAlton Towers inStaffordshire, England in 1994.[8] That same year,Raptor opened atCedar Point. With a 3,790-foot (1,160 m) track layout, Raptor was far larger and featured a less compact layout than its predecessors. It also featured the first cobra roll on an inverted coaster.[9][10]
231 inverted roller coasters have been installed at various theme parks, some of which have been relocated. The following list is not exhaustive and only shows the most notable installations.
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