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Six Flags Great America |"X-Flight"| B&M Wing Coaster

rollermonkey

Strata Poster
For some reason, the park did not have the annual "rehire party" this year. There probably won't be any major updates until the rehires come in for initial training either the last weekend of January or the first weekend of February, then another gap until training gets up to full speed in April.
 

bob_3_

Giga Poster
Not sure if this has been posted yet. It's up on their facebook.

400508_10150461964621356_10583866355_9005326_39617238_n.jpg
 

rollermonkey

Strata Poster
Hmm... Park map image shown at NoCoasterCon seems to indicate a water effect. Not sure if it is just fountains within the ride footprint or if riders could get wet, though.
 

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
^First of all, welcome to CF! :--D You don't necessarily need to attatch pictures...(like I did for a while!), alternatively you could use http://imgur.com/ , where you can upload your pictures for FREE, click of them and...

Code:
[img] Link here[/img]


Wow. That was quick! Judging by the fact that a lot of the supports for the lift have been completed, we should perhaps see the lift hill up by the end of this week. :--D
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
Looks great!

I know the theme and trains look bland, but I do think this has the best looking layout of the Wing Riders.
 

Darren B

Giga Poster
^Where do you get that from?

I make it 4 inversions, only 1 being a zero-g roll!?, the others being the 'Thorpe park inversion', Immelmann and a corkscrew.

However, It looks great, the theming probably won't be up to much, but the layout looks to be the best of the WingRiders so far....
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Don't make me get out the inversion picture again UC... I've already done it once this year ;)

I'm unsure about the zero-g element on these. With the wide trains, does it actually give "zero-g" across the whole row? Is it just a zero-g shape, or as close as you can get with the wide trains, but is actually more just a "wing-rider flip" of some kind?
 

Darren B

Giga Poster
^^I was implying 4 Inversions in the picture, But yeah 5 being the not yet constructed 'keyhole' barrel role.

I get what your saying regarding the 4th inversion in the photo, but it's the entry into the inversion that make me think 'corkscrew/flat spin'. Has anyone actually defined what B&M call it?...
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Excellent, that makes sense. I'd always thought the flip had something to do with the weightlessness, I'd never considered it as essentially an inverted air-time/floater hill (if you like) :lol:
 

D1993

Hyper Poster
Oooo this is looking so pretty!!!
I think in terms of the actual ride itself, this will be the best wing rider and the one I am most excited for.
 

reddude333

Giga Poster
I am liking (and have always liked) the color scheme for this coaster...looking forward to seeing it all complete and with theming.
 

Brett7710

Mega Poster
This post's slightly off topic since it's been established that this coaster doesn't have one, but now i'm confused about the difference between a Corkscrew and a flatspin, I thought they were the same thing?
UC said:
A flatspin is a pancake-flipping motion - it typically spans a wider lateral area - definitely not as linear as this is. It's definitely not a corkscrew. B&M have never built a corkscrew on a sitdown
Wikipedia and RCDB both define the last two elements on Kumba as being corkscrews, am I missing something? I tried looking up flatspins on Wikipedia and RCDB but didn't find anything. Are you saying the difference is the level of banking when you enter the element?

Edit: I think I might have just answered my own question. Would a flatspin be where the centre of the inversion is diagonal compared to the track that enters it, as opposed to a corkscrew where the centre of the inversion would normally be at a right angle?
 

Mike T

Mega Poster
UC is right in regards to the inversion inventory on this thing. And not to troll the Europeans or anything, but honestly, this ride has the best application for the wing rider trains, given how non-linear the track design is. X-Flight will most certainly become top dog amongst all winged coasters come this summer.

The only saving grace Swarm has over this is the thematic inserts - plus the fact that they successfully created a better drop than X-Flight; I'm hoping there's a remarkable difference in how the two drops feel in comparison - aiding my point that the more dramatic you twist the track on these coasters - your thrill factor exponentially grows.
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
It's been awhile so here's a photo of track work on the brake run as it nears completion:
417645_10151348204225107_749520106_23301347_840355421_n.jpg


And the first photo of the trains!
431217_10150572395821356_10583866355_9329524_565540840_n.jpg
 

D1993

Hyper Poster
I like them!!
Of course, they are basically the same as the others, but I just really like the red.
 
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