Inverted roller coaster

Inverted roller coaster
A Bolliger & Mabillard built Inverted coaster. Nemesis at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Status	In Production
First manufactured	1992
No. of installations	189
Manufacturers	Bolliger & Mabillard, Vekoma, Intamin, and Mack Rides
Vehicles	Suspended trains
Restraint Style	Over-the-shoulder (most common style)

An inverted roller coaster is a roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. This latter attribute is what sets it apart from the older suspended coaster, which runs under the track, but swings via a pivoting bar attached to the wheel carriage. The coaster type's inverted orientation, where the passengers' legs are exposed, distinguishes it from a traditional roller coaster, where the passengers' arms are instead exposed.

B&M style inverted roller coaster car.

The inverted coaster was pioneered by the Swiss roller coaster designers Bolliger & Mabillard in the early 1990s. The first installation came at Six Flags Great America in 1992.^[1] Batman: The Ride opened to much fanfare and was "cloned" many times at other parks. The inverted coaster quickly became an industry favorite with custom designs installed nearly every year. The tallest and fastest inverted coaster is Wicked Twister at Cedar Point at 215 feet (66 m) tall and reaching speeds up to 72 miles per hour (116 km/h). The longest inverted coaster is Banshee at Kings Island which travels along 4,124 feet (1,257 m) of track.

Other roller coaster manufacturers followed in the footsteps of Bolliger & Mabillard and began working on their own inverted coaster designs, including Vekoma, Intamin and other smaller companies. Intamin has few designs classified as inverted coasters, although they do install inverted coaster trains on some of their launched designs. Vekoma, on the other hand, usually mass-produces the same design (SLC (689m Standard)) with 41 identical coasters – and a few variations of that design – installed around the world.^[2] Also, in recent years, Vekoma has become the first manufacturer to install a family-friendly inverted roller coaster. Giovanola also has a single inverted coaster operating.

The inversions usually include vertical loop, zero-g roll, Immelmann loop, cobra roll, and corkscrew.

Installations

189 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.

Gallery

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  A Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster, Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park

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  A Vekoma built inverted coaster, Kumali at Flamingo Land Resort

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  A Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster, Nemesis at Alton Towers

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  A Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster, Afterburn at Carowinds

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  A Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster, Black Mamba at Phantasialand

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  A Vekoma inverted coaster, Limit at Heide Park

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  The only Bolliger & Mabillard dueling inverted coaster, Dragon Challenge at Islands of Adventure

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  A Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster, Great Bear at Hershey Park

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  A former Vekoma inverted coaster, Traumatizer at Pleasureland Southport

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  A Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster, Raptor at Cedar Point

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  A Vekoma family inverted coaster, Flying Ace Aerial Chase at Kings Island

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  An Intamin launched shuttle inverted coaster, Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America

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  A former Vekoma shuttle inverted coaster, Two Face: The Flip Side at Six Flags America

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  A Vekoma inverted coaster, Thunderhawk while at Geauga Lake

See also

• Wing Coaster
• Suspended roller coaster
• Pipeline roller coaster

References

External links

• Bolliger & Mabillard official site
• Intamin official site
• Vekoma official site