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X-Flight

X-Flight is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Designed and built by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened as the fourth Wing Coaster in the world and the second in the United States on May 16, 2012. It replaced both the Splashwater Falls and Great American Raceway attractions. The 3000 ft roller coaster features barrel rolls, high-speed drops, and a signature fly-through element, where the train narrowly misses a custom-built air traffic control tower structure as it passes through an opening known as a keyhole element.

History

X-Flight was announced on September 1, 2011. Six Flags Great America was the first park to announce plans for a Wing Coaster in the United States.[2] Land clearing started that same month on the former site of Splashwater Falls and the Great America Raceway.[3] The first pieces of the track began to arrive in early October.[4] 127 Caissons (footers), ranging from 30 ft to 77 ft were dug into the ground.[5] On January 27, 2012, the final piece of the lift hill was topped off.[6] The trains for X-Flight arrived at the park on March 2, 2012.[7] In a Chicago Sun-Times article in February, the park said they expect safety tests to start in early April.[8] A soft opening media preview event was held on May 10, 2012.[9] X-Flight opened for "Xclusive season pass holders" on the weekend of May 12 and then to the public on May 16, 2012.[10][11] X-Flight originally opened with a 54" height restriction. In 2024, this was changed from 54" to 52".

Ride experience

"... It'll be like riding on the wing of a plane."

After departing from the station, which resembles an airplane hangar, the train immediately begins to climb the steep 120 ft chain lift hill. Upon reaching the top of the lift hill, the train enters the first element of the roller coaster, a Dive Drop. This element is similar to the Dive Drop's found on The Swarm at Thorpe Park and GateKeeper at Cedar Point and consists of the train rotating 180 degrees into an upside down position before descending back to the ground. During this drop, the train reaches its top speed of 55 mph. At the bottom of the first drop, riders get their picture taken. After the train exits the first drop, the train then enters a zero-g-roll before going through a cloud of fog. The train then makes a slight left turn before entering an Immelmann loop followed by a right turn over a pond. The train then leads into the second zero-g-roll over the main entrance of the ride. Following the roll, the train makes a left turn before going through an Inline twist. During this element, which is known as a keyhole, riders go through an airplane control tower, giving the illusion the train will hit the tower. Contrary to popular belief, this control tower was built custom for the ride by ACME Construction Metals in Kenosha, Wisconsin[12]. After going through the tower, the train goes through another near miss keyhole surrounded by a cloud of fog, before exiting the twist and making a tight right turn, passing by Demon's corkscrews and last turn, before making a slight left upward turn leading into the Main Brake. The train then makes a 180-degree left turn into the slowdown brake and the transfer track before entering the station. One cycle lasts about 1 minute and 15 seconds.[3][13][14]

Characteristics

Manufacturer

X-Flight is a Wing Coaster model from Swiss manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard. It was the fifth B&M coaster for Six Flags Great America. X Flight joins the inverted roller coaster, Batman: The Ride, the hyper-twister, Raging Bull, the flying roller coaster, Superman: Ultimate Flight, and the dive coaster Wrath of Rakshasa. The park's first B&M coaster, Iron Wolf, was moved to Six Flags America at the end of the 2011 season. X-Flight was the fourth Wing Coaster built and the second in the United States, preceded by Wild Eagle at Dollywood.[15]

Trains

X-Flight operates with two steel and fiberglass trains. Each train has eight cars with four seats per car (two on each side of the track) for a total of 32 riders per train. The colors of the train are red and black with over-the-shoulder restraints.[16][17] The restraints are similar to the restraints found on Superman: Ultimate Flight and Wrath of Rakshasa.

Track

The steel track is approximately 3000 ft in length and the height of the lift is approximately 120 ft.[16] The track is colored red while the supports are black.[3]

Reception

X-Flight has received mostly positive reviews. Doug George from the Chicago Tribune stated the ride is very smooth with "rolls, dives and inverted, eye-bugging flips." However, he stated that the ride is pretty short and with only one train running the course at a time, the wait time can reach as long as other popular attractions at the park.[18] The Coaster Critic reviewed the ride and stated that the theming is very well done, especially the keyhole element. He said the different seating set up encourages re-rides because of the different experience on each side of the train. Overall, he gave the ride a 9 out of 10 because of the "riding position, loops, and interactions or near-misses."[19]

Awards

See also

  • 2012 in amusement parks
  • Wild Eagle, a Bolliger & Mabillard Wing Coaster at Dollywood, was the first of its kind in the United States
  • GateKeeper, a Bolliger & Mabillard Wing Coaster at Cedar Point

External links

References

  1. Lisa Black. Six Flags gets in line for more thrill rides Chicago Tribune, September 3, 2011, retrieved September 3, 2011^
  2. Six Flags' 'Flying' Roller Coaster Fox News, September 1, 2011, retrieved December 9, 2012^
  3. X-Flight at Coaster-Net Coaster-Net, retrieved December 9, 2012^
  4. First 3 pieces of track have arrived Six Flags Great America, October 5, 2011, retrieved December 9, 2012^
  5. Rebar that is used to support the caissons Six Flags Great America, November 28, 2011, retrieved December 9, 2012^
  6. Six Flags Great America. We've reached the top ... Facebook, January 27, 2012, retrieved January 27, 2012^
  7. Six Flags Great America. First few coaster cars of train 1. Facebook, March 2, 2012, retrieved March 2, 2012^
  8. Dan Morgan. Record profit ends Six Flags financial roller coaster Chicago Sun-Times, February 21, 2012, retrieved December 9, 2012^
  9. Piet Levy. X-citing excursion Chicago Tribune, May 16, 2012, retrieved July 15, 2012^
  10. Brady MacDonald. X-Flight wing coaster premieres at Six Flags Great America in May Los Angeles Times, April 11, 2012, retrieved December 9, 2012^
  11. Six Flags Great America unveils 'X Flight' WLS-TV, May 10, 2012, retrieved January 8, 2013^
  12. Photos of the construction 2026-03-07^
  13. Dan Morgan. X-Flight 'like riding on the wing of a plane' Chicago Sun-Times, February 2, 2012, retrieved February 2, 2012^
  14. X-Flight POV *REAL* Six Flags Great America 2012 Roller Coaster themeparkreviewtpr (YouTube), May 10, 2012, retrieved August 23, 2012^
  15. Beth Kramer. X Flight takes wing at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee Chicago Sun-Times, May 10, 2012, retrieved March 1, 2013^
  16. retrieved September 3, 2011^
  17. X-Flight (Six Flags Great America) Gallery Roller Coaster Database, retrieved August 23, 2012^
  18. Doug George. X Flight all about inversions Chicago Tribune, May 10, 2012, retrieved March 1, 2013^
  19. X-Flight @ Six Flags Great America The Coaster Critic, July 31, 2012, retrieved March 1, 2013^