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Inversion (thing)
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(
thing
)
by
bane221
Tue Mar 25 2003 at 1:59:40
An
inversion
is a section of
roller coaster
track
with a goal of flipping over the rider. Inversion comes from the
Latin
word
invertere
meaning
"to reverse"
or
"flip over"
. How much flipping must take place for an
element
to be truly considered an inversion is
debatable
. While some parks consider exceeding
90-degrees
to be an inversions,
Millennium Force
(MF) at
Cedar Point
(CP) on the other hand, has three sections of track that exceed the 90-degree mark, but the park lists it as having no inversions.
Early Inversion History
The first inversion was on the
Centrifugal Railway
built in
Paris, France
in 1848. The ride consisted of a nearly perfectly circular
vertical loop
. Claims were that it reached speeds in excess of 150 mph, which is clearly an exaggeration.
The
vertical loop
inversion was greatly refined in 1968 when
Karl Bacon
of
Arrow
conceived of the
corkscrew
.
Arrow
dared to build a
prototype
of a corkscrew and the concept of inversion took on new meaning. Besides reinventing the inversion, this prototype introduced the idea of
steel tubular track
to ease the inversion
element
s. In 1975 Arrow installed the first three corkscrew coasters located at
Knott's Berry Farm
,
Opryland
, and
Old Chicago
. In 1976 this was followed by
Arrow
constructing Corkscrew at
Cedar Point
being the first coaster with three inversions.
Intamin
, in the same year, working with Anton
Schwarzkopf
, designed the first modern vertical looping coaster:
Great American Revolution
, and that it was.
In 1978
Arrow
one-upped itself by building
Loch Ness Monster
at
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
. Loch Ness Monster debuted with two
interlocking
vertical loops.
Schwarzkopf
answered this in the same year by building two intense (at the time) double-looping coasters:
Shockwave
at
Six Flags Over Texas
and
Mind Bender
at
Six Flags Over Georgia
. What no one realized is the
eighties
were going to be an entire decade of "one-upping".
Highlights of early advances in inversions
1848 -
Centrifugal Railway
was the first inversion
1968 - Prototype corkscrew built
1975 - First three
coskscrew
s installed by
Arrow
1976 - Corkscrew built at CP setting new inversion record (3) and the first modern vertical looper:
Great American Revolution
by
Schwarzkopf
.
1978 -
Loch Ness Monster
by
Arrow
with interlocking vertical loops
1978 -
Schwarzkopf
opened two double loopers:
Shockwave
and
Mind Bender
Inversion History of the 1980s
In 1980 the first four-inversion coasters appeared. Two vertical loops were added to the popular
Turn of the Century
corkscrew coasters at both
Great America
parks bringing their totals to four inversions. They were also both renamed
Demon
at this time. The
Carolina Cyclone
, built in 1980, featured two vertical loops and two corkscrews, similar to the newly enhanced Demons. The other four-inversion coaster to open that year was the
Orient Express
at
Worlds of Fun
. It featured the world's first two-inversion element: The
Kamikaze Curve
(now known as an Arrow
Boomerang
). It was Orient Express's third and fourth inversions.
In 1981,
Vekoma
introduced the
Boomerang
coaster and element, which differs a great deal from the Arrow element of the same name. The first Vekoma Boomerang was
Escorpion
at
Reino Aventura
. Since then, this type of coaster has become the most
clone
d coaster ever, also called an
off the shelf
coaster.
In 1982 Arrow one-upped to the five-inversion coaster
Viper
, at
Darien Lake
, with a
vertical loop
, a 2-inversion boomerang, and a double corkscrew.
1983 was the first year that coaster enthusiasts could invert standing up. On May 31, 1983,
Worlds of Fun
put stand-up trains on
Screamroller
, their Arrow Corkscrew coaster, and renamed it
Extremeroller
.
The first
barrel roll
inversion, and
pipeline
-like coaster, came to be in 1985 when
TOGO
built the
Ultra Twister
at
Nagashima Spaland
.
In 1986 the
Schwarzkopf
looper
Thriller
was built. It featured circular loops, and G forces of up to 6.7 G. Most notably aside from the g-forces, Thriller is the world's largest
portable coaster
, and, sadly, the last independent Schwarzkopf design. Thriller was toured around Germany until 1998 and now is a permanent fixture at
Six Flags Astroworld
as
Taz's Texas Tornado
. 1986 also saw the advent of the new element: the Arrow
sidewinder
. It was not technically new, but was new on its own merit using one half of a boomerang. This element debuted on
Scream Machine
at
Expo '86
but has found a home as
Ninja
at
Six Flags St. Louis
.
In 1987 we skipped to "two-upping" when the revolutionary
Vortex
was opened at
Paramount's Kings Island
(PKI).
Vortex
shocked riders by being the first coaster to feature six inversions.
Arrow
was happy to up themselves the following year in 1988 when they built not only the first seven inversion coaster, but at the time, the world's tallest roller coaster:
Shockwave
at
Six Flags Great America
(SFGAm).
Vekoma
joined the inversion game in 1989 when they built the seven time inverting
Goudurix
at
Parc Asterix
. It not only tied the world record for inversions, but also had a new inversion element: the
butterfly
. This element begins like a normal loop, but on the way up it twists slightly to one side. Then, on the way down, it twists again and crosses over its entry. Then the element is repeated in reverse. In the same year
Schwarzkopf
returned and designed
Olympia Looping
featuring five
vertical loop
s, more than any other
roller coaster
. With the fury of the
eighties
numbers game closing the
nineties
would see inversions taking twists (
pun
intended) beyond imagination.
Highlights of inversion advancements in the 1980s
1980 - First four inversion coasters:
Demon
1981 -
Vekoma
Boomerang
premiered
1982 -
Arrow
opened first five inversion coaster -
Viper
1983 - First
stand-up
loop:
Extremeroller
1985 - First
barrel roll
:
Ultra Twister
1986 - Debut of
Arrow
Sidewinder
element:
Ninja
1987 - First six-inversion coaster:
Vortex
1988 - Tallest and first seven-inversion coaster:
Shockwave
1989 -
Vekoma
Butterfly
element
introduced:
Goudurix
Inversion History of the 1990s
In 1990,
Walter Bolliger
and
Claude Mabillard
(
B&M
) broke off from their parent company,
Intamin
. This was the start of something wonderful for
coaster rider
s everywhere. In the years to come,
B&M
would become famous for their very large and smooth inversion elements.
In 1992 the concept of inversion was revolutionized, as were coasters in general with the advent of the
inverted coaster
.
B&M
built the first inverted roller coaster,
Batman The Ride
, at
Six Flags Great America
(SFGAm). This introduced the first
outside loop
s, the first
in-line twist
, and the first outside corkscrews called
Wingover
s. Also in 1992, Arrow designed
Drachen Fire
at
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
featuring three unique elements: a
wraparound corkscrew
on the first drop, a
batwing
, and a
cutback
, which is like a corkscrew with its second half reversed creating a 180ยบ turn.
Busch Gardens
, wanting not to lose out, began designing an inverting marvel for their park in
Tampa Bay, Florida
. In 1993 they built one of the most revolutionary coasters to ever be designed:
Kumba
. Off the top of the lift, Kumba has a curving first drop straight into a loop around the
lift hill
. Next it roars into a
diving loop
, an element in which the train dives sideways into a huge loop. After that, it has a
camelback
, the element Busch wanted to include on Drachen Fire. Following that, riders fly into a
cobra roll
, (a B&M version of the Arrow
batwing
) and a pair of interlocking
flat spin
s (the B&M name for a corkscrew). Kumba introduced the world to the largest
vertical loop
at the time as well as the first
diving loop
,
camelback
,
cobra roll
, and interlocking flat spins.
In 1994 B&M tackled
inverted coaster
s and inversion with the beast of a coaster at
Cedar Point
known as
Raptor
. Raptor features a
vertical loop
, in-line twist, two flat spins, and the first
Cobra Roll
on an inverted coaster. Also in 1994,
Intamin
debuted
7up Shockwave
at
Drayton Manor
. This took the record as the first
stand-up coaster
with four inversions, and the first stand-up coaster to feature a double corkscrew. Furthermore, this
Shockwave
coaster was and still is the only stand-up coaster to feature a
revolution
(Intamin's name for a camelback).
In 1995 the last inversion record breaker of the
20th century
came out thanks to
B&M
with
Dragon Khan
. This massive flip-a-thon clocks in at
eight
inversions. Dragon Khan has the same inversions as Kumba, save for an extra vertical loop inserted between the cobra roll and interlocking flat spins. Intamin also built their first
pipeline coaster
in 1995:
Spiral Coaster
at
Lotte World Sky Plaza
featuring two diving loops and two barrel rolls.
Intamin
tried these new elements on steel loopers and produced
Lethal Weapon Pursuit
at
Warner Brothers Movie World
in 1996. This dual track coaster begins on both tracks with vertical loops. Their second inversions, however, are both
Zero-G-Heart Roll
s, similar to
heartline roll
s. The two Heart Rolls are side by side, and the trains roll towards each other. Also in 1996
B&M
set the new largest vertical loop record on their stand-up mammoth
Mantis
at Cedar Point. B&M introduced new inversions this same year on
Montu
an
Immelman Turn
and a B&M Batwing. Montu also clinched the inversion record for inverted coasters with seven.
In 1997 B&M built a two more record breaking coasters with
Chang
with the stand-up inversion record of five and Alpengeist with the world's tallest inverted coaster, tallest outside loop, and largest Cobra Roll.
Premier
refreshed the inversion market in 1998 with the
Top Hat
element. This element was included on the two
Mr. Freeze
coasters rides built in 1997 and opened in 1998 due to delays.
Dragon Kahn
went for three years without a match to its inversion record until Intamin built
Monte Makaya
. Its eight inversions are, respectively: an 82-foot vertical loop, a double inversion cobra roll, a double corkscrew, and three zero-g-heart rolls.
The year 1999 can make inversion lovers weep. It was a weak year compared to the preceding score. One coaster of note is
Dueling Dragons
at
Universal Studios Islands of Adventure
(IOA). The vertical loops on the "dueling" tracks race toward each other before looping missing each other by less than
20 inches
. Also in 1999,
Vekoma
and
Disney
's
Rock 'n Roller Coaster
featured the first Roll-over. This element resembles the Vekoma boomerang except that the second half is mirrored.
Highlights of inversion advancements in the 1990s
1990 -
B&M
broke off from
Intamin
1992 - First inverted coaster and inverted looped:
Batman the Ride
1992 - Debut of the Arrow batwing and
cutback
elements:
Drachen Fire
1993 - First
camelback
(and other element introductions):
Kumba
1994 - First inverted
cobra roll
:
Raptor
1996 - First
immelmann turn
and B&M
batwing
:
Montu
1997 - B&M's record holding tallest inverted coaster, tallest outside loop, and largest cobra roll:
Alpengeist
1998 - First Top Hat element:
Mr. Freeze
1998 - Eight inversion record holder:
Monte Makaya
As the new century began the wooden loop reappeared for the first time in almost 70 years.
Son of Beast
at
Paramount's Kings Island
(PKI) premiered as the world's tallest, fastest, and only looping wooden roller coaster with the vertical loop measuring 118 feet. B&M's
Medusa
at
Six Flags Marine World
opened in 2000 with the first
Sea Serpent
element basically identical to a Vekoma Roll-over.
Record Holders for Most Inversions
(Coaster - designer - park - year opened - # of inversions)
Colossus
-
Intamin
-
Thorpe Park
- 2002 - 10
Avalancha
- Intamin -
Xetulul
- 2002 - 8
Dragon Kahn
-
B&M
-
Prot Aventura
- 1995 - 8
Monte Makaya
- Intamin -
Terra Encantada
- 1998 - 8
Goudurix
-
Vekoma
-
Parc Asterix
- 1989 - 7
[Great American Scream Machine -
Arrow
-
Six Flags Great Adventure
- 1999 - 7
Incredible Hulk
- B&M -
Universal Islands of Adventure
- 1999 - 7
Kraken
- B&M -
Sea World of Florida
- 1999 - 7
Kumba
- B&M -
Busch Gardens Tampa
- 1993 - 7
Medusa
- B&M -
Six Flags Great America
- 1999 - 7
Medusa
- B&M -
Six Flags Marine World
- 2000 - 7
Shockwave
- Arrow -
Six Flags Great America
- 1988 - 7
Superman
- B&M -
Warner Brothers Movie World
- 2002 - 7
Viper
- Arrow -
Six Flags Magic Mountain
- 1990 - 7
Everyone from riders to designers knows the surface is only scratched.
Innovation
s in the coaster world are endless. Inversions will continue to be refined not only in
steel
and
wooden
basic structures but with the tons of new coaster types constantly being developed like the
vertical coaster
and
4-D coaster
. Next time you find yourself
upside down
, in midst of scream, remember the wonders of Intamin, B&M, Vekoma, Arrow, and especially Anton Schwarzkopf that got you there. Well, you may be too preoccupied to remember the history behind your head-over-heels experience. Either way, enjoy!
Resources include: Coaster Globe, roller coaster database, rec.roller-coasters, and many of tunnel vision runs through nearly every inversion element available.
cobra roll
Overused chord progressions
Atmospheric inversion
Scott Kim
population inversion
How to Play any Guitar Chord
Immelmann turn
Six Flags Great America
Intamin
perfect fourth
serialism
cranio-rectal inversion
Red Dwarf
one way function
6-4 chord
null graph
heartline flip
The Plum Tree
Guide to Chord Formation : Diminished, Half Diminished, and Augmented Chords
Today Is the Tomorrow You were Promised Yesterday : 200 years of Information
symmetry operation
Cardioid
Inverted