Afterburn (roller coaster)

This article is about a roller coaster at Carowinds. For the coaster previously called Afterburn, see Flight Deck (California's Great America).

Afterburn
Afterburn's Loop
Location	Carowinds
Coordinates	35.100186°N 80.941167°W / 35.100186; -80.941167
Opened	March 20, 1999
Cost	$10,500,000
Type	Steel - Inverted
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Height	144 ft (44 m)
Drop	113 ft (34 m)
Length	2,956 ft (901 m)
Max speed	62 mph (100 km/h)
Inversions	6
Duration	2:47
Capacity	1380 riders per hour
Max G force	4.8Gs
Afterburn at RCDB
Pictures of Afterburn at RCDB
Amusement Parks Portal

Afterburn is a steel inverted roller coaster at Carowinds. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, the roller coaster stands 144 feet (44 m) in height and reaches speeds of 62 miles per hour (100 km/h). When Afterburn opened in 1999, it was named Top Gun: The Jet Coaster.

History

When Afterburn was built, Carowinds was owned by Paramount Parks. Just as it had done with other inverted and suspended roller coasters at its other parks, Paramount themed the new roller coaster to one of its most popular movies, Top Gun. It was the second Top Gun roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard—the first being the original Top Gun at Paramount's Great America in California--and was the longest, tallest and fastest of the four themed attractions.

After the former Paramount parks were acquired by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Cedar Fair chose to rename the Top Gun roller coasters to Flight Deck. Carowinds, instead, chose to name its roller coaster Afterburn, beginning with its 2008 season. However, on the front of the hangar there is an emblem with the words T-G (Top Gun) written on it.

Ride layout

Afterburn begins as it climbs its lift hill, reaching a peak height of 144 feet (44 m). The roller coaster train then drops to the right to enter its first inversion, a vertical loop. It then remains low to the ground as it enters an Immelmann loop, which sends the train in the opposite direction. The train climbs up and then spins through a Zero-G roll before diving back to the ground and entering the two-inversion batwing element, crossing under the park's rear entrance in the process.

As Afterburn exits the batwing, it climbs through a camelback hill. The train then returns to the ground hitting 4.8Gs, and enters its final inversion, a corkscrew to the right. After exiting the corkscrew, the train begins a 270-degree climbing helix to the left, after which it reaches the ride's brake run and the return to the station.

See also

• Flight Deck (roller coaster)

• 

  Afterburn's Immelmann

• 

  First half of Batwing

• 

  Second half of Batwing

• 

  Afterburn's zero-g-roll

• 

  Afterburn's pre-brake-turn

• 

  Afterburn's loop

External links

• Afterburn on RCDB
• Afterburn on coastergallery.com