SheiKra
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| SheiKra | |
_05.JPG) Sheikra Roller Coaster |
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| Location | Busch Gardens Africa |
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| Park section | Stanleyville |
| Type | Steel - Dive - Floorless |
| Status | Open |
| Opened | May 21, 2005 |
| Manufacturer | Bolliger & Mabillard |
| Model | Floorless Diving Machine |
| Track layout | Floorless |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Drop | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Length | 3,188 ft (972 m) |
| Max speed | 70 mph (110 km/h) |
| Inversions | 1 |
| Duration | 2:20 |
| Max vertical angle | 90° |
| Cost | $13,500,000 USD |
| Max G force | 5.0 |
| Height restriction | 4 ft 6 in (137 cm) |
| SheiKra at RCDB Pictures of SheiKra at RCDB |
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SheiKra (pronounced /ˈʃiːkrə/) is a Bolliger and Mabillard diving machine roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It is situated in the Stanleyville section of the park. SheiKra was the first dive machine roller coaster in North America. It is tied with Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia as the second tallest roller coaster in the southeast. SheiKra first opened in May 2005. On June 16, 2007, SheiKra was converted into a floorless roller coaster. The name SheiKra is derived from a shikra, an African hawk that is known to dive straight down for its prey.
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[edit] Ride Layout
After passengers leave the station, they climb a 47-degree 200-foot lift hill. The train then makes a U-turn and approaches the holding brake, which holds the train for about 3–5 seconds over the first drop, then drops it 90 degrees down and into an Immelmann loop. After the Immelmann, the train takes an upward turn into the mid-course brake run before the second drop, which is at 81 degrees. Then the train travels on a turnaround and then down into a water brake/splashdown area and a final helix into the final brake run.
SheiKra is the first vertical-drop (dive machine) roller coaster in the United States and the first roller coaster of its kind to include an inversion (in this case, an Immelman Loop) and a true 90-degree vertical drop. The other four coasters of its type are Oblivion at Alton Towers in the United Kingdom, G5/Flying Submarine at Janfusun Fancyworld in Taiwan, Griffon at its sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Vertical Coaster at Chimelong Paradise in China.
[edit] Ride Elements
- 200-foot 45 lift hill
- 200-foot 90° drop
- 140-foot-tall Immelmann
- 138-foot 81° drop
[edit] Floorless Conversion
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At 10:30am Wednesday, January 31, 2007, Busch Gardens Tampa Executive Vice President and General Manager Dan Brown, Vice President of Design and Engineering Mark Rose, and Busch Entertainment Corporation Corporate Vice President of Sales & Marketing Joe Couceiro officially announced on a webcast teleconference with media outlets the floorless conversion of SheiKra and details about the conversion.
According to the press release and teleconference, the last day to experience SheiKra before the conversion would be Memorial Day, May 28, 2007. On May 29 SheiKra closed until June 16, 2007, when it reopened with new floorless hardware.[1][2]
This conversion was most likely sparked by August Busch III explaining to coaster enthusiasts about "looking at engineering taking that floor out" of SheiKra and asking if it would make the ride better, worse, or the same. Everyone who was asked replied saying it would make the ride better. Video of this event can be seen on YouTube [1], and is dated back to August 2006.
[edit] Conversion Process
The area most affected by the conversion is the station. In the weeks leading up to the May 29th closure, the drop-out floor hardware was installed. The installation occurred at night, leaving the ride to operate normally throughout the day.
During the three weeks that the ride was closed the trains received their floorless upgrade. The new trains make use of original hardware already used on the existing trains. The wheels, bogies, seats, and harnesses were removed and then reinstalled on new floorless chassis. This time was also used for loading new programs into the ride's computer systems for floorless operation as well as extensive testing to make sure all of the ride's safety systems were working correctly, and training of employees on ride operation and what to do in an emergency situation should the ride come to a stop and guests needed to be escorted off the ride.[2]
[edit] Floorless Train Unveiling
On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, Busch Gardens Tampa Executive Vice President and General Manager Dan Brown announced and unveiled the first converted train for SheiKra, [2] alongside Vice President of Design and Engineering Mark Rose and Director of Park Operations Mike Patrick, as well as various marketing personnel. Included was the unveiling of a countdown clock displaying the "Countdown to America's First Dive Coaster going Floorless June 16th."
[edit] Media Day
On June 15, 2007, SheiKra opened to invited media outlets and special VIPs, mostly radio winners, that were allowed to be "the first to ride floorless SheiKra". The media event was followed by a special party that was thrown for the media and VIPs in SheiKra's honor to welcome the new version of the ride to Busch Gardens.
[edit] Reopening Day
On Saturday, June 16, 2007, SheiKra reopened to pass holders for a preview hour between 8AM and 9AM. At 9AM SheiKra opened to all the public. Within the hour the queue line was full, causing ride employees to set up a temporary queue out of barricades outside of the main queue line.
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[edit] Counterpart
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At sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg (located in Williamsburg, Virginia), there is another dive coaster, Griffon, a B&M diving machine coaster which features a 205-foot vertical drop, higher than any other dive coaster in the world, two separate immelmann inversions, a second 90-degree 130-ft drop, and a splashdown. It is the first diving machine that utilizes a floorless train with three rows of 10 seats each. On the park's website, three videos that introduce the details of the ride are available.
[edit] SheiKra In The Media
- Ojos Asi by Shakira is the unofficial song of SheiKra.
- SheiKra was featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel show Build It Bigger.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- SheiKra On-Ride Video (Full POV; Quicktime, 36 Megs)
- SheiKra On-Ride/Off-Ride Music Video
- SheiKra Construction Photos
- Official Site
- YouTube video August Busch III asking coaster enthusiasts about a floorless SheiKra before anything was announced
- Floorless Webcast Announcement And Press Release
- Photo Gallery of the Floorless Train and Unveiling Ceremony
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Coordinates: 28°02′12″N 82°25′28″W / 28.03667°N 82.42444°W
