Superman: Ultimate Flight

This article is about the three flying roller coasters at Six Flags amusement parks. For the roller coaster currently under construction at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, see Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom).

Superman: Ultimate Flight
Location	1: Six Flags Over Georgia 2: Six Flags Great Adventure 3: Six Flags Great America
Type	Steel - Flying
Status	Open
Opened	1: April 6, 2002 2: April 17, 2003 3: May 3, 2003
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Model	Flying Coaster
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	115 feet (35.1 m)
Drop	100 feet (30.5 m)
Length	1 & 2: 2,759 feet (840.9 m) 3: 2,798 feet (852.8 m)
Max speed	51 mph
Inversions	2
Duration	1: 2:00 2: 2:06 3: 3:00
Capacity	30 Trains or 960 riders per hour
Max G force	3Gs
Amusement Parks Portal

Superman: Ultimate Flight is a steel flying roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. Themed to the popular comic book character, Superman: Ultimate Flight has been installed at three Six Flags theme parks around the United States. Superman: Ultimate Flight simulates flying like the Superman character does: facing the ground. In the station, riders board the train sitting down. After the train is locked and checked, the trains are raised into a flying position. After the ride, the seats are lowered into the sitting position for the next round of riders.

Locations

Superman: Ultimate Flight was first installed at Six Flags Over Georgia for the 2002 season. It opened less than a month after the first Bolliger & Mabillard flying roller coaster, Air at Alton Towers in the United Kingdom. The ride's signature element is its 78-foot (24 m)-tall pretzel loop, the first roller coaster in the world to use one. Six Flags ordered two more versions of the attraction for the 2003 season. One version was installed at Six Flags Great America, and the other was installed at Six Flags Great Adventure.

The 2003 versions differ slightly from the original in Georgia. The Georgia version features a dual-platform loading station, permitting three trains to be in use at one time. Each train has seven cars, with each car carrying four riders side-by-side in a single row. The newer versions used a more standard single-platform loading station; while only allowing a maximum of two trains in operation, each train had one additional row for a total of eight rows per train.

Track layout

Superman: Ultimate Flight begins as the train turns to the right and begins to climb the 115-foot (35 m)-tall lift hill. After cresting the top of the lift hill, the train drops down to the right and prepares to enter the pretzel loop. For the pretzel loop, the train swoops up, then dives down to the ground head-first. At the bottom of the loop, the riders are facing up towards the sky, where the on-ride camera photographs them. The train climbs back to the top of the element, then enters a 270-degree turn to the left, dropping back through the pretzel loop.

Next, the train passes through two consecutive horseshoe turns, first to the right and then to the left. As the train exits the second horseshoe, it swoops down and begins a 270-degree helix to the right, which leads into the ride's second inversion, an inline twist. After completing the twist, the train reaches the brake run and a final right-hand turn to return to the station.

Additional versions

Crystal Wings, a flying roller coaster at the Happy Valley amusement park in Beijing, China, uses the same design as Superman: Ultimate Flight.

Image gallery

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  The raising and locking of the seats from the load/unload position to the flying position

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  Superman's pretzel loop

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  Pretzel loop element at Six Flags Over Georgia

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  One of Superman's "horseshoe turns" after the pretzel loop

External links

• Superman: Ultimate Flight's Official Page from Six Flags Over Georgia
• Superman: Ultimate Flight's Official Page from Six Flags Great Adventure
• Superman: Ultimate Flight's Official Page from Six Flags Great America