Suspended Looping Coaster

The Suspended Looping Coaster (or SLC) is a model of steel inverted roller coaster built by Vekoma. There are at least 39 different installations across the world. The minimum rider height requirement is 130 centimetres (4 ft 3 in).

History

The first Suspended Looping Coaster installation was El Condor at Walibi Holland in the Netherlands.^[1] It was initially designed to run with ten cars in each train. Trouble with this configuration lead to the trains being shortened to eight cars to a train.^[2] T3 at Kentucky Kingdom was the second prototype model Suspended Looping Coaster and the first in the United States.^[3] Like El Condor, it was designed to run with ten cars in a train, though T3's trains were shortened to seven cars for similar reasons.^[2]

The roller coaster is considered to still be in production as the latest new installation (i.e. not relocated) was Roller Coaster Mayan in 2015 at Energylandia

Ride

Layouts

The layout of most Suspended Looping Coasters is the 689m Standard. The additional dotted helix is found only on some extended models.

There are several different layouts of Suspended Looping Coasters although most feature a similar pattern.^[2] The ride starts by taking riders up a 33.3-metre (109 ft) chain hill.^[4] Once at the top, the train goes down a steep, banked turn to the right where it enters the first inversion element - a roll over. A roll over (also known as a Sea serpent roll) first features a Sidewinder quickly followed by a reverse sidewinder.^[5] Upon exit from this element, the train goes up a hill which features some banking at the top before descending and approaching the ride's next inversion - a sidewinder.^[4] A sidewinder is similar to an Immelmann loop however it features a half loop followed by a half corkscrew (rather than an inline twist).^[6] From the exit of this sidewinder, the train goes into a sharp helix before entering the ride's final two inversions - inline twists. These two twists are followed one after the other. A banked curve to the right turns the train back around to face towards the station. At this point some models feature an additional helix to the left while others simply continue straight into the brake run.^[4] The standard model also has a relatively compact layout, providing for "footchoppers".

Vekoma have also manufactured two custom Suspended Looping Coasters: Fly - The Great Nor'easter at Morey's Piers (which is really just a standard SLC with custom station and supports) and Jubilee Odyssey at Fantasy Island.^[7]

Trains

Close up of an SLC wheel assembly

Many Suspended Looping Coasters operate with two trains consisting of ten cars, though some operate with as few as seven cars. Poorly maintained, poor track layout or most likely non-exact track manufacturing can cause SLCs riders to experience painful "head banging", whereby the head hits the Over the Shoulder Restraints. They also use very small plastic seats with little or no room for a person to move. Contrary to popular belief, the wheel spacing on the trains (the 'gaps' between the side friction wheels, up-stop wheels, and the track) adds little to the roughness of these rides. Vekoma is currently manufacturing new trains with convenient hip harnesses. Unlike the first generation of trains, this modification will make the overall ride experience more comfortable.Vekoma also make vest-like harnesses that allow to rider to sit more comfortable riding. The only two known places to have these trains is at Morey's Piers,^[8] and at Isla Magica in Spain. In 2012, Lethal Weapon - The Ride at Warner Bros. Movie World reopened as Arkham Asylum - Shock Therapy. The newly opened ride runs with trains manufactured by Kumbak and uses less restrictive harnesses which are similar, but not identical to, the vest-like restraints found on the SLCs at Morey's Piers and Isla Magica.^[9]

The Suspended Looping Coaster is similar in design to other inverted roller coasters, however unlike the four-across seating found on Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) inverted roller coasters, Vekoma SLC's use two-across seating.

• 
  A Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster train seats riders 2 across.
• 
  A Bolliger & Mabillard Inverted Roller Coaster train seats riders 4 across.

Installations

There are at least 41 different installations across the world which have been located at 47 different theme parks.^[10]

Name	Park	Opened	Status	Model	Image
Arkham Asylum – Shock Therapy	Warner Bros. Movie World	1995	Operating	765m Extended w/ Helix		[4]
Batman - The Ride	Six Flags Mexico	2000	Operating	689m Standard		[11]
Blackout	Suzuka Circuit	1995-2007	Closed	689m Standard
Blue Tornado	Gardaland	1998	Operating	765m Extended w/ Helix		[12]
Cape Cobras	Ratanga Junction	2010	Operating	765m Extended w/ Helix		[13]
Condor	Walibi Holland	1994	Operating	662m Prototype		[1]
Desafío	Parque de la Costa	1999	Operating	689m Standard		[14]
Dragon in Clouds	Happy Valley Chengdu	2009	Operating	Shenlin w/ Helix		[15]
Ednör – L'Attaque In Storage Formerly Serial Thriller	La Ronde Great Escape Six Flags AstroWorld	2010 2005 1999	Operating 2009 Closed 2005	689m Standard		[16][17][18]
F2 Fright Flight	Nasu Highland Park	1995	Operating	689m Standard		[19]
FireWhip Formerly Blackout	Beto Carrero World Suzuka Circuit	2008 1995	Operating	689m Standard		[20][21]
Flight Deck Formerly Top Gun	Canada's Wonderland	1995	Operating	689m Standard		[22]
Fly - The Great Nor'easter	Morey's Piers	1995	Operating	Custom		[23]
The Gauntlet	Magic Springs and Crystal Falls	2004	Operating	689m Standard		[24]
Golden Wings in Snowfield	Happy Valley Beijing	2006	Operating	Shenlin w/ Helix		[25]
Hurricane	Rusutsu Resort	1995	Operating	689m Standard		[26]
Infusion Formerly TraumaTizer	Blackpool Pleasure Beach Pleasureland Southport	2007 1999	Operating Closed 2006	689m Standard		[27][28]
Jaguar	Isla Magica	1997	Operating	765m Extended w/ Helix		[29]
Kong Formerly Hangman	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Opryland USA	1998 1995	Operating Closed 1997	689m Standard		[30][31]
Kumali	Flamingo Land	2006	Operating	Shenlin
Kumba	Superland	2001	Operating	689m Standard		[32]
Limit	Heide Park	1999	Operating	689m Standard
Mayan Adventure	Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village	1997	Operating	689m Standard		[33]
Mind Eraser	Darien Lake	1997	Operating	689m Standard		[34]
Mind Eraser	Elitch Gardens	1997	Operating	689m Standard		[35]
Mind Eraser	Six Flags America	1995	Operating	689m Standard		[36]
Mind Eraser	Six Flags New England	1997	Operating	689m Standard		[37]
MP Xpress	Movie Park Germany	2001	Operating	689m Standard		[38]
Nio	Mitsui Greenland	1997	Operating	689m Standard		[39]
The Odyssey	Fantasy Island	2002	Operating	Custom		[40]
Raptor	Fantasilandia	2009	Operating	689m Standard
Roller Coaster	Dream Park	1999	Operating	765m Extended w/ Helix		[41]
Serial Thriller	Six Flags Astroworld	1999-2005	Closed	689m Standard
Snow Mountain Flying Dragon	Happy Valley Shenzhen	2002	Operating	Shenlin		[42]
Suspended Looping Coaster	SuZhou Amusement Land	2003	Operating	787m Extended		[43]
T3 Formerly T2	Kentucky Kingdom	T2 1995-2010 T3 2015	Operating	662m Prototype		[3]
Thunderhawk	Michigan's Adventure Geauga Lake	2008 1998	Operating Closed 2007	689m Standard		[44][45]
Titánide	Terra Mitica	2003	Operating	689m Standard		[46]
Twisted Typhoon	Wild Adventures	1999	Operating	689m Standard		[47]
Vampire	Walibi Belgium	1999	Operating	689m Standard		[48]
Vortex Formerly Pusing Lagi	Siam Park City Jerudong Park Playground	2007 1997	Operating Closed 2006	787m Extended		[49][50]

Yet-to-be-named 689m Standards are set to open in Al Zawra'a Dream Park in Iraq and Energylandia in Poland in 2015.^[51][52]

Similar roller coasters

Shenzhou Coaster is an inverted roller coaster at Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park in Beijing, China. The train and track are similar to the Suspended Looping Coaster design by Vekoma, but the ride was instead designed and manufactured by Beijing Shibaolai Amusement Equipment. The track layout is unique. There have been several problems with other models with the same layout. These coasters are known for having bad pacing in parts of the ride. For example: The "Hanging Roller Coaster" at Crab Island in China stalled before the rides Sidewinder stranding 12 people for 3 hours. Other SLC's in China are sometimes manufactured by Hebei Zhongye Metallurgical Equipment which are known for being more poor than the BSA models. HZM has tried to smooth out the transitions but have made the rides experience much worse. These new models cannot open when the wind speed is greater than 15 mph.^[53]

References

External links

• Official website
• Listing of all Suspended Looping Coasters on the Roller Coaster Database