Stealth (roller coaster)

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Stealth

Train on top-hat
Location Thorpe Park
Park Section Amity Cove
Type Steel - Launched
Status Open
Opened March 15, 2006
Manufacturer Intamin AG
Designer Werner Stengel
Model Accelerator Coaster
Track layout Intamin Quad Track
Lift/launch system Hydraulic launch track
Height 205 feet (62.5 m)
Drop 203 feet (61.9 m)
Length 1,312 feet (399.9 m)
Max speed 80.0 mile per hour (128.7 km/h)
Inversions 0
Duration ~12 sec.
Max Vertical Angle 86 degrees
Capacity 1200 riders per hour
Cost £12 million
Acceleration 0–80 mph in 1.8 seconds (2.3 seconds prior to 2007 season)
Max G force 4.8
Stealth at Theme Park Junkies
Stealth at RCDB
Pictures of Stealth at RCDB

Stealth is a steel roller coaster built by Intamin AG of Switzerland. The coaster is located in the Amity Cove area of Thorpe Park in Surrey, England and is the park's newest roller coaster. The ride reaches a maximum height of 205 ft, which makes it the 3rd tallest coaster in Europe after Silver Star and Pepsi Max Big One, but the tallest launched coaster in Europe. The ride reaches speeds of around 80 mph in under 2 seconds (as of 2007, previously 2.3 seconds), making it the fastest roller coaster in Europe, although it is expected to lose this record when Furious Baco opens in 2007 at Port Aventura. During the ride, riders are faced with G-forces of up to 4.8 G, about 1.5 G more than astronauts experience on take off. The ride is thought to have cost £12 million.

The ride opened on 15 March, 2006. A newer version of the Enterprise ride, Zodiac, was relocated from Drayton Manor Theme Park to Thorpe Park on the same day.

Contents

[edit] Planning and development

During development the ride was known as Project Stealth, and names such as 'Humdinger' and 'The Edge' circulated the Internet forums before the park decided on the name Stealth in early 2006.

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When the ride was first announced on the Thorpe Park mid-term development plans it was compared to Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm in the US. Initial speculation was that the ride would have a similar layout (launch, top hat, several overbanked turns, brake run), but a less ambitious layout was eventually decided on. Stealth bears major similarities to Kingda Ka, the current world record holder for tallest and fastest roller coaster. Stealth is essentially a scaled down version of Kingda Ka, something coaster enthusiasts have criticized Thorpe Park for; all the more understandable since Stealth cost only about 10% less than Kingda Ka to construct, yet is less than half the height and 48mph slower.

In the original designs there were plans for a grandstand style queue-line, which involved the queue wrapping around and through a traditional drag racing grandstand. This was turned down in favour of a more cost-effective 'cattle pen' queue-line similar to the one at Alton Towers for its 2005 coaster Rita - Queen of Speed, although the queue-line does zigzag back and forth under the launch track to build anticipation, as the launching train is very impressive close up. Stealth has its own live DJ in a booth outside the ride. The DJ plays rock 'n' roll classics from rock stars such as Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys. Guests can request tracks and give shoutouts that can be heard throughout the queue-line and the Stealth area of Thorpe Park.

[edit] Reactions

Stealth was well received by the public and coaster enthusiasts. A surprise was the airtime (negative G-forces) felt after the top hat, something which Kingda Ka had lacked. One coaster site rates this coaster with 10 out of 10. Another ranks it 39th in the world with a ranking of 8.66. The ride has been criticized for its short length and unvaried track. Stealth, like the other coasters of this type, will sometimes "roll back". This is when the train does not have enough power to reach the top of the hill. When that happens, the train falls back down the hill, and is sent to a stop before being launched again. This makes some rides very unexpected.

However, on 21 June 2006, the ride broke down, producing smoke, sparks, and power loss. The suspected cause for this is that part of the rubber lining of the catch car rubbed against the metallic edge of the catch car carrier, causing loud noise and smoke. The ride operator then pushed the emergency stop, which caused the brake fins to rise up, slowing the train slightly, but still leaving enough momentum to guide the riders through the rest of the track. When the ride stopped, the riders were stuck on the ride for about 30 minutes. At this point it is believed that nothing in the launch room has been damaged, and the ride was re-opened on 17 July 2006. The seriousness of the accident meant that the queue line and the whole of Amity Cove was evacuated. During this period of downtime, Thorpe Park continued with their TV advertising campaign promoting stealth. Staff from the park reported that during this period there was a large increase in the number of complaints made at guest services, however the park refused to refund customers their entrance fees, despite the TV advertising campaign not mentioning that the ride was in fact unoperable at the time. A similar but more serious incident happened on Kingda Ka, also designed by Intamin.

Although since the re-opening of Stealth, it has encountered much downtime. Thorpe Park Guest Services have been telling people that this is due to the possibility of small pieces of metal entering the hydraulic fluid and system, which causes an error in Stealth's computer, Intamin AG has been notified of the problem and are analysing fluid samples. The ride re-opened at 4:45 pm. Saturday 26th August, with only one train running, but the following day both trains were operating and the ride is now fully functional, although at present the ride is experencing many failed launches per day and often is only running on one train.

[edit] The ride

The queue line begins near the end of the launch track under the signature logo of a large "half tyre". The original plan for the queue line was for it to be themed like a grandstand but this was cancelled and an ordinary "cattlepen" queue line is now in place. The queue line eventually runs by the station giving impressive views of the launch and also runs underneath the launch track itself. After this the queue line splits in 2, the left one for the front seats, the other one for the rest of the train. When guests have reached the the platform, they are asked to put loose articles such as keys, wallets, mobiles and glasses into "cubbies" and are given a wristband. Then guests wait behind gates, waiting for an empty train to roll into place. Guests are told to sit down, pull down the restraints and clip in their own belt. By doing this, the train is checked quickly and the queue is mainly always on the move, only stopping if a guest of "exceptional" size is having difficulties. The train then rolls forward slighty and then back to hook onto the catch car. Then a voice is heard over the speakers, "Place your heads back, face forwards - 3, 2, 1, GO GO GO". When the ride first opened in March, the original voiceover from the speakers said, "Ready to go, looking good — 3, 2, 1, GO GO GO". The train is then accelerated to 80mph. As it nears the launch track, the catch car unhooks itself and the train carries on its journey up the 205ft tower, cresting over the top-hat and coming back down and cresting over a smaller "bunny-hop" hill while being slowed down by magnetic brakes.

[edit] Theming

The theme of this coaster is a 1960s race track called "Amity Speedway". A live radio DJ plays music from the 1960s called WWTP, Big Bob's radio show. The buildings are made to look worn and old, to fit in with the theme.

[edit] Stealth 1.1

Just before the beginning of the 2007 season, marred by widespread ride closures, Tussaud's announced that Stealth had been upgraded to do 0-80mph in under 2 seconds. They used the slogan 'It's Back. It's Upgraded. Are you ready?' to promote the improved ride via a flash presentation on www.thorpepark.com.

[edit] Records

When Stealth opened in 2006, it held numerous records and titles. In 2007, Stealth gained and will lose record titles, partly because of the acceleration increase, and the opening of PortAventura's Furious Baco.

2006 records

  • Europe's fastest roller coaster - 80mph
  • Europe's highest and fastest launch coaster - 205 feet, 80mph
  • The 3rd tallest rollercoaster in Europe - 205 feet

2007 records

  • Europe's highest launch coaster - 205 feet
  • The fastest accelerating coaster in Europe - 0-80mph in just under 2 seconds
  • The 3rd fastest accelerating coaster in the world - 0-80mph in under 2 seconds

[edit] External links

Roller coasters at Thorpe Park

Colossus - Flying Fish - Nemesis Inferno - Stealth - X:\ No Way Out
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