Nighthawk (roller coaster)

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Nighthawk

Location Carowinds
Park section Carowinds Plaza
Type Steel - Flying
Status Operating
Opened March 20, 2004 (originally 2000 at Great America)
Manufacturer Vekoma
Designer Vekoma
Model Flying Dutchman
Track layout Custom
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 115 ft (35 m)
Drop 103 ft (31 m)
Length 2,766 ft (843 m)
Max speed 51 mph (82 km/h)
Inversions 5 (RCDB's listing, the park lists 8)
Duration 2:45
Max vertical angle 53°
Capacity 1000 riders per hour
Cost $17,000,000 USD (paid for by previous owners Paramount's Great America)
Max g-force 4.3
Height restriction 4 ft 6 in (140 cm)
Nighthawk at RCDB
Pictures of Nighthawk at RCDB

Nighthawk (formerly Borg Assimilator) is a steel flying roller coaster at Carowinds, near Charlotte, North Carolina. It was relocated from Great America where it was named STEALTH, in 2002. Nighthawk was built by Vekoma of the Netherlands.

Contents

[edit] History

Nighthawk replaced the Carolina Sternwheeler Riverboat, one of the park's original attractions. The ride was relocated from Great America and renamed Borg Assimilator and opened with a Star Trek theme. It is constructed from over 1,100 tons of steel [1]. The license to base the ride's theme on Star Trek was obtained by Paramount Pictures, the previous owners of the park, but the right to use the name expired with the 2007 season. All Star Trek themeing was removed for the 2008 season including the Borg sphere.

[edit] Layout

As the train pulls into the station, it is lifted into an upright position and is laid back down with riders on their backs as it departs. A small turn exists directly before the 115 foot tall lift. After the lift a gentle sloped, small drop exist directly before the "lie-to-fly" element when riders are first turned into the flying position. In the flying position a large turn about 100 feet in the air brings riders the biggest drop on the ride, although the drop isn't steep. A horseshoe element (resembles an overbanked turn from Intamin) is directly after the small drop followed by a "fly-to-lie" element which is exactly opposite from the "lie-to-fly". After the turn, following the fly-to-lie, riders are taken into a loop preceding another lie-to-fly with a turn. Two corkscrews follow and then the brake run.

[edit] Incidents

Main article: Incidents at Cedar Fair parks

[edit] Ride elements

  • Lie To Fly (180° Roll)
  • Horseshoe
  • Fly To Lie (180° Roll)
  • Loop
  • Lie To Fly (180° Roll)
  • Fly To Lie (180° Roll)
  • Double Corkscrew

The old ride logo.

The majority of Night Hawk's layout

Night Hawk's first "lie-to-fly"

One of Night Hawk's "flying" turns

Night Hawk's second corkscrew

[edit] External links

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Roller coasters at Carowinds
Afterburn · Carolina Cyclone · Carolina Goldrusher · Fairly Odd Coaster · Flying Super Saturator · Hey Arnold's Taxi Chase · Hurler · Nighthawk · Ricochet · Rugrats Runaway Reptar · Thunder Road · Vortex
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