| Shockwave | |
| Location | Six Flags Great America |
|---|---|
| Status | Defunct, Demolished, replaced by Superman: Ultimate Flight |
| Opened | June 3, 1988 |
| Closed | 2002
In storage: from 2002 to 2004 |
| Type | Steel |
| Manufacturer | Arrow Dynamics |
| Model | Megalooper |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift |
| Height | 170 ft (52 m) |
| Drop | 155 ft (47 m) |
| Length | 3,900 ft (1,200 m) |
| Max speed | 65 mph (105 km/h) |
| Inversions | 7 |
| Duration | 2:20 |
| Height restriction | 4 ft 6 in (137 cm) |
| Shockwave at RCDB | |
| Pictures of Shockwave at RCDB | |
| Amusement Parks Portal | |
Shockwave (sometimes written as ShockWave or Shock Wave) was a large roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Standing 170 feet (52 m) tall and reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), it opened in 1988 as the world's tallest and fastest looping roller coaster with an impressive seven inversions: three vertical loops, a butterfly corkscrew, and two regular corkscrews. The seven inversions also set a world record; the previous record was six on Vortex at Kings Island, which had opened the year before.[1]
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Shockwave was plagued with some operational issues throughout its lifetime. Due to the speed and stress from the train negotiating the first vertical loop, a track fracture developed and needed attention on a regular basis in order to remain safe for operation. The wheels for the ride were quite expensive and, according to some ride operators, wore out quickly, which required a vigilant crew and frequent closures for a period of ten to fifteen minutes for maintenance staff to be dispatched to change them out.[2] The coaster gained a reputation as being an overly intense ride, as evidenced by postings in roller coaster enthusiast newsgroups and forums. Finally, a rumored accident involving a wheel separation in August 2002, coupled with these issues, may have led to the ride being taken down in fall 2002 to make way for Superman: Ultimate Flight, which had originally been slated to replace the smaller Whizzer roller coaster. Since Whizzer was far more popular than Shockwave, the decision was made to keep Whizzer and tear down Shockwave instead. The ride was dismantled and placed into storage behind the park and offered for sale. After attempts to sell the coaster or relocate it to another Six Flags park failed, it was scrapped at the end of Six Flags Great America's 2004 season. To this day, coaster fans lament the decision to replace the intense and classic Shockwave with the tame and uneventful Superman: Ultimate Flight, although the occasional complaints of roughness and demise of Arrow Dynamics all but assured it's ouster from Great America.
After the installation of Superman: Ultimate Flight, much of Shockwave was demolished and sold as scrap in 2004, although certain pieces can still be found throughout the park today:
On Shockwave, riders were seated and pulled down their over-the-shoulder restraints. They exited the station, rolling over the transfer track, and entered a short drop before making a tight un-banked U-turn toward the lift. Once at the top of the lift, the riders entered the roughly 150-degrees-to-the-left twisting drop, speeding down to the ground. They then climbed up to the first vertical loop, high above the queue line. A roughly 90-degree left turn followed, and then the two consecutive vertical loops. Next, the train rose up and negotiated a very tight left turn into the mid-course/block brake. After a braking, riders went through a zig-zag turn and drop and entered the boomerang/batwing element, getting their pictures taken between the two inversions. Upon exiting the element, the train made a roughly 180-degree turn to the right and entered the two back-to-back "right-hand" or "clockwise" corkscrews. Finally, riders went over a small bunny hill and made a roughly 210-degree turn to the left, entering the long brake run leading to the station.[1]
A year after Shockwave opened, The Great American Scream Machine debuted at Six Flags Great Adventure; this coaster had exactly the same layout that Shockwave had but was three feet taller and had a top speed of 68 mph (109 km/h), and had its camera at the corkscrews, instead of the boomerang. Both records, like those of Shockwave before it, lasted only one year: Viper opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1990 and set the records for tallest (188 feet tall) and fastest (70 mph) looping coaster. All three coasters were designed by Arrow Dynamics, and all three had the same inversions in the same order: three vertical loops, a batwing, and two corkscrews. Viper is nearly identical to the former Shockwave and Great American Scream Machine but has a slightly different ending, different transition between the first two vertical loops, and differently angled corners, creating a more compact ride footprint. Currently, Viper is the only one of these three coasters still open, as Great American Scream Machine has also closed on July 18, 2010, and has since been demolished.
| Preceded by Vortex |
First coaster with 7 inversions June 1988–May 1995 |
Succeeded by Dragon Khan |
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