Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter
The Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter is a popular roller coaster design built by Gerstlauer. It was launched in 2003 and now has many installations around the world, including a number yet to be completed. The trademark feature of the roller coaster is its 'beyond vertical' drop, which reaches an angle greater than 90 degrees. Although the majority of Euro-Fighters are custom designed for each installation, every design so far has included the trademark drop. A number of different track elements are possible, including vertical loops, diving loops, barrel rolls etc. In addition, every Euro-Fighter has a vertical chain lift hill, often (but not always) preceding the 'beyond vertical' drop and compact Euro-Fighters, such as the 320+ models, always have a cutback inversion.
Riders are transported in individual cars around the track, which feature two rows of four seats. Two exceptions are Huracan at the Belantis amusement park in Germany and "Dare Devil Dive" at Six Flags Over Georgia, which both feature cars similar to those used on Gerstlauer's launched roller coasters. The cars have over-the-shoulder restraints and may be themed (to an extent) according to the customer's requirements. Dare Devil Dive's car's are the first to use a new lap-bar only restraint system.
Fluch von Novgorod, located at Hansa Park in Germany was the first Euro-Fighter to incorporate both a vertical lift and an LSM launch in the same circuit.[1]
Installations
| Name | Model | Park | Opened | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vild-Svinet | Model 500/8 | BonBon-Land | 2003 | Operating | |
| Typhoon | Model 670/8 | Bobbejaanland | 2004 | Operating | |
| Speed: No Limits | Custom | Oakwood Theme Park | 2006 | Operating | |
| Rage | Model 320+ | Adventure Island | 2007 | Operating | |
| Mystery Mine | Custom | Dollywood | 2007 | Operating | |
| SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge | Custom | Nickelodeon Universe | 2008 | Operating | |
| SAW: The Ride | Custom | Thorpe Park | 2009 | Operating | |
| Falcon | Model 320+ | Duinrell | 2009 | Operating | |
| Curse of Novgorod | Custom | Hansa Park | 2009 | Operating | |
| Huracon | Custom | Belantis | 2010 | Operating | |
| Dare Devil Dive | Custom | Six Flags Over Georgia | 2011 | Operating | |
| Untamed | Model 320+ | Canobie Lake Park | 2011 | Operating | |
| Takabisha | Custom | Fuji-Q Highland | 2011 | Operating | |
| Eurofighter | Model 320+ | Zoosafari Fasanolandia | 2012 | Operating | |
| Iron Shark | Custom | Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier | 2012 | Operating | |
| Abyss | Custom | Adventure World | 2013 | Operating | [2] |
References
- ↑ "Gerstlauer's page for Fluch von Novgorod under 'New Projects'". Retrieved 2009-03-08.
- ↑ Wilson, Richard (12 September 2013). "Adventure World coaster named Abyss". Parkz. Retrieved 12 September 2013.