Alan Schilke

Alan Schilke
Occupation Design Engineer at Ride Centerline LLC
Known for 4th Dimension roller coaster, Iron Horse track

Alan Schilke is an engineer and roller coaster designer based in Hayden, Idaho, United States. He first made his mark on the industry by designing the 4th Dimension roller coaster, X, while working with Arrow Dynamics.[1] Schilke now works as a Design Engineer at Ride Centerline LLC.[2]

Career

X at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Schilke worked with Arrow Dynamics for many years working his way up to the role of Head Engineer.[3] During his time at Arrow Dynamics, Schilke was credited as the designer of Road Runner Express at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood.[4][5] Around the same time, Schilke came up with the concept of the 4th Dimension roller coaster.[6][7] This concept was criticised by his colleagues at Arrow Dynamics for being too extreme and impossible to engineer.[6][7] The project only got off the ground when Six Flags' President Gary Story asked the company to develop a scaled-down prototype.[6][7] This then led to the design of X which was installed at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2001.[8]

In December 2001, Arrow Dynamics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the company being purchased by S&S Worldwide the following year.[9][10] As part of the acquisition, Schilke (among many others) designed coasters for S&S Worldwide, heading up the wooden roller coaster division that produced four roller coasters in 2003 and 2004.[10][11]

In 2006, Schilke along with Ned Hansen founded Ride Centerline LLC, an independent engineering firm in Hyde Park, Utah.[2] Schilke continued to work with S&S and is responsible for the outward banking turn found on the S&S El Loco coasters such as Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach.[12] In 2009 Schilke began providing design and engineering work for Rocky Mountain Construction, a company that specializes in the construction of roller coasters, water parks, steel buildings, miniature golf courses and go kart tracks.[13] Schilke along with Rocky Mountain Construction founder Fred Grubb went on to design Iron Horse track (now known as I-Box track), an all-steel track replacement system for wooden roller coasters.[14] The first installation of this track technology debuted on the Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in 2011.[15] The I-Box track, along with the company's Topper Track, allow wooden roller coasters, such as Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City, to perform inversions.[16]

In addition to providing designs for the amusement industry, Schilke and Hansen have worked with the Oceana Energy Company on the design and patent of water turbines to harness power from rivers and ocean tides.[17][18][19]

Projects

The New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas
As an employee of Arrow Dynamics
As an employee/consultant of S&S Arrow/S&S Worldwide
As a consultant to Rocky Mountain Construction

References

  1. ↑ "Rocky Mountain engineer...". Los Angeles Times. October 23, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Company Profile, Ride Centerline LLC". Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Ride maker isn't coasting on old thrills". Eugene Register-Guard. The Associated Press. March 11, 2001. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  4. 1 2 Marden, Duane. "Road Runner Express  (Six Flags Fiesta Texas)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Marden, Duane. "Tennessee Tornado  (Dollywood)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "X". Ultimate Rollercoaster. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 Goldman, Lea (July 23, 2001). "Newtonian Nightmare". Forbes. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Marden, Duane. "X2  (Six Flags Magic Mountain)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  9. ↑ Roche, Lisa Riley (January 10, 2002). "Caldron engineers declare bankruptcy". The Deseret News. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  10. 1 2 "You'll go nuts for S&S's Screaming Squirrel". ThrillNetwork. March 2, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Marden, Duane. "Roller Coaster Search Results  (S&S Worldwide Wooden Roller Coasters)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  12. 1 2 Ruben, Paul (2009). "Demented Design". RollerCoaster! Magazine. Vol. 30 no. 2 (Zanesville, Ohio: American Coaster Enthusiasts). p. 42. ISSN 0896-7261.
  13. ↑ "About Us". Rocky Mountain Construction. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  14. ↑ US application 2011146528, Schilke, Alan; Grubb, Fred; Bachtar, Dody, "Rolling Vehicle Track"
  15. ↑ "NEW Texas Giant Named Best New Ride of 2011". PR Newswire. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  16. ↑ MacDonald, Brady (October 25, 2012). "Looping wooden roller coasters are about to become a reality". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Tidal power proposals proliferate along Maine's coast". Island Institute and Working Waterfront. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Tudor Jones Harnesses East River in Green Power's New Frontier". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  19. ↑ "System for generating electricity from fluid currents". freshpatents.com. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  20. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Avalanche  (Timber Falls Adventure Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  21. ↑ Marden, Duane. "New Texas Giant  (Six Flags Over Texas)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  22. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Outlaw Run  (Silver Dollar City)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  23. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Iron Rattler  (Six Flags Fiesta Texas)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  24. ↑ Schilke, Alan (20 November 2013). Alan Schilke Interview. (Interview). NewsPlusNotes. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  25. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Medusa Steel Coaster  (Six Flags Mexico)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  26. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Twisted Colossus  (Six Flags Magic Mountain)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  27. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Wicked Cyclone  (Six Flags New England)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved August 29, 2014.

External links

Patents
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