Arrow Dynamics

Arrow Dynamics

Industry	Amusement Rides
Fate	Bankruptcy, assets bought by S&S Arrow
Predecessor	Arrow Development Company Inc Arrow Huss Inc
Successor	S&S Worldwide
Founded	1986
Founder	Ronald Toomer Otis Hughes Brent Meikle
Defunct	2002
Headquarters	Clearfield, Utah, United States
Key people	Ron Toomer Alan Schilke
Products	Roller Coasters

Arrow Dynamics was a roller coaster design and manufacturing company based in Clearfield, Utah, United States. Successor to Arrow Development (1946–1981) and Arrow Huss (1981–1986), which were responsible for some of the most influential advancements in the amusement and theme park industries. Among the most significant was tubular steel track, which provided a smoother ride than the railroad style rails commonly used prior to the 1960s on wooden roller coasters. The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland was Arrow's first foray into roller coasters, in 1959. Arrow and their successors would continue to build trend-setting ride systems for the next 45 years.

In 1975, Arrow Development introduced the first corkscrew style track Corkscrew, at Knott's Berry Farm that sent riders through a series of barrel rolls. Though not the world's first inverting coaster, it was the first in modern times. Arrow created several other "firsts" over the years, introducing the first suspended roller coaster in almost a century, The Bat, in 1981, and the world's first "hypercoaster", Magnum XL-200, which opened in 1989 and built the first 4th Dimension roller coaster, X2, which was designed by Alan Schilke, who founded Ride Centerline, LLC in 2006 later joined Rocky Mountain Construction.

Arrow Development's ownership changed three times between the 1950s and 1980s. Arrow Dynamics would eventually survive two bankruptcies and spin off a sister company, Fabriweld, primarily to build track,^[1] by 1988. Arrow Dynamics eventually met its demise on December 3, 2001. S&S Worldwide purchased part of Arrow's remaining assets on October 28, 2002, and the remainder of the company was dissolved. Late in 2012, Sansei Yusoki Co., Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, acquired a 77.3% interest in S&S - Arrow. Signage at the 2012 and 2013 IAAPA Attractions Expos promoted the new company as S&S Sansei.

History

Beginnings

Arrow Dynamic's forerunner, Arrow Development, was founded in 1946 when Ed Morgan, Karl Bacon, Bill Hardiman, and Angus "Andy" Anderson, started a machine shop at 243 Moffett Boulevard, just north of downtown Mountain View, California.^[2] They started out selling used machine tools, building truck parts and repairing cars until about 1950 when they built their first merry-go-rounds for San Jose's Alum Rock Park.^[3]

In 1953, they contacted Walt Disney, who was just beginning to plan a new type of amusement park in California.^[4] Disney admired Arrow's work and hired them to help design build the vehicles for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. They would eventually design and build the ride systems for many of Disneyland's original and early rides, including Mad Tea Party, King Arthur Carrousel, Casey Jr. Circus Train, and Snow White's Scary Adventures.^[3] Disney continued to use Arrow as Disneyland expanded. Arrow designed and built Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Autopia, and Alice in Wonderland in coming years as well as upgrading and renovating the King Arthur Carrousel.^[4]

Move toward roller coaster manufacturing

Matterhorn Bobsleds, the first Arrow Development roller coaster.

In 1959, Arrow Development designed what was to be the first of many roller coasters, the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Built in conjunction with WED Imagineering,^[5] the ride was the first modern tubular steel tracked roller coaster.

After construction of the Matterhorn, Disney bought a third of Arrow Development in an effort to keep them viable and at least partially in-house. Arrow had already developed rides for other customers, and had orders for more, so they moved into a larger plant at 1555 Plymouth in Mountain View, California. At the new location, Arrow developed vehicles, flumes and tracks for It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Adventure Thru Inner Space, and the Haunted Mansion.

Arrow developed the modern log flume ride, eventually installing over 50 around the world, the first being El Aserradero at Six Flags Over Texas in 1963. In the 1970s, the company perfected and brought back the looping roller coaster.

In 1975, Arrow installed one of the most important rides of its time, Corkscrew, which made its debut at Knott's Berry Farm as the world's first modern inverting coaster. Arrow made hundreds of coasters throughout the decades, including 17 Corkscrew-style coasters, 16 "runaway mine train" coasters like Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Adventure Express, custom-designed coasters like Loch Ness Monster, and Carolina Cyclone.

Some of Arrow Development's later projects included what were at the time the world's tallest roller coasters, such as Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point in 1989 and Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1994.

Reorganizations and bankruptcy

Arrow Dynamics logo (1986–2000)

In 1971, Karl Bacon, Ed Morgan and Walter Schulze sold Arrow Development to Rio Grande Industries. At the time, Penn Central owned Six Flags and Rio Grande had plans to build theme parks of their own, purchasing Frontier Village in 1973.^[6]:224 In the late 1970s a relationship was formed with Arrow teaching Vekoma how to build tubular track in their native Holland, and in return Vekoma became Arrow's European distributor. Rio Grande sold Arrow to the German manufacturing firm, Huss Maschinenfabrik, in 1981. The merger formed Arrow Huss. Dana Morgan (Ed Morgan's son) was appointed president and Ron Toomer was made vice president and manager of engineering. Dana would leave the company and form Morgan Manufacturing in 1983. Although Arrow's coasters continued to sell well, Arrow Huss struggled financially, partially due to heavily investing in Darien Lake theme park in New York and the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans.^[6]:225 Arrow Huss filed for bankruptcy in 1985, and 13 of the company's American officers negotiated a buyout. In 1986, the takeover was approved by the courts and the company re-emerged as Arrow Dynamics. Ron Toomer served as president until 1993, Chairman of the Board until 1995, and as a consulting director until his retirement in 1998.^[7]

In the late 1990s, Arrow Dynamic's bookings steadily decreased, with few installations toward the end of the decade. Despite attempts to keep up by implementing more updated design techniques, Arrow still found themselves struggling to compete. Other manufacturers such as Bolliger & Mabillard and Intamin began to dominate the industry.

Design and manufacturing costs for new, larger ride systems were increasing and competition was intense. Bankruptcy loomed once again just as Arrow introduced the X (subsequently known as X²) at Six Flags Magic Mountain, a 4th dimension roller coaster designed by Alan Schilke. X opened to massive media attention and received an initially positive reception; however, several mechanical problems caused the ride to be closed for repairs during much of its first year of operation.

The company filed for bankruptcy again on December 3, 2001. At the end of October 2002, the remaining assets were sold to S&S Worldwide, a limited liability company related to amusement ride manufacturer, forming S&S Arrow.^[8][9] In November 2012, Sansei Yusoki Co., Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, acquired a 77.3% interest in S&S. Signage at the 2012 and 2013 IAAPA Attractions Expos promoted the new company as S&S Sansei.

Milestones

Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster in the world to pass the 200 ft mark.

• 1959: The world's first tubular steel track coaster, Matterhorn Bobsleds, at Disneyland.^[10]
• 1963: The world's first Log Flume, El Aserradero at Six Flags Over Texas.
• 1966: The world's first mine train roller coaster, featuring the world's first underwater tunnel, the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags Over Texas.^[11]
• 1975: The world's first modern inverting coaster, Corkscrew, at Knott's Berry Farm.^[10]
• 1976: The world's first coaster with 3 inversions, Corkscrew at Cedar Point.
• 1977: The world's first coaster with consecutive vertical loops, Double Loop, at Geauga Lake.^[12]
• 1978: The world's first interlocking loops, Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
• 1980: The world's first coaster with 4 inversions, Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds.
• 1981: The world's first modern suspended coaster, The Bat, at Kings Island.^[10]
• 1982: The world's first coaster with 5 inversions, Viper at Darien Lake.
• 1984: The world's first successful suspended coaster, XLR-8 at Six Flags Astroworld and Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
• 1987: The world's first coaster with 6 inversions, Vortex at Kings Island.
• 1988: The world's first coaster with 7 inversions, Shockwave at Six Flags Great America.
• 1989: The world's first Hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, at Cedar Point.^[10]
• 1990: The world's first suspended coaster to go underground, Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures.
• 1991: The world's first looping coaster to feature an underwater tunnel, Anaconda at Kings Dominion.
• 1991: The world's fastest roller coaster, Steel Phantom, opened at Kennywood
• 1993: The world's first roller coaster to feature three consecutive corkscrews, Fantasia Special at Fantasia.
• 1994: World's tallest and steepest coaster, Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Great Britain.
• 2002: The Olympic Cauldron for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City was lit. Arrow Dynamics designed the steel frame supporting the structure designed by WET Design.
• 2002: The world's first 4th dimension coaster, X, at Six Flags Magic Mountain.^[10]

See also

• The Legacy of Arrow Development - a 2016 documentary on the company, produced by American Coaster Enthusiasts
• List of Arrow Dynamics roller coasters
• HUSS Park Attractions

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arrow Dynamics.

• Front Seat On Ride Video of Arrow Dynamics Prototype 4D Roller Coaster X2
• S&S Worldwide, who manufacturer select Arrow products
• Arrow: Building a Dream from themagiceye at Joyland Books