Superman - Ride of Steel

"This page is for the roller coaster at Six Flags America. For the Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England, see Superman - Ride of Steel (Six Flags New England). For the Darien Lake coaster see Ride Of Steel (Darien Lake).

Infobox roller coaster simplified
name = Superman - Ride of Steel


caption = Loading station and lift hill at Darien Lake,
prior to the removal of Superman theming.
location = 1. Darien Lake Theme Park Resort
2. Six Flags America
type = Steel roller coaster
manufacturer = Intamin AG
model = Hypercoaster
lift = Chain lift hill
status = Open
opened = May 13, 2000
height = 208 feet
drop = 205 feet
length = 5400 feet
speed = 73 mph
duration = 2:10
angle of descent = 68°
inversions = 0
restriction = 54"(Min.) 74"(Max.)
capacity = 1100
cost = $12,000,000 USD
rcdb_number= 541

Superman - Ride of Steel is a steel hyper roller coaster that exists at Six Flags America. An identical rollercoaster called Ride Of Steel exists at Darien Lake, which was formerly a Six Flags Park. Because Darien Lake is no longer a Six Flags park, that coaster can no longer be called Superman. Darien Lake's version is still functionally the same, only without the Superman name and theming. The two rides feature identical layouts which includes two large helices, multiple airtime hills, and a long straight segment. Additionally, a similar coaster with a somewhat different layout also known as Superman - Ride Of Steel is located at Six Flags New England.

Accidents

*A near-fatal accident occurred on the Darien Lake version in 1999 when a passenger was thrown from the train on one of the final hills. As a result, the park installed standard seat-belts and imposed further restrictions on passenger size and weight. Prior to the accident, the height restriction was 48 inches; now it is 54 inches. This ride also has a computer controlled and monitored restraint system that does not allow the the train to leave the station house until all restraints are low enough. The restraints were also replaced with larger and longer lap bars. Seat belts were also added to the seats. [cite web|url=http://www.rideaccidents.com/1999.html#may16|title=Rider thrown from new Darien Lake roller coaster|publisher=Rideaccidents.com|accessdate=2008-02-17] A similar incident resulting in death occurred at Six Flags New England in 2004, [cite news |url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06EED9143CF93BA35756C0A9629C8B63 |title = New England: Massachusetts: Coaster Death Report |publisher = New York Times |date = 2004-05-08 |accessdate = 2006-07-31] caused by the same problems Darien Lake had rectified after the first incident.

Rankings

References

External links

* [http://www.sixflags.com/america/rides/SupermanRideofSteel.aspx Six Flags America's Official Page for Superman: Ride of Steel]