• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

'World's First'

matthewgcole said:
Air - Pioneering. Not even a new concept, even if it was the first b&M of its type. Now the design is all over the world thanks to this coaster.
Click to expand...
Don't forget, the first Superman UF clone opened a couple of weeks later and is a far superior ride. Nobody else has built a ride as tame as Air.
 
Rick said:
Don't forget, the first Superman UF clone opened a couple of weeks later and is a far superior ride. Nobody else has built a ride as tame as Air.
Click to expand...
Air was supposed to be "tame" and imitate flying like a bird, it does its job well.
It was AT and John Wardley who first wanted a flying coaster as SW4 with discussions starting just after Nemesis was built but because of technology limitations it didn't happen until 2002, also leading to the Dive Coaster. It's is this inventive pioneering that is a good "World's first" not the crappy Galactica style "record"
 
alee298 said:
Air was supposed to be "tame" and imitate flying like a bird, it does its job well.
Click to expand...
So well .... that no other park in the world has adopted this approach and instead, have maximised the opportunities that the flying coaster affords and built a thrilling layout. Which other flyers would you rate below Air?
 
Rick said:
Don't forget, the first Superman UF clone opened a couple of weeks later and is a far superior ride. Nobody else has built a ride as tame as Air.
Click to expand...
You missed my point. I wasn't advocating that Air was a good ride, I said it was Pioneering. It did what it set out to, it brought the technology to the world. As alee298 said above, it was Walter Bolliger and John Wardleys concept for Air that led to its creation and the point I was making. Hence why I mentioned The Smiler in the way I did, good coaster, but the 14 inversion "world's first" is gimmicky regardless.
 
matthewgcole said:
You missed my point. I wasn't advocating that Air was a good ride, I said it was Pioneering. It did what it set out to, it brought the technology to the world. As alee298 said above, it was Walter Bolliger and John Wardleys concept for Air that led to its creation and the point I was making. Hence why I mentioned The Smiler in the way I did, good coaster, but the 14 inversion "world's first" is gimmicky regardless.
Click to expand...
You missed my point. Six Flags brought the B&M flying coaster as we know it to the world a few weeks after Alton opened Air. Indeed, Wardley was pretty influential back then!
 
Rick said:
You missed my point. Six Flags brought the B&M flying coaster as we know it to the world a few weeks after Alton opened Air. Indeed, Wardley was pretty influential back then!
Click to expand...
I'm not denying that. They did indeed. But the tech and concept was designed for Alton, this then led to the existence of SUF so Wardleys imagination and the opening of Air left the legacy of Six Flags adopting that tech and doing great things with it.

I think Air, as you've pointed out, is probably an example of when it's not always great to have a world's first. The coaster was very quickly bettered and almost left us with a prototype. To a lesser extent, Oblivion also suffers from this.
 
I think it's worth noting that Air has always been very popular with people that aren't into thrill rides. Like most of Disney's coasters it sits right on the limit of what non-thrill seekers can enjoy while letting them feel like they are taking on something much more daunting.

This is why I've always highly rated Air. Being partially in that category myself I do love rides like Nemesis but it's unique experience like Air I keep going back for.

This is why I think Unique is a better term than Worlds First. Rides like Blue Fire, Maverick, Helix, El Toro, Boulder Dash ect... Are all unique. They didn't need World Firsts to sell them but their unique aspects made them marketable regardless.
 
Tim said:
This is why I think Unique is a better term than Worlds First. Rides like Blue Fire, Maverick, Helix, El Toro, Boulder Dash ect... Are all unique. They didn't need World Firsts to sell them but their unique aspects made them marketable regardless.
Click to expand...
Agree on the 'unique' aspect, that's a very interesting way of looking at it.

All those that you mention above are great rides too - which helps massively in terms of an attraction's longevity as a crowd puller. I suspect Blue Fire is going to be the SLC of this decade (not in terms of ride experience, mind). Mack have developed a solid layout with a reasonable footprint, flexible capacity and all the visuals you would want in a headline ride. There are five/six of those things now?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tim
With all the hight and noise restrictions in place on the park - and the fact that it was the first of its kind - could air have been much more thrilling if they tried? I know they could have excavated a pit as they did with nemesis, but 1) that would ruin the unique look of Nemesis if there was another coaster right next to it doing the same thing, and 2) the budget wouldn't allow much more, I'm guessing that's why we never had theming. Majority of the budget was spent on putting riders into the flying position.

Could it have been much more thrilling? Yes, they could have probably added a little more, but I actually prefer it as a relaxing coaster, nice for a break after you've done nemesis six times in a row.
 
It's what and how for me. Don't mind if they are done well and don't relegate coasters just for having one (my list goes Europe First, a bloody good GCI, Some wood nailed together at BPB, A deer murderer then a World First. I didn't put the world first higher or lower for being so.)
 
Last edited:
On the note of the ten inversion coasters (Colossus clones) the final inversion is because the long section of rolls can make some people disorientated and feel sickly afterwards, so they added in the final inversion in the opposite direction to reduce the amount of people being sick apparently.

And because the "Worlds First nine looping rollercoaster doesn't sound as good :p ) I actually like that inversion as quite a few are caught off guard.

If something is a Worlds first, it is usually the best part about the ride, if it is more of a record it starts to seem gimmicky (see the El Locos getting steeper by a couple of degrees, when technically every looping coaster hits a steeper angle, to me the steepest is 90 degrees, after that it starts to feel forceless, all the Eurofighters and el locos feel like nothing compared to Oblivion.
 
Ryan B said:
On the note of the ten inversion coasters (Colossus clones) the final inversion is because the long section of rolls can make some people disorientated and feel sickly afterwards, so they added in the final inversion in the opposite direction to reduce the amount of people being sick apparently.

And because the "Worlds First nine looping rollercoaster doesn't sound as good ) I actually like that inversion as quite a few are caught off guard.

If something is a Worlds first, it is usually the best part about the ride, if it is more of a record it starts to seem gimmicky (see the El Locos getting steeper by a couple of degrees, when technically every looping coaster hits a steeper angle, to me the steepest is 90 degrees, after that it starts to feel forceless, all the Eurofighters and el locos feel like nothing compared to Oblivion.
Click to expand...
That's a very good point in that the World's first element should be the best part of the ride. I would settle for one of the best parts.

This is why I have very strong views on why collosus fails so miserably in comparison to The Smiler (my own personal opinion of course). After the ridiculously long queue (albeit in a pleasant queue line), being pinned into your seat so restrictively and enduring the cringeworthy sound of what sounds like the lift hill disintegrating, it starts off ok. But it's nothing but torture after the cobra roll. My gran walks faster than Collosus negotiations those excruciating heartline rolls, then to find there's one more to endure before the break run in case your shoulder bones and stomach lining survived the previous onslaught! A lesson learnt that world's first/world records need a legitimate reason for being there rather than just short term publicity.
 
I like Colossus personally, it has some interesting sounds though - the entrance into the Cobra roll is quite the racket, but I like it's dragon-like charm. lol

I think if the heartline rolls were any faster they'd be too intense and there's a knack to supporting yourself through them but I'd much rather ride it than Inferno. I will agree the throughput is shockingly bad, but then isn't every ride at Thorpe awful for that?
 
I once likened the sound of Colossus to that of an oil drum full of stones in a runaway shopping trolly speeding down a cobbled hill. I stand by this.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
I once likened the sound of Colossus to that of an oil drum full of stones in a runaway shopping trolly speeding down a cobbled hill. I stand by this.
Click to expand...
Sit in that trolley, with the said oil drum heavily weighed down with stones on your lap and ride it down the cobbled hill whilst someone punches you in the ears and clubs your shoulders with a cricket bat at the same time, and you've pretty much nailed the ride experience as well my friend!
 
Nothing beats the roar of the B&M inverted coaster. I like the contrast in FV. Nemesis is fast and unforgiving with intense turns just brushing by the rocks. Air/Galactica is swooping with gentle rolls, not intense but still a fun experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top