A roller coaster inversion is a roller coaster element in which the track turns riders upside-down and then returns them to an upright position. Early forms of inversions were circular in nature and date back to 1848 on the Centrifugal railway in Paris. These vertical loops produced massive g-force that was often dangerous to riders. As a result, the element eventually became non-existent with the last rides to feature the looping inversions being dismantled during the Great Depression. In 1975, designers from Arrow Development created the corkscrew, reviving interest in the inversion during the modern age of steel roller coasters. Elements have since evolved from simple corkscrews and vertical loops to more complex inversions such as Immelmann loops and cobra rolls. The Smiler at Alton Towers holds the world record for the number of inversions on a roller coaster with 14.
A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit, but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller coasters, due to the ubiquity of Vekoma's Boomerang coaster model.
Boomerang is a model of roller coaster manufactured and designed by Vekoma, a Dutch manufacturer. The roller coaster model name is from the hunting implement based on the traditions of the Indigenous Australians. As of January 2023 there are 55 Boomerangs operating.
Colossus is a steel roller coaster at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England, and the park's first major attraction. It was built by Lichtenstein-based manufacturers Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel as an adaptation of Monte Makaya in Brazil. Colossus was the world's first roller coaster with ten inversions; an exact replica, called the 10 Inversion Roller Coaster, was later built at Chimelong Paradise in Guangzhou, China. It retained its title of having the most inversions on any other roller coaster in the world until The Smiler at Alton Towers took the record in 2013.
Boomerang: Coast to Coaster is a steel roller coaster of shuttle design currently in use at four different Six Flags & EPR theme parks. The ride was designed and manufactured by Vekoma, and is considered as one of its boomerang models. Each coaster has one train with a capacity of 28, two across in each row. Unlike Vekoma's suspended trains, "Boomerang: Coast to Coaster" operates a sit-down design. When the coaster starts, the train is pulled backwards up the lift hill, then dropped through the loading gate through a cobra roll and then one loop. At the end of this cycle the train is pulled up the lift hill at the end of the track, then dropped once again allowing the train to go back through the loops backwards, hence the name "Boomerang: Coast to Coaster."
Flashback is a steel roller coaster of shuttle design currently operating at Six Flags New England. The ride has one train with a capacity of twenty-eight riders, two across in each row. When the coaster starts, the train is pulled backwards up the lift hill, then dropped through the loading gate into a cobra roll and then one loop. At the end of this cycle, the train is pulled up the lift hill at the end of the track. It is then released, allowing the train to traverse the track in the opposite direction. The ride is an off-the-shelf Vekoma Boomerang design common in many amusement parks.
Batwing is a steel flying roller coaster built by Vekoma at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. This is nearly identical to Nighthawk at Carowinds, however that ride has a slightly different ending, and different paint scheme. The ride is also a clone of the now-defunct Firehawk at Kings Island.
Boomerang is a boomerang roller coaster located at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. It opened in the 2000 season, replacing the vacancy left by the original Zambezi Zinger's departure in 1997 and used Zambezi's line queue. Since 2005, the line queue and signage has moved. Boomerang is a "cookie-cutter" or "clone" ride, meaning it is not unique to Worlds of Fun and is manufactured by Vekoma for many other parks. Since Worlds of Fun has no Australia/Oceania section, the Boomerang was fitted into the Africa section.
Jolly Rancher Remix is a steel shuttle roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. A Boomerang model manufactured by Vekoma and designed by Peter Clerx, the roller coaster originally opened as the Sidewinder on May 11, 1991. The roller coaster debuted in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park and cost $4.2 million. The Sidewinder was the first roller coaster installed in the park in 14 years since the SooperDooperLooper in 1977 and the fourth roller coaster in operation to be built. The roller coaster has a maximum height of 116.5 ft (35.5 m), with a maximum speed of 47 mph (76 km/h), and a track length of 935 ft (285 m).
Boomerang is a boomerang roller coaster located at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri. It opened to the public on June 8, 2013. The ride originally opened as Flashback in 1989 at Six Flags Over Texas, where it operated through 2012.
Firehawk was a flying roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Manufactured by Vekoma, it originally opened as X-Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure on May 26, 2001, billed as the Midwest's first and only flying roller coaster. Cedar Fair purchased Worlds of Adventure in 2004 and began efforts to downsize the park. X-Flight was relocated to Kings Island following the 2006 season, where it reopened as Firehawk on May 26, 2007.
Invertigo is the name of an inverted shuttle roller coaster model developed and manufactured by Dutch company Vekoma. Four roller coasters based on this model were built, with the first installation opening in 1997 as HangOver at Liseberg amusement park located in Sweden. Three of the four are still in operation. Invertigo is designed as an inverted variation of their traditional Boomerang model, which first appeared in 1984. Invertigo's seat configuration is also a departure from its predecessor, in that riders sit back-to-back, resulting in all rows facing one another with the exception of the first and last.
The Odyssey is a roller coaster at Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells, England. Built by Vekoma of the Netherlands in 2002, it was named to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is Vekoma's tallest example of their Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) design in the world. Standing at 167 feet, it is the fourth tallest roller coaster in the UK, after Hyperia the Big One and Stealth. And the joint second tallest full circuit inverted rollercoaster in the world. It has a maximum speed of 63 mph and is capable of forces up to 4.8g.
The Flying Cobras is a steel boomerang roller coaster manufactured by Vekoma. It is located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the County Fair section of the park. The Flying Cobras was the first roller coaster addition to Carowinds following the park's purchase by Cedar Fair in 2006. It originally debuted in 1996 at Geauga Lake in Ohio as The Mind Eraser, and was later known as Head Spin from 2004 to 2007 after Geauga Lake was purchased by Cedar Fair. After Geauga Lake closed in 2007, the coaster was relocated to Carowinds in 2009 and renamed Carolina Cobra. Following the 2016 season, the roller coaster was refurbished and renamed again in 2017.
Wipeout is a roller coaster located at Pleasurewood Hills theme park in Lowestoft, England. Vekoma designed the roller coaster. Wipeout uses a boomerang design.
The Space Shuttle is a steel roller coaster situated at Enchanted Kingdom in Santa Rosa, Laguna in the Philippines. It is a Vekoma Boomerang coaster. It has a single train with seven cars, with 2 rows per car and 2 seats per row. The train is capable of carrying a maximum of 28 passengers. It is inspired by sci-fi films and the NASA space program of the 1960s. This 11-story roller coaster inverts riders six times - three times forward and three times backward. This is the first coaster ride of its kind in the country. This ride was originally called the 'Cobra' and it was located at West Midland Safari and Leisure Park in Bewdley, England from 1985 to 1991.
SkyLoop is a type of steel roller coaster manufactured by Maurer Söhne. There are currently 10 SkyLoops operating worldwide, nine of which are identical XT 150 models, and one of which is an extended XT 450 model. The first SkyLoop to open was Sky Wheel in 2004 while the sole XT 450, Abismo, opened in 2006. There are also three other models—XT 900, Custom, and Launch—which have no installations as of 2021.
Sea Serpent is a steel roller coaster at Morey's Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey. Opened in 1984, it was built by Vekoma, and was the first boomerang-style coaster to be built in the US. The coaster's installation was part of a redevelopment of the Marine Pier into a new Mariner's Landing area in 1984. The Sea Serpent currently sits in the middle of Mariners Landing and serves as an icon for the pier along with The Giant Wheel.
HangTime is a steel roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. The Infinity Coaster was manufactured by Gerstlauer on the former site of Boomerang and Riptide. On opening, it had the steepest drop on a rollercoaster in California, at 96°. HangTime was also marketed by the park as the first Dive Coaster in California. It opened on May 18, 2018.
