Revolution (roller coaster)

Infobox roller coaster
name=Revolution


caption=Revolution at the bottom of the second hill
location=Six Flags Magic Mountain
section=Baja Ridge
type=Steel
status=Open
opened=May 8, 1976
manufacturer=Anton Schwarzkopf
designer=Werner Stengel
model=Looping roller coaster
track=Terrain
lift=Chain lift hill
height=113
drop=80
length=3457
speed=55
inversions=1
duration=2:12
angle=45
capacity= 1400
cost=$2,000,000
acceleration=
gforce=4.9
rcdb_number=130

Revolution is a steel roller coaster manfactured by Anton Schwarzkopf of Germany and designed by Werner Stengel. The coaster is located in the Baja Ridge area of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It opened on May 8, 1976 as Great American Revolution and was the the world's first modern roller coaster to feature a vertical loop. It is an ACE Coaster Landmark. [ [http://www.aceonline.org/CoasterAwards/?type=3 ACE Coaster Landmark Awards] ]

The coaster was named after the American Revolution, which began in 1776, 200 years before the ride opened. Unlike almost all of the previous attempts to create looping roller coasters in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Revolution's loop was clothoid loop-shaped instead of a completely circular. Eight days later, Corkscrew opened at Cedar Point on May 15, 1976 with a vertical loop and two corkscrews for a total of three inversions.

History

Magic Mountain developed the loop coaster with designer Anton Schwarzkopf to be the first true loop coaster since the Loop the Loop at the Coney Island amusements.Before the ride opened, it took a week of testing to just get the train to complete one circuit because of wheels being too tight.When the ride opened, the ride staff were outfitted with Continental Army style uniforms to match the American Revolutionary War of 1776 theme. The ride was later changed to a Mexican Revolution theme and called just "Revolution" when Six Flags purchased Magic Mountain in 1979.In June 2002, a plaque was erected in front of the ride, marking it as one of the American Coaster Enthusiasts "Coaster Landmarks", for being the first steel looping roller coaster. The coaster was surpassed in the park in 1978 by the "Colossus" which held the record for a short time as the highest and fastest roller coaster.

During the construction of Six Flags Magic Mountain's roller coaster Tatsu in 2005, parts of Revolution had to be dismantled to make way for the new ride; it reopened along with Tatsu on Tatsu Media Day on May 11, 2006.

Pop Culture

Revolution was prominently featured in the climax of the 1977 suspense thriller "Rollercoaster". It was also featured in the film "National Lampoon's Vacation". Dubbed the “Whipper Snapper,” the Griswold family and kidnapped security guard Russ Lasky (John Candy) rode this coaster in the final scenes of the film.

External links

* [http://www.sixflags.com/parks/magicmountain/Rides/revolution.html Revolution at the official Six Flags Magic Mountain website]

References