Boomerang (Six Flags St. Louis)

Boomerang
Six Flags St. Louis
Park section Illinois
Coordinates 38°30′59″N 90°40′30″W / 38.5164°N 90.6749°W / 38.5164; -90.6749Coordinates: 38°30′59″N 90°40′30″W / 38.5164°N 90.6749°W / 38.5164; -90.6749
Status Operating
Opening date June 8, 2013 (2013-06-08)[1][2]
Replaced Water Street Cab Company
Boomerang at at RCDB
Pictures of Boomerang at at RCDB
General statistics

Boomerang is a steel boomerang roller coaster at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri (USA) that opened on June 8, 2013.[1][3] Before September 3, 2012, Boomerang was located at Six Flags Over Texas where it operated as Flashback until the coaster was disassembled, refurbished, and repainted to a new green and orange color scheme.

History

Boomerang at Six Flags Over Texas

Boomerang was one of the first Boomerang coasters built in the United States. It was designed and built by Vekoma and opened at Six Flags Over Texas as Flashback in the 1989 season. Vekoma's generic Boomerang model was sold to numerous amusement parks in the United States including Knott's Berry Farm, Hersheypark, Lake Compounce, as well as all the parks owned by Funtime and Premier Parks.

On August 2, 2012, Six Flags Over Texas announced the last chance to ride Flashback would be September 3, before it closed along with the neighboring ride Texas Chute Out.[4] Following its closure, it was announced that Flashback would be dismantled and relocated to Six Flags St. Louis for the 2013 season.[2] Flashback was completely removed before October 10, 2012.[5][6] The coaster will replace Water Street Cab Company (Bumper Cars) and will operate under the name Boomerang in the Illinois section of the park with a new orange and green color scheme.[2][7] Once open Boomerang would become the ninth coaster at Six Flags St. Louis, helping the Six Flags park become the park with the most coasters in the state of Missouri. Construction of the coaster began in early 2013 at the former site of Water Street Cab Company, with Boomerang track arriving at the park on February 11, 2013. The park completed construction of Boomerang in early April. Boomerang opened on June 8, 2013.[1][3]

Ride Experience

Layout

Track layout of the ride

The ride begins when the train is pulled backwards from the station and up a lift hill, before being released. After being released, the train passes through the station, enters a Cobra roll element (referred to as a boomerang by the designers), then travels through a vertical loop. Upon exiting the loop, the train runs up a second lift hill, which is angled so that the two lifts meet at the top in a "V"-like formation. Once out of momentum, the train is towed to the top of the lift hill, and is held for several seconds before being released; traveling through the roller coaster in reverse before returning to the station.

Trains and Theme

Boomerang will only run one train, with seven cars. In each car there are two rows of two seats, allowing for a total of 28 riders. The color scheme features bright orange and neon green.

Incident

On May 6, 2016, one of the trains abruptly stopped mid-course causing minor injuries to four riders. Guests were able to safely exit the ride, and the cause of the incident is not yet known.[8] The attraction was closed pending the investigation into the incident, and re-opened in November 2016.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tammy Perry (May 1, 2013). "Be TheFirst To Ride Boomerang At Six Flags With Tim Ezell". Fox2now.com. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Six Flags St. Louis announces new addition to the park's roller coaster lineup for 2013". SixFlags.com. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Patrick Clark (February 13, 2013). "Six Flags Installing New Roller Coaster For Summer". KPLR11.com. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  4. ↑ Six Flags Over Texas (August 2, 2012). "A Pair of Popular Six Flags Over Texas Rides Are Going Away". Press Release. Six Flags. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  5. ↑ AP News (October 9, 2012). "Texas Chute Out ride at Six Flags to be imploded". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  6. ↑ Teresa Woodard (October 9, 2012). "What it takes to take down the Texas Chute Out". WFAA. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Bumper Cars". Facebook. Six Flags St. Louis. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  8. ↑ Baumer, Stephanie (May 6, 2016). "Several injured when Six Flags ride stops mid-point". Retrieved May 6, 2016.
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