Is Six Flags Great America Adding a B&M Wing Roller Coaster for 2012?
Chicago area theme park, Six Flags Great America could be in for quite an upgrade. They’re losing B&M stand up coaster Iron Wolf, which is rumored to become Apocalypse at DC’s Six Flags America, but they may be gaining a first-of-its kind in the U.S. ScreamScape has reported that the park may be getting a B&M Wing Rider or Wing Coaster like Gardaland’s Raptor and Thorpe Park’s 2012 coaster The Swarm.
Six Flags Great America and B&M have a solid history. Iron Wolf was B&M’s first roller coaster, Batman: The Ride is a landmark roller coaster that began the company’s long running success with inverted coasters, and Raging Bull was one of B&M’s first mega or hyper coasters. ScreamScape also mentioned that Six Flags recently registered the name “X-Flight”. Could this be name and design for Six Flags Great America’s 2012 roller coaster? We won’t have to wait long to find out. The park is scheduled to make an announcement on Thursday, September 1.
The park is teasing the new ride with this puzzle piece image on their Facebook page where they’ll reveal more and more as the announcement approaches.
Read about 12 more rumored & confirmed 2012 roller coasters.
UPDATE 9/2 – Six Flags Great America has confirmed the wing coaster rumors as they announced X-Flight for 2012. Read more and watch a video here.
What’s Your Take?
What do you think of this rumor? Do you think Six Flags Great America should get a B&M Wing Coaster? Leave a comment below. Image courtesy of RCDB and Gardaland.
August 26, 2011 at 07:55
I sure hope this is true, Screamscape is pretty reliable most of the time so It might just be. I wonder why B&M hasn't put this model on their website.
August 26, 2011 at 09:16
As soon as Raptor was announced, I said to myself "We got to get one of these in the U.S!" I hope that this rumor is true. I've been dying to ride one of these.
August 26, 2011 at 09:42
Wow it seems like alot of parks are getting wingriders or winged coasters. Dollywood(maybe), thorpe park, hershey park(intamin coaster with winged outer seats), and now this perhaps! It seems like the wing riders are becoming very popular, and going to many places. I think the idea is cool, but I hope that just because you can sit on the outside doesnt mean that the ride can be any layout and still exceptable in the designers' minds. I hope that these will be quality coasters with many elements, as well. An example of a coaster with cool seating but a boring layout are the superman ultimate flight clones. You are in a flying position laying on your back, which is cool, but there are only 2 inversions and the rest of the time it just does a bunch of turns. I hope the new wingriders would be like tatsu. Tatsu is a flying coaster similar to superman, but has much more elements and inversions. I would still like to ride a B&M wingrider, because I am sure it would be very smooth and fun like most B&Ms(except for stand ups).
August 26, 2011 at 09:43
Whoops, I mean lying on your stomach.
August 26, 2011 at 10:58
This may be announced first, but will it open before Dollywood's wing-rider?
August 26, 2011 at 15:54
Can't wait to see what type of elements come with wing coasters. I've already heard about the first drop be a 180 degree flip ala Flying Dutchman coasters followed by a half loop dive. Sounds awesome! Also, I bet a zero-g roll on one of these would be EPIC! Coaster Critic, you should do a "most wanted element" topic on here. I bet engineer/coaster junkies like myself have all sorts of crazy ideas that we'd love to talk about getting B&M or Intamin to implement someday!
August 27, 2011 at 07:24
like a Cobra Roll on a Flying coaster? or an intamin launched flyer?
August 27, 2011 at 17:13
I was thinking adding an airtime hill or two to a dive coaster! But I like your ideas too! Also, I found a few No Limits simulations of what a wing rider might ride like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HifEwyuL7ZE This one is a projected simulation of The Swarm at Thorpe park based on all the design data available. Looks interesting (yesss Zero-g roll!), but I was expecting a little more. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
August 27, 2011 at 08:35
I'm a bit wary of these designs. Until I ride one and am proved wrong, I feel they're just a gimmick. I'm glad the US may finally see one though.
August 27, 2011 at 09:29
I hope to see this ride put up in Great America. It's a 6 hour drive from St. Louis to Chicago, and we go up pretty frequently. Can't wait to ride this new ride! And they better get one, or I'm going to be REALLY mad about the removal of Iron Wolf.
August 31, 2011 at 16:59
It's confirmed. I decoded the puzzle and found the name is X-Flight and it also said first of the kind in U.S. It is really a B&M Wingrider
September 1, 2011 at 11:33
No longer a rumor:
http://www.sixflags.com/greatAmerica/rides/XFligh…
September 1, 2011 at 17:38
Thanks for the link, Aric! And the ride actually looks better then I thought it would. I love the inversion off the lift hill and the zero-G rolls that you see in the video. I wonder if Thorpe Park's "The Swarm" will be better than "X-Flight", but X-Flight looks pretty good.
September 2, 2011 at 07:20
Yeah. I know. Six Flags announced all of their 2012 attractions yesterday, but I was way to busy to write updates. Here's more about the ride: Six Flags Great America Announces X-Flight Coaster