Sat, May 21, 2005 page16

• New roller coaster ride 'phenomenal'

  The new roller coaster at Six Flags is said to be as thrilling as a jet fighter

  • AFP
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  The idea of paying nearly US$1,700 to be catapulted up a vertical incline the height of a 45-story building at 205kph comes naturally to the likes of Jeremy Delong.

  "Worth every cent," the 22-year-old navy serviceman from Ohio concluded as he disembarked from the maiden run Thursday of Kingda Ka, the world's newest, tallest and fastest roller coaster.

  Installed at the Six Flags Theme Park near Trenton, New Jersey, the monster ride uses a hydraulic launch system to slingshot riders horizontally from 0kph to 205kph in 3.5 sickening seconds.

  

  Riders raise their arms as they travel the ``Kingda Ka'' roller coaster, at Six Flags amusement park in Jackson, New Jersey.

  PHOTO: AFP

  The momentum flings the 18-seater train into a 90-degree climb to a height of 139m, followed by a vertical plunge through a three-quarter spiral and a final jaunt over a 39m-high "camel hump."

  With the entire ride lasting under a minute, the thrill cost Delong US$33 per second, after he bid US$1,692 on the Internet auction house eBay for the right to be on the first run.

  "I was willing to pay up to US$2,000 if necessary," said Delong, a member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts club. He has ridden 146 other coasters across the United States.

  "The launch alone is phenomenal ... there's this incredible force, this pressure on your chest and then your eyes start streaming from the wind," he gushed to an increasingly appalled looking reporter from Japan.

  "No, really ... it doesn't hurt," he added quickly. "It's one of the most exhilarating feelings ever."

  Delong was joined in the front car by Jeff Skonieczny, 34, another coaster addict who bid US$1,156 for his seat and was quite candid about why.

  "Bragging rights," he crowed. The general manager of an office-supply store in Southbridge, Massachusetts, Skonieczny has no problems fitting his obsession into his work schedule.

  "I can take time off when I want. I'm the manager," he said.

  To put the velocity of Kingda Ka into perspective, a Ferrari 360 Modena takes one more second to accelerate to half the speed.

  A fighter plane launched off an aircraft carrier gets to 240kph in about two seconds, while a Top Fuel dragster car can reach 160kph in less than one second.

  While statistics like those exceed what Kingda Ka has to offer, they carry the significant side risk -- as the ride's project manager Jeff Glinter pointed out -- of almost certain death for the armchair layman.

  "This ride is a way to provide an exceptional thrill, very safely, that you just couldn't get anywhere else," Glinter said.

  "Basically, it's like an extreme sport for the masses," agreed Steve Urbanowicz, 46, a professional "coaster historian" and author of the devoted rider's bible, The Roller Coaster Lover's Companion.

  Kingda Ka's assumption of the world record coaster crown ends the two-year reign of the Top Thrill Dragster ride at Cedar Point, Ohio,which boasted a top speed of 193kph and a maximum height of 128m.

  According to Urbanowicz, who has ridden nearly 900 coasters worldwide, holding the title means an enormous boost for a theme park's popularity.

  "Everybody takes notice," he said. "Another park could have 30 of the world's best coasters in terms of design, quality and experience, but if you have the tallest then you'll draw the bigger crowds."

  While the hardened coaster pros enthused over such elements as Kingda Ka's "hang time" (the feeling of weightlesness as the train crests the top of the incline), there were some whose ashen faces betrayed more delicate constitutions.
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