Volume 2, No. 1. January 11, 2002
New Arrivals
It's a roller coaster!
Fujikyu Highlands in Fujiyoshida, Japan, announces the arrival of Dodonpa,
December 21, 2001. Measurements: 1,189 meters long (3,940 feet), 52-meter-high
tower (170 feet), three 800-horsepower compressors to air-launch an eight-passenger
train at 172 km/h (107 mph) in 1.8 seconds. Delivered by S&S Power via Kawasho
Corp., with assistance from Intermountain Lift, Setpoint, JKR & Associates and
Deterministic Systems.
Stan Checketts, founder and president of S&S Power, has said he was inspired
to build his thrust air roller coaster when he raced his snowmobile up cliffs
near his Logan, Utah, home. He wanted to share that thrill with as many people
as he could, and he set out to do it with the thrust air technology he perfected
in his turbo drop towers to send trains rocketing straight up and then down
an inverted U.
With Dodonpa, the company's second thrust air coaster installation after
Hypersonic XLC at Paramount's Kings Dominion (LOOP,
March 23, 2001), he came closer to his original vision than he would
have wished. Just 15 minutes after Kouichirou Horiuchi, president of Fujikyu
Highland's parent company, Fujikyuko Co., Japanese sportscaster Motoko Obayashi
and model Kanako Kojima cut the ribbon at 10 a.m. (10,00) that Friday, the first
snowflakes began fluttering down. Within 30 minutes, Dodonpa had to close
for the rest of the day, thanks to a snowfall that would accumulate 4 inches
(10 centimeters) by early afternoon.
Even so, Dodonpa accomplished its two missions: establishing a new speed
record among coasters (if not all forms of land transportation) and wowing those
who did ride it. "I've never felt like this before," said Obayashi about her
front-seat ride on the first official train. "I heard that this ride is famous
for speed, but when I did it, it was faster than I thought it would be." As
a professional volleyball player and sportscaster, Obayashi has traveled the
world and visited many amusement parks, testifying to a love of roller coasters
and proclaiming this "the best ever."
It is her athletic experience, however, including driving race cars, which gives her opinion authoritative weight. "I've experienced high speeds, but this was the first time to experience so much speed in such little time." Then, pointing out that a volleyball can be struck at 120 km/h, she said, "This was faster than a spiked volleyball."