The Flying Cobras
The Flying Cobras, formerly known as the Head Spin, Carolina Cobra and The Mind Eraser, is a steel boomerang roller coaster located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Vekoma, The Flying Cobras was the first roller coaster addition to Carowinds following the park's purchase by Cedar Fair in 2006. It originally operated at Geauga Lake from 1996 to 2007 until its relocation to Carowinds in 2008. Following the 2016 season, the roller coaster was refurbished and renamed again in 2017.
| The Flying Cobras | |
|---|---|
| Previously known as The Mind Eraser (1996-2003) Head Spin (2004-2007) Carolina Cobra (2009-2016) | |
 | |
 Top: Former logo at Carowinds. Bottom: The Flying Cobras when it was Head Spin at Geauga Lake | |
| Carowinds | |
| Park section | County Fair |
| Coordinates | 35.102582°N 80.942915°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | March 28, 2009 |
| Replaced | Flying Super Saturator |
| Geauga Lake | |
| Coordinates | 41.349632°N 81.378940°W |
| Status | Relocated to Carowinds |
| Opening date | May 10, 1996 |
| Closing date | September 16, 2007 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel – Shuttle – boomerang |
| Manufacturer | Vekoma |
| Model | Boomerang |
| Lift/launch system | Cable and Chain Lift |
| Height | 116.5 ft (35.5 m) |
| Length | 935 ft (285 m) |
| Speed | 47 mph (76 km/h) |
| Inversions | 3 (each traversed twice) |
| Duration | 1:48 |
| Max vertical angle | 65° |
| Capacity | 760 riders per hour |
| G-force | 5.2 |
| Height restriction | 48 in (122 cm) |
| Trains | Single train with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train. |
 Fast Lane available | |
| The Flying Cobras at RCDB Pictures of The Flying Cobras at RCDB | |
History
In early October 1995, Geauga Lake was allowed to build a roller coaster over 125 feet (38 m) with help from Geauga County community. Officials agreed not to enforce an 80-foot (24 m) height limit and the park had dropped two lawsuits.[1]
At the same time, the park was already sold to Premier Parks. Geauga Lake's new owner would spend $9 million on new-for-1996 attractions. There would be two rides that would open that year, with one being a Vekoma Boomerang coaster named The Mind Eraser and the other being an Intamin river rapids ride named Grizzly Run.[2]
The Mind Eraser originally had a turquoise track and white supports. In 2004, Geauga Lake was sold to Cedar Fair and the coaster was renamed to Head Spin.[3]
Geauga Lake operated for the last time on September 16, 2007 along with Head Spin. Five days later, Cedar Fair would publicly announce the park's closure on September 21, 2007. Wildwater Kingdom would continue to operate despite the closure.[4]
Head Spin was left standing but not operating on the property in 2008.[5] On September 10, 2008, it was announced that Head Spin would be relocated to Carowinds and be renamed Carolina Cobra.[6] The ride opened to guests on March 28, 2009. It occupies the spot of the Flying Super Saturator roller coaster, which was dismantled and put up for sale after the 2008 season. This was the first roller coaster for Carowinds since the addition of Nighthawk in 2004.
On August 18, 2016, Carowinds announced the expansion of County Fair for the 2017 season, which included refurbishing the Carolina Cobra. It was renamed The Flying Cobras to pay tribute to the classic air shows that were once seen at the Carolina County Fair, and also received a new paint scheme with blue track and white supports.[7]
Ride experience
The Flying Cobras is one of over 50 boomerang coasters installed by Vekoma around the world, but it is the first roller coaster to feature all new re-designed MK-1212 trains directly from Vekoma.[8] After dispatch, the train is pulled backwards up the 125-foot (38 m) lift hill. After that, riders are dropped 120 feet (37 m) down, fly back through the station and into a Cobra Roll element. The riders then are taken through a 360-degree vertical loop and are sent up a second 125-foot (38 m) hill. The riders pause, and are sent down to do the full circuit again backwards.
Incidents
On October 18, 2009, Carolina Cobra's second lift hill failed to catch, resulting in a rollback that couldn't make it back through the second set of inversions [9] The passengers were able to exit the ride onto a nearby platform. All of the passengers were taken to first aid. Seven of the riders were released back into the park; the eighth was taken to a local hospital and examined. No serious injuries were reported.
References
- "Township OKs roller coaster". News-Journal. October 4, 1995. Retrieved December 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Geauga Lake's 119-year history".
- Marden, Duane. "Head Spin (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- "Geauga Lake silences rides; water park remains".
- "Inside an Abandoned Geauga Lake with Photographer Alice Heart".
- "Carowinds 2009: Carolina Cobra". NewsPlusNotes.
- "The Carolina Cobra is getting a makeover with a new name and theme for 2017. Under its new name, The Flying Cobras, it will pay tribute to the classic air shows that one would see at a Carolina County Fair". Facebook.com. Carowinds.
- http://carolinacobra.carowinds.com/public/ride/index.cfm#trains Archived 2008-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2009-10-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flying Cobras. |