Twister (roller coaster)

Infobox roller coaster
name= Twister


caption=
location= Knoebels
section=
type= Wood
type2=
type3= Kilocoaster
status= Open
opened= July 24, 1999
manufacturer= Knoebels staff
designer= John Fetterman, 1999;
from John Allen's 1964
"Mister Twister" design
model=
track= Twister
lift= Chain lift hill, split
height= 101.5
drop= 89.6
length= 3900
speed= 51.5
inversions= 0
duration= 2:10 min
angle=
capacity=
cost= US$ 3,000,000
acceleration=
gforce=
restriction= 42
rcdb_number= 546 In 1998, Knoebels began a new wooden roller coaster project. Seeking to preserve another classic ride, the park looked into acquiring the defunct "Mister Twister," a 1964 John C. Allen design which had been abandoned when the entire Elitch Gardens amusement park was relocated in Denver, Colorado. This time, when space constraints made physically relocating the ride impossible, Knoebels purchased the blueprints and set out to rebuild the roller coaster from scratch, modifying the design to fit the space available.

For the new "Twister," ride designer John Fetterman created a modified mirror image of the original "Mister Twister" layout, compacting the ride but preserving the highlights of the old design and Allen's original mathematical model. These highlights included the large double helix, which now wraps around the ride's curved station, and a large swoop curve at the top of the lift hill. To keep the swoop curve in the new design, Fetterman created a split lift hill. The "Twister" train climbs halfway up the structure on one lift hill, makes a 180-degree turn and finishes the climb on the second lift. While several roller coasters use more than one lift hill in their layout, "Twister's" zig-zag lift is unique.

"Twister" opened on July 24, 1999. The first rides were auctioned off to raise just over $8,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. [ [http://www.knoebels.com/knoebels-history.asp Knoebels Amusement Resort History ] ] Taller and more intense than the "Phoenix" the coaster enjoys steady ridership and good rankings in roller coaster polls both formal and informal.

tatistics

*Trains - 2 PTC, 24 passengers each
*Design - 1964 original and 1965 modifications - John C. Allen; 1999 modifications - John Fetterman

References