THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 18, 1996 TAG: 9606180497
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 68 lines
It's a shot in the dark. To be exact - zero to 54 mph in four seconds.
``The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear'' opens today at Paramount's Kings Dominion, a roller coaster described by one enthusiast as ``different than anything I've ever been on.''
``I like rides that throw you around, and this one definitely does,'' said Mark Wyatt, editor of Inside Track, an international publication for theme park enthusiasts. ``This is a first for a launch system like this.''
The revolutionary launch system employs electromagnetic energy and laser beams, providing that part of the ride people remember most. ``Until now, coasters have relied on a chain lift hill to get rides started,'' said Don West, manager of rides maintenance at Kings Dominion. ``Our unique system provides instant ride excitement.''
That means you can forget those rides that start out at 5 mph, creeping uphill for the downhill thrills.
Flight of Fear does not mess around. Its catapult launch system enables it to hit full speed as soon as it leaves the loading station.
Next - 30 vertical curves and more than 25 horizontal curves on teeth-rattling twisting-and-turning steel track.
It is a ride that knows no sunshine. Its 2,705 feet of track are in total darkness, providing air-conditioned thrills.
It lasts for a minute, which is about all you can handle. ``I screamed my lungs out every time,'' said Steve Thompson, an officer of the Mid-Atlantic Coaster Club, a group of enthusiasts who love to shake, rattle and roll on coast-to-coast coasters. ``I rode six times. It shakes you around. My elbow is black and blue. If it wasn't so well padded, you'd be in the hospital.''
Assurance is broadcast as you wait to get on the ride. Announcement: ``Despite media reports, public safety is our first concern.''
There is this postscript: ``If you experience side effects, visit the Med Lab.''
It's all very sci-fi, because the ride is based on television's ``The Outer Limits.''
While you wait, you watch a 20-minute movie designed to set you up for the thrills awaiting you inside a ``flying saucer'' - appropriate, since the ride sends you flying.
If you want the most punishing ride, ``the front and rear are most intense,'' said Jim Seay, vice president of Premier Rides of Maryland, coaster manufacturers.
Flight of Fear contains more than a million pounds of steel tubing. Behind the scenes, it resembles a science fiction spaghetti bowl of pipes, tubes, rails. ``We've introduced other rides around the country,'' Seay said, ``but this is the most intense - as a ride, and technologically. It's the cutting edge.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Courtesy of KINGS DOMINION
Flight of Fear's catapult launch system enables it to hit full speed
as soon as it leaves the loading station. Then come 30 vertical
curves and more than 25 horizontal curves on teeth-rattling
twisting-and-turning steel track.
Graphic
PARK HOURS
The park is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. until June 22,
then 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday. Admission is $28.95 for ages 7 to 54, $19.95 for ages 3 to
6 (or under 48 inches tall), $23.95 for 55 and older. Children 2 and
under are free.
For more details, call 876-5000. by CNB