Galactica (roller coaster)

Galactica is a flying roller coaster located in the Forbidden Valley area of Alton Towers amusement park in Staffordshire, England. It originally opened as Air on 16 March 2002 and is the first flying coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. Guests ride in a prone position, meant to produce the feeling of flight, as the train passes close to the ground, under footpaths, and narrowly past trees and rocks. The ride was refurbished for the 2016 season and reopened as Galactica. It features an 840 m track and reaches a maximum speed of 75 km/h.

History

Air (2002–2015)

Alton Towers conceived the concept of a flying roller coaster in 1990, twelve years before Air eventually opened.[2] Following the opening of Nemesis in 1994, a flying coaster was planned by the park to open in 1998, but was delayed due to technological limitations.[3] During its development, Alton Towers marketed the ride as Secret Weapon 5 (abbreviated to SW5),

Characteristics

Statistics

At the time of opening, Galactica was the tallest ride at Alton Towers with a height of 20 m.[10][9][22] until it was overtaken by Wicker Man, which stands at 22 m. The 840 m ride reaches a top speed of 75 km/h, and riders can experience a g-force of up to 3.5g whilst on the ride. One cycle of the ride lasts approximately one minute and forty seconds.[10]

Trains

Galactica features three trains. Each train has seven cars, with each car carrying four riders side-by-side in a single row. This configuration allows for up to 1500 riders per hour,[10] although this was heavily reduced when VR was in operation.

Station and loading

Riders board a train sitting down, in a similar style to inverted roller coasters.[23] Riders are restrained through a padded over-the-shoulder harness and a lap bar. Two flaps hold the riders' legs in position at their ankles, and close as the harness locks into place. After a train is fully locked and checked, riders are raised into the flying position and the train departs the station.[23] When the ride operated as Air, a dispatch sequence involved lighting changes and an audio saying "Prepare for Air, assume the position, now fly". The ride has a dual-loading system in the station, allowing two trains to be simultaneously boarded for more efficient loading. However, this system is typically only used on busier days, meaning often only one station is used. From 2016 to 2018, riders had the option of wearing virtual reality headsets, which were attached to the restraints.

Ride layout

Galactica departs the station and ascends a chain lift hill. The train enters the first drop, dips to the right, and rises back up through the ride's centrepiece theming element – a portal – which correlates to the ride's space theme. Immediately following this, the track twists, turning riders from the prone position onto their backs. The train then embarks on a large upward left turn before twisting again, returning riders to the prone position. After exiting from this lie-to-fly element, the train passes underneath a small ravine before pitching up into a tight turn over the plaza area. A 360-degree inline twist[10] is followed by a series of smaller turns and dips in the track, before coming to a stop on the brake run and returning to one of the ride's two stations.[24]

logodimensions	250px
imagedimensions	250px
previousnames	Air (2002–2015)
location	Alton Towers
section	Forbidden Valley
coordinates	52.9859°N, -1.88205°W
status	Operating
opened	March 16, 2002
cost	£12 million
type	Steel
type2	Flying
manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
model	Flying Coaster
track	Terrain
lift	Chain lift hill
height m	20
length m	840
speed km/h	75
inversions	2
duration	1:40
capacity	1,500
gforce	3.5
restriction cm	140
trains	3
carspertrain	7
rowspercar	1
ridersperrow	4
virtual queue name	Fastrack
virtual queue image	AltonTowersFastTrack.svg
single rider	available
rcdb number	1458
virtual queue status	available‡R1R‡

Galactica (roller coaster)

History

Air (2002–2015)

Galactica (2016–present)

Characteristics

Statistics

Trains

Station and loading

Ride layout

Reception

External links

References