Tatsu is a flying roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park located in Valencia, California, United States. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, it opened as the tallest, fastest, and longest flying coaster in the world on May 13, 2006. It became the park's seventeenth coaster, featuring a height of 170 ft, a track length of 3602 ft, and a maximum speed of 62 mph. Tatsu also features the world's tallest pretzel loop and the only zero-gravity roll inversion on a flying coaster model. Nearly a decade later, The Flying Dinosaur opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2016, breaking Tatsu's length record and matching its speed. In its debut season, Tatsu was ranked 40th among steel coasters in the annual Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today, peaking with a rank of 28 in 2012.
History
Land clearing began in mid-2005 around the Samurai Summit area of the park with track for the new roller coaster arriving soon thereafter.[1] Construction permits filed by Six Flags Magic Mountain and a trademark for the name Tatsu (filed on August 23, 2005) were later found by the public.[2] Tatsu was officially announced to the public on November 17, 2005.