Thunderbird
Steel Wing at Holiday World, Santa Claus, Indiana. Opened 2015.
- Height
- 140 ft
- Drop
- n/a
- Top speed
- 60 mph
- Length
- 3,035 ft
- Inversions
- 4
- Ride time
- 1 min 18 s
- Designer
- Bolliger & Mabillard
Thunderbird is a steel wing roller coaster in the Thanksgiving section of Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, built by Bolliger & Mabillard. Riders sit in pairs on either side of the track with nothing above or below them. Instead of a lift hill, a linear synchronous motor launch takes the train from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.
The 3,035-foot course starts with a 140-foot Immelmann loop, followed by a 125-foot vertical loop, a zero-g roll and an in-line twist, for four inversions. It then stays low through the wooded hillside, passing close to themed chimneys, a windmill, a barn, trees and other rides. A ride lasts 1 minute 18 seconds.
Thunderbird opened on April 25, 2015 as America's first launched wing coaster. Riders must be between 48 and 78 inches tall.
Sources
- holidayworld.com/rides/thunderbird (Launched wing coaster in the Thanksgiving section; opened April 25, 2015; 0-60 mph in 3.5 s; 3,035 ft; ride height 140 ft; 1:18; Immelmann, zero-g roll, barrel roll, tallest vertical loop on a wing coaster; near misses; America's first launched wing coaster; 48-78 inches)
- rcdb.com/12260.htm (B&M Wing Coaster; LSM launch 0-60 mph in 3.5 s; length 3,035 ft, height 140 ft, speed 60 mph, 4 inversions (140 ft Immelmann, 125 ft loop, zero-g roll, in-line twist), duration 1:18)
- rcdb.com/4554.htm (Operating; opened 4/25/2015)
Numbers are from the ride's manufacturer and park where published; "n/a" means we have not confirmed that number yet. Spotted an error? Tell us.