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'Corkscrew' is a roller coaster at the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. When built in 1976, it was the first roller coaster in the world with 3 inversions.
The ride is located on the midway directly across from Top Thrill Dragster, between Power Tower and Magnum XL-200. Corkscrew was the first coaster ever to have inversions featuring a walk way underneath. It consists of an elevated station that houses the patriotic cars, made in combinations of red & white, white & blue, and blue & white. They are designed in this manner because they debuted in 1976, the U.S. Bicentennial.
First, riders leave the station when the ride operator releases the pneumatic station brakes. The slight decline of the station allows the car to roll out, down a small drop, and around a declining 180 degree curve until the train reaches the chain lift. The lift operates at or near a speed of 5 mph and ascends, at a 30 degree angle, an 85 foot (26 m) lift hill, then riders are dropped 65 feet at a 45 degree angle, gaining speed up to 48 m.p.h (77 km/h). The next element is a bunny hop, so named for the quick rise and fall. It is here that riders experience their first thrill, known as airtime. It then goes through a vertical loop (Corkscrew opened only 8 days after the first modern coaster to feature a vertical loop, Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain). It then coasts up a slight incline and curves around a 180 degree slight decline, heading into the twin corkscrews over the midway of the park. In the "eye" of the corkscrews, it is traveling at 38 m.p.h. (61 km/h). It completes two corkscrew loops, comes through trim and block brakes, and coasts back into the station.
The ride is 2,050 feet (625 m) long, consisting of blue tubular steel track with a 48 inch separation between tubes, built on 5 acres (20,000 m²), rides for 1 minute and 40 seconds, and has three 24 passenger trains. Almost daily, a train is transferred off the track once ridership reaches a point that permits two-train operation with little or no waiting in line. A different train is cycled off each day. The ride was designed by Ron Toomer and built by Arrow Dynamics, and the same can be said for many thrill rides at the park, from the classic Cedar Creek Mine Ride to the 200+ foot Magnum XL-200. The total cost of construction was $1.75 million, and the ride has had over 30 million total riders since opening in May of 1976.
In 2005, Corkscrew received seat belts which would connect the Over the Shoulder Restraints with the seat, similar to those restraints found on Floorless roller coasters, Stand-up roller coasters, and Inverted roller coasters.

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External link

★ Corkscrew's page on the Cedar Point's official website