Jumbo Jet (Six Flags Great Adventure)

Jumbo Jet
Jumbo Jet, closed, 1975
Six Flags Great Adventure
Status Removed
Replaced by Super Cat
General statistics
Type Steel
Manufacturer Anton Schwarzkopf
Designer Werner Stengel
Model Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet
Lift/launch system Electric spiral lift
Height 56 ft (17 m)
Inversions 0
Jumbo Jet at RCDB
Pictures of Jumbo Jet at RCDB

Jumbo Jet was a prefabricated steel roller coaster at Great Adventure (what is now Six Flags Great Adventure) in Jackson, New Jersey.[1] Jumbo Jet was a member of the well-known Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line which was designed and manufactured by noted roller coaster designer Anton Schwarzkopf.[1]

Jumbo Jet was erected in 1975 as part of the Fun Fair section of Great Adventure. Press accounts at the time quoted Great Adventure vice president for operations Robert Minick as saying that Jumbo Jet was "the largest ready-made roller coaster that [could] be bought".[2] The coaster was leased from Willy Miller's Continental Park Attractions along with several of the other rides in the Fun Fair section.[3] The ride was assembled in the spring, and by all accounts sat idle for weeks. The Jumbo Jet never operated or opened to the public while it was at the park.[4] Currently no reason is known for why the coaster never opened. About a month after being built, the ride was dismantled. It is still unknown where the ride went or what happened to this ride.[3]

While there is no confirmation in regard to this Jumbo Jet's final location, and many rumors persist,[5][6] Roller Coaster DataBase once put forward the rumor that this coaster was the Jumbo Jet at Morey's Piers.[5] Other sources directly contradict this idea, however, providing evidence that the Morey's Piers Jumbo Jet was purchased in Germany.[7][8] RCDB later removed this speculation and listed the Canadian National Exhibition as another possible location the Six Flags Great Adventure Jumbo Jet may have operated at (though it is unclear if this was before or after its tenure at Six Flags Great America).[1]

Ride layout

This Jumbo Jet was the first instance of a Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster in the state of New Jersey.[9] Unlike typical chain lifted or launched roller coasters, this model of coaster reached the first drop by way of small wheel motors that drove it up the incline of a helix.[10] Electric spiral lift coasters became very common in the 1970s, and were also different from later steel roller coaster designs in terms of track thickness.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Marden, Duane. "Jumbo Jet  (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  2. ↑ Trollinger, Gary (24 June 1975). "Huge throngs main foe of Great Adventure". Reading Eagle. p. 5. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Jumbo Jet at Six Flags Great Adventure". greatadventurehistory.com. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  4. ↑ Applegate, Harry; Benton, Thomas (26 August 2009). Six Flags Great Adventure. Images of America (illustrated ed.). Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 128. ISBN 0738565695.
  5. 1 2 Marden, Duane (January 2, 2010). "Jumbo Jet (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase (archived).
  6. ↑ greatadventurehistory.com forums
  7. ↑ Lilliefors, James (2006). America's Boardwalks: From Coney Island to California (illustrated ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 081353805X.
  8. ↑ Futrell, Jim (2004). Amusement Parks of New Jersey. Amusement Parks Series (illustrated ed.). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811729737.
  9. ↑ RCDB.com search results for Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line
  10. ↑ Rutherford, Scott (2004). The American Roller Coaster. MBI Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 0760319294.
  11. ↑ Cartmell, Robert (1987). The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster. Popular Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-87972-342-4.
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