Mindbender (Galaxyland)

Not to be confused with the Mind Bender at Six Flags Over Georgia

Mindbender
The Mindbender with the Galaxy Orbiter roller coaster in the foreground
Galaxyland
Coordinates	53°31′25″N 113°37′13″W / 53.52361°N 113.62028°W / 53.52361; -113.62028Coordinates: 53°31′25″N 113°37′13″W / 53.52361°N 113.62028°W / 53.52361; -113.62028
Status	Operating
Opening date	March 15, 1986 (1986-03-15)
General statistics
Type	Steel – Twister
Manufacturer	Anton Schwarzkopf
Designer	Werner Stengel
Model	Sitting Coaster
Track layout	Indoor Twister
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	44.1 m (145 ft)
Drop	38.7 m (127 ft)
Length	1,279.5 m (4,198 ft)
Speed	96.5 km/h (60.0 mph)
Inversions	3
Duration	1:13
Capacity	120 riders per hour
G-force	5.2
Height restriction	59–77 in (150–196 cm)
Trains	2 trains with 3 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 12 riders per train.
Website	Official website
Mindbender at RCDB Pictures of Mindbender at RCDB

The Mindbender is an Anton Schwarzkopf looping roller coaster at Galaxyland Amusement Park, a major attraction inside West Edmonton Mall, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest indoor triple-looping roller coaster in the world.

Layout

Mindbender was designed by Germany's Werner Stengel and built by Anton Schwarzkopf. It was inspired by this team's previous design, Dreier Looping, a portable coaster that travelled the German funfair circuit, before being sold to a succession of amusement parks in Malaysia, Great Britain, and most recently, Mexico. Mindbender is a pseudo mirror-image of Dreier Looping, and is slightly taller, with additional helices at the end of the ride. Mindbender features shorter trains, with three pilot cars, whereas Dreier Looping usually ran with five trailer cars and one pilot car, occasionally rising to seven-car trains at busy funfairs.

The ride's layout features many twisting drops, three vertical loops and a double upward helix finale. The ride twists underneath, in between and around its supports. It also goes underneath the former UFO Maze attraction, which has been removed to make way for another roller coaster; Gerstlauer's Galaxy Orbiter, during the helix.

Often in high season, the last car on one of the trains is reversed, allowing guests to ride the roller coaster without being able to see where they are going.

Ride experience

After boarding the Mindbender, riders put on their seatbelt and lap restraints. Also, the ride operator lowers large shoulder restraints over the riders. All of the restraints keep the riders firmly secured in the seat.

After ascending the curving wheel driven lift hill, the train descends a sharp, twisting left-hand drop (sometimes referred to as a Traver drop) that climbs back up to the first of four stacked block brakes. The train negotiates a second left-hand drop that is immediately followed by the first two vertical loops. Then the train repeats the aforementioned process happens yet again: it goes up to the third block brake, then does another twisting drop and ascent before hitting the fourth block brake. After the fourth block brake, the track drops to the left and back down to ground level, and hits the third vertical loop.

Following the third loop, the coaster train does another cycle under the stacked block brakes, then shoots along a two-layered upward helix, before running behind the Galaxy Quest 7D theater to hit the final brake run and the exit/entry area.

The ride length from the initial drop should normally range from one minute five seconds to one minute twenty-five seconds. Circuits times as little as 59 seconds are possible through extensive waxing of the track, and reduction in tension on the bogey wheels. This increase in speed is not permitted during public rides, as the forces on the riders becomes severe. During testing of the renovated trains in 1987, the maximum g-force of a normal run was measured on equipment bolted into the train at 5.5 G's, which occurs in the second loop.

1986 accident

On the evening of June 14, 1986, the fourth car of the yellow train derailed before encountering the third and final loop. The train failed to clear the loop and slid backwards fishtailing wildly and crashing into a concrete pillar. Damage from the derailment caused the lap bars to disengage at some point during the ride, throwing its four passengers at least 25 feet (7.6 m) to the floor below. Three passengers died in the incident, while a fourth was critically injured. About 19 others were treated for less severe injuries at the nearby Misericordia Community Hospital. An investigation determined that bolts on the left wheel assembly worked loose causing the accident, and that design flaws by Schwarzkopf along with a lack of maintenance by the mall were likely to blame.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

When Mindbender reopened in January 1987, the trains were redesigned. Existing four-car trains were converted to three-car trains (reducing seating capacity from 16 to 12), and anti-roll back features were installed. The lap bar restraint was retained, but seat belts and shoulder headrests were added.^[1]

Awards

See also

• Galaxy Orbiter

Notes

External links

• Official Galaxyland Website