Sky Rocket is a steel roller coaster located at Kennywood amusement park near Pittsburgh in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by Premier Rides, Sky Rocket opened to the public on June 29, 2010. It was the first major coaster addition at the park in almost a decade following the renovation of Phantom's Revenge in 2001. Construction was completed in the late spring of 2010. For the 2018 season, riders were given the option of using a virtual reality headset when riding.[1]
| Sky Rocket | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Kennywood Park | |
| Location | Kennywood Park |
| Coordinates | 40°23′11″N 79°51′53″W / 40.38639°N 79.86472°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | June 29, 2010 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel |
| Manufacturer | Premier Rides |
| Lift/launch system | LSM launch |
| Height | 95 ft (29 m) |
| Length | 2,100 ft (640 m) |
| Speed | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
| Inversions | 3 |
| Duration | 1:05 |
| Max vertical angle | 90° |
| Acceleration | 0 to 50 mph (0 to 80 km/h) in 3 seconds |
| G-force | 0.8 |
| Height restriction | 52 in (132 cm) |
| Trains | 2 trains with 2 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows for a total of 12 riders per train. |
| Sky Rocket at RCDB | |
The Sky Rocket occupies the ground near the entrance formerly occupied by Turnpike, an attraction that is expected to return to the park sometime in the future.
Ride experience
After exiting the station, the train turns 180 degrees. It then lines up with the launch motors and is accelerated from 0-50 mph (80 km/h) in 3 seconds. It goes up a 95-foot top hat element (without changing direction) into a cutback inversion, which is two half-corkscrews joined together in opposite directions so that the train exits moving 180 degrees from the direction it entered. It goes straight into a Zero-G Roll followed by a 180 degree upwards curve into the mid-course brake run. it comes almost to a complete stop only to plummet to the ground with a near-vertical drop. It goes into a low over-banked turn under the cutback, followed by a corkscrew over another piece of track, creating a head-chopper effect. It goes into another over-banked turn, followed by a series of S-curves to add to the excitement. It does one more 180 degree turn into a series of bunny hops going under the corkscrew. It does one final twist straight into the final brake run.
Trains
The trains are painted red and black with the "Sky Rocket" logo on the front, and each train has 2 cars. The ride also features a harness system, which locks riders in at the waist rather than the shoulders. This gives riders a sense of mobility not usually felt in coasters featuring inversions.
Notability
Sky Rocket is a powered launch coaster using linear synchronous motors, a first for Premier Rides designs.
It is also one of only fourteen coasters in the world to feature a cutback inversion, Space Mountain: Mission 2 at Disneyland Paris and SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge at Nickelodeon Universe are a few other examples.
The ride was SBNO (Standing But Not Operating) during 2018 and the early part of 2019. Park maintenance confirmed that they were having some issues with the generator and that they did not have an estimated date for reopening the ride at the time.
The ride re-opened on July 14, 2019, after Kennywood announced via a Facebook video that the Sky Rocket would once again be open to riders.[2]
Awards
| Golden Ticket Awards: Best New Ride for 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 17[4] | 44[5] |
See also
- Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom), another Premier Rides roller coaster which is considered, by the manufacturer, as Sky Rocket's successor[6]
References
- ^ Crawley, Dave (April 26, 2017). "Virtual Reality Goggles Offer Sky Rocket Riders New Experience At Kennywood". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
- ^ "Word on the midway is that Sky Rocket is ready for riders!". Kennywood Park on Facebook. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- ^ "Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Awards 2010" (PDF). Amusement Today. 14 (6.2): 4. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ "Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 14 (6.2): 38–39. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ "Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 15 (6.2): 46–47. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Premier Rides (July 18, 2012). "Premier Rides". Facebook. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ "Sky Rocket Opens at Kennywood". COASTER-net. July 1, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ "Kennywood Amusement Park". Kennywood. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ Merriman, Chris (June 24, 2010). "The Sky Rocket is just days away from giving Kennywood riders some serious 'air time'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.