Blue Hawk (roller Coaster)
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Blue Hawk is a
steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its steel Railway track, track, which consists of long steel tubes that are run in pairs, supported by larger steel columns or beams. Trains running along the track typically rely ...
located at
Six Flags Over Georgia Six Flags Over Georgia is a amusement park in Austell, Georgia, United States. Opened in 1967, it is the second park in the Six Flags chain following the original Six Flags Over Texas, which opened in 1961. Six Flags Over Georgia is one of t ...
. Designed by
Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is an amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is a syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally manu ...
, Blue Hawk was originally built for Conko's Party Pier in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, where it was known as ''Kamikaze''. It was relocated to Six Flags Over Georgia in 1992 as ''Ninja'', and was the tallest roller coaster in the park at that time. In 2016, Six Flags announced that the ride would be renovated and renamed, with members of the public voting on the ride's new name.


History

Hunt's Pier in
Wildwood, New Jersey Wildwood is a city in Cape May County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, and is part of the Philadelphia- Wilmington- Camden, PA-NJ- DE- MD combined ...
purchased and installed this roller coaster, naming it Kamikaze, in 1989. Kamikaze was purchased by
Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...
and relocated to Six Flags Over Georgia, where it was given the new name Ninja. Ninja was placed in the park's Cotton States section and sits roughly where Z-Force was previously located prior to its removal after the 1990 season, opening to the public on March 1, 1992. The ride received extensive work in 2016 and did not open with the park for its new season. The ride was repainted with blue track and gray supports. Following rider complaints of a rough ride and low attendance as Ninja, Blue Hawk’s track was inspected and repaired as needed to improve smoothness, and the trains were replaced with two new models featuring soft vest restraints instead of the previous over-the-shoulder harnesses. Park guests were invited to vote for one of three potential new names for the ride—''American Eagle'', ''Air Commander'' or ''Blue Hawk''. After more than 6,000 votes were cast, voters selected Blue Hawk as the new name, followed by American Eagle and Air Commander. The renovated ride is themed to the American military and re-opened to guests on June 9, 2016.


Track layout

Blue Hawk uses two 28-passenger trains, each with seven cars carrying four passengers in two rows of two seats. Riders are held in place using vest-style restraints. As ''Blue Hawk'' departs the station, it turns to the right, dropping slightly before another right turn to start up the 122-foot-tall lift hill. Upon cresting the lift, the roller coaster dives downward to the right before swooping up into the first major element, a two-inversion
butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
. Exiting the butterfly, the train enters a wide-radius 270-degree curve to the left, setting up the third inversion, a reverse sidewinder. Blue Hawk climbs a gentle slope before making a U-turn to the left and entering its final element, a double corkscrew. After completing the final inversion, the train banks to the left and passes very close to the station and under the reverse sidewinder, then turns right prior to entering the main brake run. The train exits the brakes and makes a final U-turn to the right to set up the return to the station.


In popular culture

Prior to renovation, the coaster was featured as Walley World's "Velociraptor" in the 2015 film ''
Vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...
.''


References


External links

* {{Six Flags Over Georgia rides Roller coasters in Georgia (U.S. state) Roller coasters introduced in 1992 Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Six Flags Over Georgia