Jet Rescue is a steel launched

jet ski Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft (PWC) manufactured by Kawasaki, a Japanese company. The term is often used generically to refer to any type of personal watercraft used mainly for recreation, and it is also used as a verb to ...

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides ar ...

made by

Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement insta ...

that opened on 26 December 2008 at Sea World on the Gold Coast, Australia. The ride has a very twisted and banked layout with several fast directional changes. Unlike other family launch roller coasters, Jet Rescue features two launches. The ride features a unique jet ski style of seating with lap bar restraints. The ride is based upon Sea World's Research and Rescue Foundation performing the rescue of a

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

History

In the first half of 2008, a small area of the Sea World Ski Lake north of the bridge was filled with sand to aid in the construction of a new roller coaster. The Sea World Train was closed to give vehicles access to the construction site and remains closed to this day. By July, some of the footings of the roller coaster were put into place. One month later work began on digging out a pit to house the ride's

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

system. In late August, pieces of track began arriving in Sea World's car park. This continued throughout September. In late September, vertical construction started with a portion of the station and brake run being completed. In late October, construction of the track was completed. Throughout November, work focused on the construction of theming elements including rocks as well as the ride's station. In late November, the ride was officially announced to the public. In early December, testing began on the ride. On 26 December 2008, Jet Rescue officially opened to the public. Within the first month of Jet Rescue operating, it was closed several times to fix a variety of problems with its operation.

Characteristics

Overview

Jet Rescue is a

launched roller coaster The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, ...

manufactured by

. It was the second in the company's series of family launch roller coasters with the first being Mick Doohan's Motocoaster at nearby park Dreamworld. Jet Rescue is located between

Sea Viper The Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) is a joint programme developed by France, Italy, and the United Kingdom for an integrated anti-aircraft warfare system. The prime contractor is EUROPAAMS, a joint venture between Eurosam (66%) and ...

and Viking's Revenge Flume Ride on a portion of land which was formerly part of the Sea World Lake.

Statistics

The ride consists of of track. The ride features two sections of

launch track The launch track is the section of a launched roller coaster in which the train is accelerated to its full speed in a matter of seconds. A launch track is always straight and is usually banked upwards slightly, so that a train would roll backwar ...

which power the trains to speeds of , respectively. These launch tracks are powered by a Friction Wheel Hydraulic system which consists of a series of high speed

drive tire This list of roller coaster elements contains the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation. Introduction Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn ...

s used in succession to propel the trains forward. Riders will experience between 2.5 and 3 times the force of gravity throughout the ride. One cycle of the ride lasts approximately 30 seconds, allowing Jet Rescue to cater for up to 800 riders per hour.

Trains

Jet Rescue features two trains which each feature eight cars. Each car seats a pair of riders who are restrained by the use of a lap bar. The ride vehicles are modelled after

s to match the theme of the ride. Transfer track is located adjacent to the unload station allowing Sea World to operate the ride with one or two trains.

Experience

Queue

The ride's queue begins alongside the unload station and continues in one long stretch towards the load station. When in line with the load station, the queue performs several switchbacks before allowing riders to line up alongside air gates to let them on the ride. On the far side of the load station several television monitors loop through a video explaining how to get on the ride. The video also details that the riders' mission is to rescue a trapped

for the Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation.

Ride

Jet Rescue train entering final turn at Sea World

Riders board one of two trains, each featuring 16

s. After being cleared to dispatch, the ride uses a

friction wheel mechanism to launch riders out of the station at a speed of . The ride then enters a wide, highly banked helix to the right before

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

ly crossing over the launch track at a height of . The ride then dips to the left and an

on-ride photo An on-ride camera is a camera mounted alongside the track of a roller coaster, log flume or other thrill ride that automatically photographs all of the riders on each passing vehicle. They are often mounted at the most intense or fastest part of ...

is taken. The track then levels out and enters a tunnel parallel with the station. Upon entering the tunnel, another set of friction wheels are activated to launch the riders to the faster speed of . The opposite end of the tunnel is covered in mist preventing riders from seeing the approaching track. The instant that the train emerges from the tunnel it banks sharply to the right. This is followed by four quick, directional changing turns between rocks and past an animatronic sea lion. The track then elevates off the ground level to cross over the track a second time before entering the

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...

s. The ride slowly makes its way into the unload station where riders disembark their jet skis and exit via the merchandise shop. On-ride photos and Jet Rescue merchandise can be purchased here.

References

External links

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Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation
{{Sea World Roller coasters in Australia Roller coasters introduced in 2008 Roller coasters operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks Animatronic attractions