Thunderbolt!

Thunderbolt! is a 1947 film directed by William Wyler and John Sturges which documented the American aerial operations of Operation Strangle in World War II, when flyers of the Twelfth Air Force based on Corsica successfully impeded Axis supply lines to the Gustav Line and Anzio beachhead. The film was originally shot in 16mm by members of the Army Air Forces. The 12th Combat Camera Unit recorded the combat footage using cameras mounted on some of the P-47s and a B-25 medium bomber equipped as a camera ship to accompany the fighters.

Directors Wyler and Sturges, serving as officers in the AAF, were attached to the 12th CCU during the period it filmed the activities of the 57th Fighter Group. and Wyler used his association as a "passport" to visit many areas of liberated Europe after completion of the initial shooting.

Although shown to the press late in 1945, the film was not generally released until 1947 by Monogram Pictures, and was re-released in 1950 during the Korean War. Half of the 1947 profits from the film's release went to the Army Air Force Relief Society and the United States Treasury.

Thunderbolt

A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In ancient Hellenic and Roman religious traditions, the thunderbolt represents Zeus or Jupiter (etymologically 'Sky Father'), thence the origin and ordaining pattern of the universe, as expressed in Heraclitus' fragment describing "the Thunderbolt that steers the course of all things". It is the same in other Indo-European traditions, for example the Vedic Vajra.

In its original usage the word may also have been a description of the consequences of a close approach between two planetary cosmic bodies, as Plato suggested in Timaeus, or, according to Victor Clube, meteors, though this is not currently the case. As a divine manifestation the thunderbolt has been a powerful symbol throughout history, and has appeared in many mythologies. Drawing from this powerful association, the thunderbolt is often found in military symbolism and semiotic representations of electricity.

Thunderbolt (2014 roller coaster)

Thunderbolt is a steel roller coaster at Luna Park, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City.

History

A wooden roller coaster named the Thunderbolt was originally operated by George Moran on Coney Island from 1925 to 1982. In June 2013, it was announced that the operators of Luna Park at Coney Island, Zamperla, would construct a new steel roller coaster which would utilize the Thunderbolt name.

Characteristics

Thunderbolt was manufactured by Zamperla at a cost of US$10 million and has a 90-degree vertical drop, followed by a 100-foot loop and a zero-gravity roll, along with dives, hills and a corkscrew — all within two minutes. The ride features 2,000 feet (610 m) of track, a height of 125 feet (38 m), and a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h).Thunderbolt features four inversions including a vertical loop, Zero-G Roll, Immelmann loop and a corkscrew. The Thunderbolt is located near Surf Avenue and West 15th Street in Coney Island, and is constructed with 2,000 feet (610 m) of track that stretches to a height of 125 feet (38 m) and is built next to the B&B Carousell, an antique merry-go-round that underwent an extensive restoration and reopened in summer 2013. Published reports state that Thunderbolt is expected to be completed and open by Memorial Day 2014. However, the planned opening of the coaster had been pushed back to early June 2014; it was revised to open on June 6. In early June, it was delayed once again to later in summer 2014. Finally, on June 14, the Thunderbolt was opened.