Thunderhawk

Thunderhawk may refer to:

Top Spin (ride)

The Top Spin is a thrill ride developed by HUSS Park Attractions, and is the generic name for a series of rides from other manufacturers that follow the same principle. The ride consists of a passenger platform suspended between two counterweighted arms. The arms are turned by motors, while the platform generally only has brakes that are engaged and disengaged at various points of the ride cycle. A typical top spin program runs the main arm motors while engaging and disengaging the platform brakes so that it will rotate in exciting ways. The minimum rider height requirement is 54 inches; maximum is 80 inches due to the seat and restraint design. The ride was debuted in 1990 with it proving an instant success with European fairgoers.

Ride experience

Huss has designed the ride so that park and carnival operators may choose one of 8 preset ride "programs." Most last no more than 2 minutes and consist of several moderate-speed loops, flips, and face-down gondola "hangtime" before unlocking the gondola hydraulics and swinging the riders back and forth. Some Top Spin rides have the added feature of water fountains which are mainly used at the end of the ride sequence soaking the riders as they are slowly lowered face first into the un-escapable water jets. Cycles can be customized to include more intense repetitive flips and also be under manual operator control. Cycles may tend to be longer at carnivals. A world record was set with over 100 gondola flips during a cycle with a theme park model in Germany.

Thunderhawk (Dorney Park)

Thunderhawk (formerly known as The Coaster) is a wooden out and back roller coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom near Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The coaster was built in 1923 and is one of the oldest operating roller coasters in the northeast.

History

Thunderhawk was designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck and built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. When Thunderhawk opened in 1924 and for many years after the ride was known simply as the Coaster. The Coaster was renamed Thunderhawk with the addition of the Hercules roller coaster to the park in 1989.

Originally, the Coaster was built as an out-and-back coaster, meaning it went straight out from the first drop, turned around and came straight back. The ride was reconfigured in 1930 to its present design with a figure-eight twister section in the middle of the ride. Over the years, the ride has seen many cosmetic changes. At one point the ride featured a bright yellow paint job, which has since been painted over with an off-white color.