Stunt Pilot is a

steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...

Silverwood Theme Park Silverwood Theme Park is an amusement park located in the city of Athol in northern Idaho, United States, near the town of Coeur d'Alene, approximately from Spokane, Washington on US 95. Owner Gary Norton opened the park on June 20, 198 ...

Athol, Idaho Athol is a city in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. The population was 692 at the 2010 census, up from 676 in 2000.

. The single-rail Raptor model was manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, who is headquartered 20 minutes south of the park. Its stunt pilot theme pays homage to the daily air shows that were once hosted at the park from 1988 to 1996. Stunt Pilot opened to the public on May 29, 2021.

History

Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) was originally hired by Kentucky Kingdom amusement park to design and manufacture a

single-rail roller coaster A single–rail roller coaster is a roller coaster that only rides on only one rail, as opposed to the far more conventional two-rail setup of most roller coasters. Alpine/Mountain coasters * Besna Pehta - Besna Pehta, Kranjska Gora, Upper Ca ...

in time for the park's 2021 season. Permits were filed with the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

, which were uncovered by the public in June 2020 following a series of intentional leaks by the park on social media. As a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, however, Kentucky Kingdom backed out of the project, and its FAA filing was officially withdrawn in December 2020. After development stalled at Kentucky Kingdom,

picked up the project, and began teasing a similar attraction through social media on September 3, 2020. The single-rail coaster was unveiled as Stunt Pilot on September 17, 2020, with its aerobatics theme meant to commemorate Silverwood's aviation history and daily air shows that were once on display from 1988 to 1996. The park is located on the former Henley Aerodrome

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

. Daily air shows ended following a fatal crash during an air show at

Fairchild Air Force Base Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base, located in the northwest United States in eastern Washington, approximately southwest of Spokane. The host unit at Fairchild is the 92nd Air Refueling Wing (92 ARW) assigned t ...

on September 15, 1996. Construction of the new ride began in early 2021, with sections of track arrived in February 2021. The first piece was installed on March 4, 2021, and the final track piece was placed on May 3, 2021. By mid-May, the coaster had performed its first test runs. The ride opened on May 29, 2021.

Ride experience

Layout

The ride begins by exiting the station and immediately ascending the chain lift hill. The train then banks left into a 180-degree turn and enters the signature 87-degree drop, diving and reaching a maximum speed of . It enters a

dive loop Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements". Comm ...

and rises up an airtime hill, followed by an ascending, banked turnaround, where it proceeds into a hairpin turn to the left. The train drops and immediately traverses a cutback followed by a corkscrew. The finale features a quick dip into an over-banked turn and ends with a slight uphill popup into 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 ...

Model

Stunt Pilot is a Raptor coaster from Rocky Mountain Construction, a local roller coaster firm based in

Hayden, Idaho Hayden is a city in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. Located in the northern portion of the state, it is a suburb of nearby Coeur d'Alene and its population was 15,570 at the 2020 census. History The origins of the city of Hayden has ...

. The company had previously worked with Silverwood to install and test their then-prototype "topper track" system on nearly 700 feet of Tremors in 2010. The coaster uses a

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...

-esque track system that lets the train run along a single 15.5" thick rail.

Trains

Stunt Pilot features ten-passenger trains, unlike the trains of similar models RailBlazer at

California's Great America California's Great America, often shortened to Great America, is a amusement park located in Santa Clara, California. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, it originally opened in 1976 as one of two parks built by the Marriott Corporation. Califor ...

and Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at

Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas, formerly known simply as Fiesta Texas, is a theme park located in Northwest San Antonio. It opened on March 14, 1992, in the La Cantera, San Antonio, La Cantera master-planned development and district as the first busines ...

which hold only 8 passengers. Riders are seated in ten rows with one per row.

Gallery

File:Stuntpilot4.jpg, Entrance to Stunt Pilot File:Stuntpilot3.jpg, Stunt Pilot train on first inversion File:Stuntpilot1.jpg, Stunt Pilot File:Stuntpilot2.jpg, Stunt Pilot Course at Sunset File:Pitts S1S-b Lg.jpg, Stunt Pilot has some theming to the Pitt Special biplanes

References

External links

Stunt Pilot Roller Coaster
* {{Silverwood Roller Coasters Roller coasters introduced in 2021 Buildings and structures in Kootenai County, Idaho Roller coasters in Idaho Roller coasters manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction 2021 establishments in Idaho