Flight Deck (California's Great America)
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Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun and briefly as Soaring Chiefs) is an
inverted roller coaster An inverted roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars, letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster wa ...
located at
California's Great America California's Great America is an amusement park located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, it originally opened in 1976 as one of two parks built by the Marriott Corporation. ...
in
Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
. Built by
Bolliger & Mabillard Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Cl ...
and designed by
Werner Stengel Werner Stengel (born 22 August 1936, in Bochum) is a German roller coaster designer and engineer. Stengel is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH (or Ingenieurbuero Stengel GmbH). Stengel first worked on a ...
, the roller coaster made its debut on March 20, 1993, as Top Gun. The roller coaster was built as
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
, who had purchased the Great America theme park in 1992 along with several other parks, sought to expand its entertainment opportunities and promote its films. After Paramount sold off its Great America park to Cedar Fair (now
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 ...
), the roller coaster was rebranded as Flight Deck. Flight Deck reaches a maximum height of , with a maximum speed of and a total track length of . The roller coaster was the second Bolliger & Mabillard Inverted model to be built. Originally themed to the ''
Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired ...
'' film, the roller coaster was set on an aircraft carrier with various displays. Upon opening, the roller coaster received mostly positive reviews from critics and guests.


History

Paramount Communications Inc. announced its intentions to purchase
Kings Entertainment Company Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) owned and/or operated six theme parks around the world. The company was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting and in 1984 was purchased for $167.5 million by senior executives and general managers of Taft's Amus ...
for $400 million on July 31, 1992. The planned acquisition would see the transfer of four theme parks owned or operated by the Kings Entertainment Company under the Paramount brand, which included Great America. Paramount was one of several entertainment companies that would acquire or purchase stakes in amusement parks to expand live entertainment opportunities and promote films. It was expected Paramount would develop rides based on films and franchises such as ''
Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired ...
'', ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'', or ''
The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...
.'' Great America became Paramount's Great America under the newly formed Paramount Parks, which planned to expand thematic elements in their park, including the addition of a Top Gun attraction to open in March 1993. The Top Gun attraction would be a
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
inverted roller coaster An inverted roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars, letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster wa ...
, have a length of , and feature an elaborate themed queue. Construction on the station was underway in January 1993. Top Gun later opened with the park on March 20, the first operating season under Paramount and the 18th for Great America. Top Gun was one of several movie-inspired attractions to open during the 1993 season, which included Batman: The Ride at
Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located approximately southeast of Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelph ...
, Jaws at
Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and ...
, and '' Back to the Future: The Ride'' at
Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and Amusement park, theme park located in Universal City, California, near Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketin ...
. After Paramount sold off Great America to Cedar Fair in 2006, the Top Gun theming was removed and the name changed to Flight Deck. Before
Super Bowl LVIII Super Bowl LVIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. A rematch of Super Bowl LIV four years prior, the American Football Conference (AFC) 20 ...
, California's Great America, located in Santa Clara and sharing a parking lot with Levi’s Stadium, home of the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
, made a bet with Cedar Fair sister park
Worlds of Fun Worlds of Fun is a theme park located in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, it was founded by American businessmen Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman under the ownership of Hunt's com ...
, based in Kansas City, Missouri, the home city of the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
, that one of the rides in the losing team's theme park had to be renamed in honor of the winning team for opening weekend. The Chiefs' win over the 49ers meant that Flight Deck was renamed to "Soaring Chiefs" for the 2024 opening weekend, complete with a new logo that bears a resemblance to the Chiefs logo.


Ride experience

The
train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
departs making a small right turn out of the
station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...
, ascending the chain
lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from t ...
. The drop at the top of the hill begins with a sharp left turn. After the initial drop of , the train reaches its maximum speed of . The train enters a
vertical loop The generic roller coaster vertical loop, also known as a Loop-the-loop, or a Loop-de-loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, rid ...
, then performs a right-banked 270-degree turn before dipping down and up into a zero-gravity roll. Following the inversion, the train makes a short dive and then banks left into a flat right turn. The train then maneuvers into a shallow drop, immediately followed by a
corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing Cork (plug), corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attach ...
. Exiting the corkscrew, the train enters a left-banked 270-degree turn over a pond before turning right into the
brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track that utilizes some form of brakes to slow or stop a roller coaster train. There are various types of braking methods employed on roller coasters, including friction brakes, skid brakes, a ...
and station. One roller coaster cycle takes around two minutes and twenty-six seconds to complete.


Characteristics

Flight Deck is a custom Inverted Coaster model manufactured by
Bolliger & Mabillard Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Cl ...
(B&M) and designed by
Werner Stengel Werner Stengel (born 22 August 1936, in Bochum) is a German roller coaster designer and engineer. Stengel is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH (or Ingenieurbuero Stengel GmbH). Stengel first worked on a ...
. Upon opening, the roller coaster was the second B&M Inverted Coaster model to be built. Flight Deck operates with two trains. Each of the two trains can accommodate 28 passengers, arranged in seven rows with four to a single row. Each seat features an over-the-shoulder restraint. The roller coaster exerts 4.5
g-forces The g-force or gravitational force equivalent is a mass-specific force (force per unit mass), expressed in units of standard gravity (symbol ''g'' or ''g''0, not to be confused with "g", the symbol for grams). It is used for sustained a ...
to its riders. Flight Deck has a total track length of . Flight Deck was repainted in 2014 to feature a red track and white support color scheme. The original roller coaster was themed to the ''Top Gun'' film. The roller coaster itself represented the
F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...
Tom Cruise's character piloted, with guests said to assemble for a military conflict. The queue area presented various displays of an
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
, including a tower, storage facilities, and an engine. The queue area played songs from the film's soundtrack, as well as voice clips from the film. A large mural was created depicting "Fightertown, USA", an homage to Miramar's Air Station, on one side with an aircraft carrier on the other. The station represented the
flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface on which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...
of the aircraft carrier, with ride operators adorned in relevant uniforms. When renamed to Flight Deck, the roller coaster received a new color scheme. During the 2021 off-season, the park revitalized the queue area to restore the classic aircraft theming.


Incidents and accidents

A 24-year-old man was killed on the site of Top Gun on September 7, 1998. The man's wife had lost her hat while riding the roller coaster, and the man had gone under a section of track to retrieve it. A park official stated the victim had to pass through a door marked "Do not enter" and cross a fence to enter the area where the hat had fallen. There, he was struck in the head by the foot of a 20-year-old female rider on the roller coaster. The female rider was treated at a local hospital for a broken leg. The man, who was visiting from Mexico, was said to only speak Spanish and could not read the English safety signs displayed. He died one hour after being struck. An employee working Flight Deck was seriously injured after being struck by a train moving into the roller coaster's station on June 12, 2015. A passenger on the roller coaster was also injured, sustaining injuries to their hand and legs when the employee retrieved an item in the train's path. The roller coaster remained temporarily closed thereafter pending an investigation. Cedar Fair was later fined $70,200 by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health relating to eight violations in safety, two pertaining to the accident.


Reception

Upon opening, the roller coaster received generally positive reviews from critics and guests. Cheri Matthews, a writer for ''
The Modesto Bee ''The Modesto Bee'' is a California newspaper. It has about 70 employees and is delivered throughout central California, reaching places such as Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale, Ceres, Patterson and Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y ...
'', noted guest reactions to the roller coaster, with an American Coaster Enthusiast member stating it was their "favorite steel coaster" with another guest having exclaimed it was better than nearby steel roller coaster
Vortex In fluid dynamics, a vortex (: vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...
. Matthews also recorded several pilots' reactions to the roller coaster, with a former
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
pilot stating the ride experience was not dissatisfying and a
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
noting it was akin to a fighter jet, especially the vertical loop without the g-forces. Susan Young, a writer for the ''
Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Oakland, California, and a predecessor of the '' East Bay Times''. It was published by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' ...
'', noted how she felt an adrenaline rush through the queue area's theming and overhead roller coaster. By the end of the roller coaster, Young remarked that Top Gun was "pure exhilaration", having restored her interest in roller coasters altogether. Leigh Grogan, a writer for ''
The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'', commented that, "despite being a lifelong" wooden roller coaster fan, she gave "high marks" to the roller coaster's thematic experience, satisfied with the ride and its g-forces. Debra Salonen, writing for the ''
Merced Sun-Star The ''Merced Sun-Star'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper printed in Merced, California, in the United States. It has circulation of 7,926 copies. The newspaper is published every day except for Sundays. History The ''Merced Sun-Star'' evolved fr ...
'', positively noted the roller coaster's smoothness, speed, and excitement, simply concluding it was a "wow". Leah Smith, a reporter for the '' Press-Tribune'', commented on the roller coaster's "breathtaking" elements alongside the in-depth theming that guests could expect waiting for the ride.


Awards


References


External links

* * {{California's Great America Roller coasters in California Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters introduced in 1993 California's Great America Inverted roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard