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What
is ''Air'' ?
''Air''
the next generation flying roller coaster has just opened at Alton Towers,
it gives passengers the feeling of flight as they hang below the track
lying down. The ride which is being supplied by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger
& Mabillard, the same company which supplied Nemesis and Oblivion
has been in the pipe line for 8 years now, since Tussuads imagineer John
Wardley dreamed up the creation to follow his previous project, Nemesis.
''Air'' is situated on the old Beast site in Forbidden Valley it has a
very separate 'calmer' theme than the rest of the valley, as can be seen
from the turquoise track.
Why
is ''Air'' so special ?
''Air'' is a unique ride experience,
hanging beneath the track held into position by specially designed safety
vests, vantral cushions and ankle flaps, riders will experience a new
sensation of flight. The freedom and liberation experienced will be
unbelievable,
almost lying down, looking down at the ground, flying around special inversions,
helixes, through tunnels, passed trees and near water. As
well as flying beneath the track, at one point riders are flipped onto
their backs to ride backwards, on top of the track.
How
does ''Air'' Work ?
Riders
board the ride underneath the track similar to the Nemesis style of loading,
there are no heavy restraints over your shoulders, just the previously
mentioned safety vest which is attached to the ''grab bars'' the only
thing you can hold onto! Once you've boarded the ride, the trains will
tilt forward into the flying position, ready for take off. It is because
of this complicated style of loading why there is a double station to
increase the through-put, the double station also allows 3 trains on the
track as appose to the 2 trains of Nemesis. One station is with a normal
queue line and the other will have a virtual queue where riders can pre-book
their space by collecting a ticket from turnstiles near the ride.
Tell
me more about these Air pages
Construction
of Air progressed though-out 2001, TowersTimes setup a special site called
''sw5live'' to follow the coverage. We had construction photographs updated
most weeks and became quite a popular site. Air opened in March 2002,
after 8 years of planning the magic ride was now open! We recently merged
sw5live into TowersTimes because there was not much else we could update
with. You can still visit these Air pages on the url
http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/history/articles/sw5live
.
Enjoy the flight!
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Artists impression
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