Suspended Looping Coaster

Suspended Looping Coaster

A standard Suspended Looping Coaster
Status	In production
First built	Condor (1994)
Latest built	Queen Cobra (2017)
Cost	$7,000,000 - $12,000,000
Statistics
Manufacturer	Vekoma, Netherlands
Type	Steel - Inverted
Propulsion	Chain lift hill
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An SLC with vest restraints. Riddler Revenge at Six Flags New England is shown above.

The Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) is a line of inverted roller coaster models built by Vekoma.

History

An SLC with standard, padded over-the-shoulder restraints. Top Gun at Canada's Wonderland is shown above.

In the early 1990s, Vekoma would develop their own inverted coaster to compete with Bolliger & Mabillard. They developed their new Suspended Looping Coaster concept. The cheap price, many inversions, and compact footprint was ideal for parks who wanted a thrilling coaster but were on a budget, or had little expansion room.

The first Suspended Looping Coaster opened in 1994 at Walibi Holland, which was El Condor. The next year, nine more of these rides would open, including Mind Eraser at Six Flags America, and T2 at Kentucky Kingdom.

The traditional SLC trains consist of small plastic seats with little room for riders to move, over-the-shoulder harnesses, padding right next to riders' ears, and handlebars. These SLC's are commonly referred to as "Hang N' Bangs" by enthusiasts due to their rough nature. A simple solution to the head-banging, however, is for riders to keep their necks stiff or lean their necks forward.

Three SLC's received lighter trains, replacing the traditional over-the-shoulder harnesses with vest harnesses, allowing a more comfortable and open ride experience. The lighter trains also move along the track smoother and eliminate head-banging. The SLC's with these vest restraints are Roller Coaster Mayan at Energylandia, Riddler Revenge at Six Flags New England, and Great Nor'Easter at Morey's Piers. One SLC received completely unique restraints found on no other SLC. This was T3 at Kentucky Kingdom. These restraints consist of soft straps and a bar that sits on riders' thighs.

Variations

662m Prototype

Two prototypes were installed. The layout is almost identical to that of the standard model.

689m Standard

A 3D visualization

The standard layout of a Vekoma SLC

This "standard" SLC is slightly taller and longer than the prototype, has a slight S-turn before the brake run, and ten-car trains.

This is the most common variation.

765m Extended w/Helix

The extended SLC has the same elements of the standard model plus an additional helix at the end.

787m Extended

This variant has the same elements as the 765m Extended w/Helix model however they are set out in such a way that the overall layout is different with the double barrel roll passing underneath the lift hill.

Shenlin

The first Shenlin SLC opened in 2002 and it is the first SLC to have a completely different layout. It has a vertical loop, a cobra roll, a zero-g roll and a helix.

This layout was later used by Chinese company Golden Horse.

Shenlin w/Helix

This model has the same layout as the Shenlin with an additional helix at the end.

This layout was later used by Chinese company Golden Horse.

Specification

Variation	Statistics					Installations
	Height	Speed	Length	Inversions	Capacity	First	Latest	Total
662m Prototype	101.7 feet	49.7 mph	2,171.9 feet	5	900	1994	1995	2
689m Standard	109.3 feet	49.7 mph	2,260.5 feet	5	1,040	1995	2017	27
765m Extended w/Helix	109.3 feet	49.7 mph	2,510 feet	5	500	1997	2003	5
787m Extended	101.7 feet	44.7 mph	2,582 feet	5	1,010	1995	1999	2
Shenlin	117.8 feet	54.9 mph	2,202.8 feet	4	1,125	2002	2006	2
Shenlin w/Helix	117.8 feet	53.7 mph	2,454.1 feet	4	1,010	2006	2009	2
Custom						1995	2002	2

Installations

Name	Park	Location	Variation	Opened	Status
Arkham Asylum - Shock Therapy	Warner Bros. Movie World	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia	765m Extended w/Helix	December 1995	Closed December 2019
Batman The Ride	Six Flags México	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico	689m Standard	April 14, 2000	Operating
Blue Tornado	Gardaland	Castelnuovo del Garda, Veneto, Italy	765m Extended w/Helix	1998	Operating
Condor	Walibi Holland	Biddinghuizen, Flevoland, Netherlands	662m Prototype	May 1994	Operating
Death Rail	Al Zawra’a Dream Park	Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq	689m Standard	2015	Operating
Desafío	Parque de la Costa	Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina	689m Standard	1999	Operating
Dragon in Clouds	Happy Valley	Jinniu, Chengdu, Sichuan, China	Shenlin w/Helix	January 19, 2009	Operating
Ednör - L'Attaque Formerly in storage Formerly Serial Thriller	La Ronde Great Escape Six Flags AstroWorld	Montréal, Québec, Canada Queensbury, New York, USA Houston, Texas, USA	689m Standard	May 15, 2010 N/A May 29, 1999	Operating Removed Closed October 30, 2005
F² Fright Flight	Nasu Highland Park	Nasu, Tochigi, Japan	689m Standard	1995	Operating
Firewhip Formerly Blackout	Beto Carrero World Suzuka Circuit	Penha, Santa Catarina, Brazil Suzuka, Mie, Japan	689m Standard	December 28, 2008 1995	Operating Closed 2007
Flight Deck	Canada's Wonderland	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada	689m Standard	1995	Operating
Fly the Great Nor'easter	Morey's Piers	Wildwood, New Jersey, USA	Custom	1995	Operating
Gauntlet	Magic Springs	Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA	689m Standard	April 10, 2004	Operating
Golden Wings in Snowfield	Happy Valley	Chaoyang, Beijing, China	Shenlin w/Helix	July 9, 2006	Operating
Hurricane	Rusutsu Resort	Shiribeshi, Hokkaido, Japan	689m Standard	1996	Operating
Infusion Formerly Traumatizer	Pleasure Beach Resort Pleasureland Southport	Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK Southport, Merseyside, England, UK	689m Standard	May 2, 2007 1999	Operating Closed September 5, 2006
Iron Claw	Movie Park Germany	Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany	689m Standard	April 6, 2001	Operating
Jaguar	Isla Mágica	Seville, Seville, Spain	765m Extended w/Helix	June 28, 1997	Operating
Kong Formerly Hangman	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Opryland USA	Vallejo, California, USA Nashville, Tennesse, USA	689m Standard	May 1998 May 1, 1995	Operating Closed 1997
Kumali	Flamingo Land	Malton, North Yorkshire, England, UK	Shenlin	April 1, 2006	Operating
Kumba	Superland	Rishon LeZion, Tel Aviv, Israel	689m Standard	June 16, 2001	Operating
Limit	Heide Park	Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany	689m Standard	1999	Operating
Mayan Adventure	Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village	Yuchr Shiang, Nan-t'ou, Taiwan	689m Standard	1997	Operating
Mayan Roller Coaster	Energylandia	Zator, Malopolskie, Poland	689m Standard	September 12, 2015	Operating
Mind Eraser	Darien Lake	Darien Center, New York, USA	689m Standard	May 17, 1997	Operating
Mind Eraser	Elitch Gardens	Colorado Massauchetts, USA	689m Standard	June 2, 1997	Operating
Mind Eraser	Six Flags America	Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA	689m Standard	May 20, 1995	Operating
Nio	Greenland	Arao, Kumamoto, Japan	689m Standard	1997	Operating
Odyssey	Fantasy Island	Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire, England, UK	Custom	May 25, 2002	Operating
Queen Cobra	Asia Park	Đà Nẵng, Vietnam	689m Standard	January 27, 2017	Operating
Raptor Formerly operated	Fantasilandia Tohoku Exhibition	Santiago, Metropolitan Región, Chile Sendai, Miyagi, Japan	689m Standard	December 23, 2008 1997	Operating Closed 1997
Riddler Revenge	Six Flags New England	Agawam, Massachusetts, USA	689m Standard	May 24, 1997	Operating
Roller Coaster	Dream Park	Cairo, Egypt	765m Extended w/Helix	1999	Operating
Snow Mountain Flying Dragon	Happy Valley	Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China	Shenlin	May 1, 2002	Operating
Suspended Looping Coaster	Suzhou Amusement Land	Huqiu, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China	787m Extended	2003	Operating
T3	Kentucky Kingdom	Louisville, Kentucky, USA	662m Prototype	1995	Operating
Thunderhawk Formerly Thunderhawk	Michigan's Adventure Geauga Lake	Muskegon, Michigan, USA Aurora, Ohio, USA	689m Standard	May 17, 2008 1998	Operating Closed September 16, 2007
Titánide	Terra Mítica	Benidorm, Alicante, Spain	689m Standard	March 15, 2003	Operating
Twisted Typhoon	Wild Adventures	Valdosta, Georgia, USA	689m Standard	May 8, 1999	Operating
Vampire	Walibi Belgium	Wavre, Walloon Brabant, Belgium	689m Standard	1999	Operating
Vortex Formerly Pusing Lagi	Siam Park City Jerudong Park Playground	Khan Na Yao District, Bangkok, Thailand Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and Muara, Brunei	787m Extended	2007 1997	Operating Closed 2005 - 2006
Nopuko Air Coaster Formerly Cape Cobras	Lost Island Theme Park Ratanga Junction	Waterloo, Iowa, USA Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa	765m Extended w/Helix	Summer 2022 1998	Under construction Closed May 1, 2018

Copies

In 2005, Beijing Shibaolai Amusement Equipment introduced their Suspended Loop Coaster. In 2007, Golden Horse opened its product. Rather than have a different layout, Golden Horse's layout is a direct copy of Vekoma's Shenlin model. In 2010, Beijing Jiuhua Amusement Rides Manufacturing Co., Ltd. opened its first inverted roller coaster with a layout similar to that of Bejing Shibaolai's model.

In 2012, Hebei Zhongye Metallurgical Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd opened its first 7 Ring Suspended Looping Coaster model.