American Eagle

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American Eagle

Six Flags Great America Location Gurnee, Illinois, USA Coordinates 42.364491°N 87.932344°W / 42.364491; -87.932344 Section Country Fair Status Operating since May 23, 1981 Cost $10,000,000 Rider height 48 inch minimum
Statistics
Manufacturer	Intamin
Designer / calculations	Curtis D. Summers, Inc, Jim Figley, Leonard Wright
Type	Wooden - Twin
Track layout	Out and Back
Hourly capacity	1800
Propulsion	Chain lift hill
Height	127 feet
Drop	147 feet
Top speed	66 mph
Length	4650 feet
Inversions	0
Drop angle	55°
Duration	2:23
Rolling stock
Manufacturer	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Riders per train	30

American Eagle is a twin wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, USA. First opened in 1981, the ride contains a helix and several large drops. It is the second roller coaster from Intamin and the company's first wooden coaster.

History

Construction of the attraction began in June 1980. It was designed by Curtis D. Summers, Jim Figley, and Leonard Wright, and supplied by Intamin at a cost of around $10 million. American Eagle opened on May 23, 1981. It was advertised as the longest roller coaster in the world. However, this is only true if the length is considered to be that of both sides added together.

After the ride's opening, the park discovered design and construction defects and required Intamin to make repairs. Intamin sough compensation from the design and construction companies it contracted, Curtis D. Summers, Inc. and Figley-Wright Contractors, Inc., respectively. Intamin entered a settlement agreement with Summers on July 10, 1984 in which Intamin released all present and future claims against Summers in return for a payment of $203,820.49.

During the 2002 season, one half of the ride operated backwards.

The entrance in 2006

The tent that housed the original American Eagle queue line from 1981 to 2006 was used as a circus tent from 1976 to 1980. In 2007, it was converted into a children's area named Kidzopolis. The second version of the entrance was located to the right of Kidzopolis, and it utilized part of the entry building for the then adjacent defunct Dare Devil Dive skycoaster. The original bald eagle that was on the roof of the first entrance was used again on the second version of the entrance.

For the ride's 30th anniversary in 2011, the ride operated with backwards trains.

Sometime during the 2016 or 2017 season, the park stopped racing American Eagle around this time and only extremely rarely will it occur. In more recent years, only one side would be open while the ride operates with the other side not or occasionally both sides will run but one side will dispatch while the other unloads as the process alternates between both. The official reason for why the coaster no longer races is unknown. For the 2021 season, only the red side of the ride would operate as the blue side would remain closed for refurbishment and small retracking. In the 2022 season, the blue side would return to operation while the red side would be closed for similar reasons as blue the year prior. In 2023, the red trains received updated artwork on the front with the logo now in the background of a faded U.S. flag. The blue side did not operate that season as the trains were not on the track.

At No Coaster Con 2024, Six Flags announced that the lift chain would be replaced. During the 2023-2024 off-season, red, white, and blue lights were added next to the ride to project onto the ride without any previous announcement. A new entrance used only for American Eagle was also added in 2024, replacing the old entrance which was previously used for American Eagle and Dare Devil Dive. From the start of the season until mid-August 2024, only the blue side was open. However, in mid-August, the coaster started operating the blue and red sides alternatively throughout the rest of the season.

Design

American Eagle in 2004, with one train facing forwards and the other facing backwards

Elements
Red 127 foot tall Chain lift hill with a 147 foot drop 2 Bunny hills Block brake Helix 5 Hills Helix Blue 127 foot tall Chain lift hill with a 147 foot drop 2 Bunny hills Block brake Helix Hill Hill Helix

American Eagle has an out and back layout. The ride begins with several hills and a turnaround consisting of a large downward helix. More airtime hills follow and it concludes with a helix.

Trains

4 trains with 5 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows, for a total of 30 riders per train.

Incidents

• On August 9, 1984, three guests were hospitalized after two trains collided in the station.
• On September 7, 1997, four guests were slightly injured after the second and third cars on the blue train separated and collided on the brake run.

Images

The category American Eagle contains additional media.

• 
  The ride's current entrance
• 
  The safety sign
• 
  The lift hill
• 
  A train in the station
• 
  The queue line bridge
• 
  The side selection
• 
  The blue side's switchback section
• 
  The red train
• 
  The helix covered with spiders

External links

• 

  American Eagle on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

• 

  Blue track on Coaster-Count.

• 

  Red track on Coaster-Count.

• 

  American Eagle on sixflags.com.

Tallest wooden roller coaster May 1981 - July 1985
Preceded by Colossus	Tallest wooden roller coaster May 1981 - July 1985	Succeeded by Le Monstre

Tallest roller coaster drop May 1981 - June 1988
Preceded by The Beast	Tallest roller coaster drop May 1981 - June 1988	Succeeded by ShockWave

Tallest wooden roller coaster drop May 1981 - May 1989
Preceded by The Beast	Tallest wooden roller coaster drop May 1981 - May 1989	Succeeded by Hercules

Fastest roller coaster May 1981 - March 1988
Preceded by The Beast	Fastest roller coaster May 1981 - March 1988	Succeeded by Bandit

Fastest wooden roller coaster May 1981 - April 2000
Preceded by The Beast	Fastest wooden roller coaster May 1981 - April 2000	Succeeded by Boss

Six Flags Great America

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