Boomerang (Vekoma product)

Boomerang

Status	In production
Introduced	1984
Number built	58
First built	Boomerang (manufactured 1982)
Latest built	Stress Express (2016)
Statistics
Manufacturer	Vekoma, Netherlands
Riders per train	28
Hourly capacity	760
Height	116 feet
Top speed	47 mph
Length	935 feet
Track inversions	3
Rider inversions	6
Angle	45°
G-Force	5.2G

Boomerang is a shuttle roller coaster model designed and sold by Vekoma. Its first installation was at Rafaela Padilla and over fifty have been built since. This makes it one of the most popular roller coasters models.

The first known Boomerang clone was built at Lewa Adventure in Shaanxi, China by Beijing Shibaolai Amusement Equipment. It opened in 2015.

Design

Elements
Cobra roll Vertical loop

It uses the MK-1200 track system.

Riders are pulled up a lift hill behind the station, then dropped through a cobra roll and vertical loop, before going up a the second spike. The train is then caught, pulled up further and released backwards through the inversions.

Vekoma also introduced four Boomerang variants. The Invertigo had a nearly identical layout to the original Boomerang design, but with inverted trains. The first of these opened in 1997. This model was unsuccessful, with only four being built. The Giant Inverted Boomerang also had a similar layout, but was taller, longer and the two lift hills were vertical. The Family Boomerang was the most successful Boomerang variant. They come in many different layouts. The first one opened in 2011, and 33 have been built since then. More recently, Vekoma introduced the Super Boomerang model. This model is similar to the original Boomerang, but more versatile, with custom layouts. One of these is currently under construction.

Diagram of the layout of the Boomerang

Trains

Single train with 7 cars. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 28 riders per train. At first, the Boomerang train was built by Arrow Dynamics. Later models feature a train from Vekoma. The first installation to open with Vekoma trains was Sidewinder at Hersheypark in 1991.

Multiple installations have had their original trains replaced with rolling stock provided by Vekoma, KumbaK and Sunkid Heege GmbH.

Incidents

There were at least three occasions in 1999 where the train became stuck in the middle of the cobra roll element - twice on the former Vampire at Kentucky Kingdom and once on Boomerang Coast to Coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Some installations have since had a platform erected at this location to assist future evacuations. A similar incident occurred in 2001 on Zoomerang at Lake Compounce.

Installations

Name	Park	Location	Opened	Status
Anaconda	Luna Park Tel Aviv	Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel	2000	Operating
ASEAN Express	Fantawild Asian Legend	China	2018	Under construction
Bat	Canada's Wonderland	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada	1987	Operating
Boomerang	Bellewaerde Park	Ieper, Belgium	1984	Operating
Boomerang	E-World	Daegu Metropolitan City, South Korea	March 1995	Operating
Boomerang	Elitch Gardens	Denver, Colorado, USA	April 30, 1999	Operating
Boomerang	Fantasilandia	Santiago, Santiago, Chile	1996	Operating
Boomerang	Gero Land	Cairo, Egypt	1997	Operating
Boomerang	Knott's Berry Farm	Buena Park, California, USA	April 6, 1990	Closed April 23, 2017
Boomerang	La Ronde	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	1984	Operating
Boomerang	Parque de la Costa	Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina	1998	Operating
Boomerang	Pleasure Island Family Theme Park	Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, UK	May 27, 1993	Closed October 29, 2016
Boomerang Formerly Boomerang	Floraland Continent Park Qingdao International Beer City	Wenjiang, Chengdu, Sichuan, China Laoshan, Qingdao, Shandong, China	October 1, 2015 July 1998	Operating Closed 2010
Boomerang Formerly Boomerang	Siam Park City Jerudong Park	Khan Na Yao District, Bangkok, Thailand Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and Muara, Brunei	2007 1996	Operating Closed 2005 - 2006
Boomerang	Six Flags Fiesta Texas	San Antonio, Texas, USA	March 13, 1999	Operating
Boomerang Formerly Boomerang	Six Flags México Rafaela Padilla	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico Puebla, Puebla, Mexico	1988 1984	Operating Closed 1986
Boomerang Formerly Flashback	Six Flags St. Louis Six Flags Over Texas	Eureka, Missouri, USA Arlington, Texas, USA	June 8, 2013 1989	Operating Closed September 3, 2012
Boomerang Formerly Boomerang	Walibi Sud-Ouest Zygo Park	Roquefort, Aquitaine, France Nice, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France	1992 1987	Operating Closed 1991
Boomerang	Wild Adventures	Valdosta, Georgia, USA	1998	Operating
Boomerang	Worlds of Fun	Kansas City, Missouri, USA	April 8, 2000	Operating
Boomerang	Prater	Vienna, Vienna, Austria	1992	Operating
Boomerang Coast to Coaster	Darien Lake	Darien Center, New York, USA	May 16, 1998	Operating
Boomerang Coast to Coaster	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom	Vallejo, California, USA	March 27, 1998	Operating
Búmeran Formerly Boomerang	Parque Diversiones Playcenter São Paulo	La Uruca, San José, Costa Rica São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil	November 25, 2012 1997	Operating Closed April 1, 2012
Bumerang	Tashkentland	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	1995	Operating
Cobra	PowerLand	Kauhava, Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland	2005	Operating
Cobra	Walibi Belgium	Wavre, Walloon Brabant, Belgium	April 28, 2001	Operating
Flashback	Great Escape	Queensbury, New York, USA	May 23, 1997	Operating
Flashback Formerly Vampire Formerly Boomerang	Six Flags New England Kentucky Kingdom Star Lake Amusement Park	Agawam, Massachusetts, USA Louisville, Kentucky, USA Duanzhou, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China	May 5, 2000 1990 1985	Operating Closed 1999 Closed
Fluch des Kraken	Freizeit-Land Geiselwind	Geiselwind, Bavaria, Germany	2000	Operating
Flying Cobras Formerly Head Spin and Mind Eraser	Carowinds Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom	Charlotte, North Carolina, USA Aurora, Ohio, USA	March 28, 2009 May 10, 1996	Operating Closed September 16, 2007
Generator	Walibi Rhône-Alpes	Les Avenières, Ródano-Alpes, Francia	1988	Operating
Jolly Rancher Remix	Hersheypark	Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA	May 11, 1991	Operating
Ragin' Cajun Formerly Boomerang	Blue Bayou Dixie Landin' Hafan y Môr Holiday Park	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA Pwllheli, Gwynedd, Wales, UK	July 11, 2001 1987	Operating Closed 1998
Recoil Formerly Thunderbolt	Wonderla Aladdin's Kingdom	Bangalore, Karnataka, India Doha, Doha, Qatar	April 4, 2016 1994	Operating Closed 2004 - 2009
Recoil Formerly Colossus	Wonderla Habtoorland	Jamhour Haret El Sit, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon	Augsut 30, 2017 December 23, 2004	Operating Closed 2009 - 2011
Recoil Formerly Zoomerang Formerly Demon Formerly Titan	Wonderla Alabama Splash Adventure Wonderland Sydney World Expo Park	Hyderabad, Telangana, India Bessemer, Alabama, USA Eastern Creek, New South Wales, Australia Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	April 7, 2016 May 8, 2005 1992 April 30, 1988	Operating Closed 2011 Closed April 26, 2004 Closed October 30, 1988
Roller Coaster	Al-Shallal Theme Park	Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia	June 28, 2005	Operating
Sea Serpent	Morey's Piers	Wildwood, New Jersey, USA	1984	Operating
Space Shuttle Formerly Cobra	Enchanted Kingdom West Midland Safari Park	Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines Bewdley, Worcestershire, England, UK	July 28, 1995 1985	Operating Closed 1991
Speed of Sound	Walibi Holland	Biddinghuizen, Flevoland, Netherlands	April 22, 2000	Operating
Stress Express	Fantawild Adventure	Zhongmu, Zhengzhou, Henan, China	September 22, 2012	Operating
Stress Express	Fantawild Dreamland	Tong'an, Xiamen, Fujian, China	April 28, 2013	Operating
Stress Express	Fantawild Dreamland	Shifeng, Zhuzhou, Hunan, China	August 18, 2016	Operating
Stress Express	Oriental Heritage	Jiujiang, Wuhu, Anhui, China	August 16, 2015	Operating
Stress Express	Oriental Heritage	Huaiyin, Jinan, Shandong, China	April 29, 2015	Operating
Stress Express	Oriental Heritage	Cixi, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China	April 16, 2016	Operating
Tidal Wave	Trimper's Rides	Ocean City, Maryland, USA	1986	Operating
Wipeout Formerly Missile Formerly Coca-Cola Roller	Pleasurewood Hills American Adventure Theme Park Glasgow Garden Festival	Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, UK Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England, UK Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK	July 28, 2007 July 4, 1989 1988	Operating 2004 1988
Zoomerang	Lake Compounce	Bristol, Connecticut, USA	June 27, 1997	Operating
Zydeco Scream Formerly Boomerang	Six Flags New Orleans Parque de Atracciones de Montjuic	New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain	June 10, 2000 1990	SBNO since August 22, 2005 Closed 1998
unknown Formerly Boomerang	Family Fun Tivoli Karolinelund	Duhok, Duhok, Iraq Aalborg, Jylland, Denmark	Unknown 1986	Operating Closed September 4, 2010

See also

• Giant Inverted Boomerang
• Invertigo
• Family Boomerang