Euro-Fighter
- This article is about the product by Gerstlauer. For the roller coaster at Zoosafari Fasanolandia, see Eurofighter.
The Euro-Fighter is a popular steel roller coaster design built by Gerstlauer. The first installation was Vild-Svinet at BonBon-Land in Denmark, and since then another 14 have been built. The majority of Euro-Fighters are custom designed for the park, but there are also pre-designed models.
The longest and steepest Euro-Fighter to date is Takabisha at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan, which is also the steepest roller coaster in the world, with a 121 degree drop.
Design[edit | edit source]
The main characteristic of the model line is its 'beyond vertical' drop, which reaches angles of over 90 degrees. Also, the lift hill is vertical and precedes the drop, forming a tower (pictured right) which is easily recognizable.
Riders sit in single cars, seating 8 riders in two rows of four. Two exceptions are Huracan at Belantis and Dare Devil Dive at Six Flags Over Georgia, which use cars similar to Gerstlauer's launched roller coasters, searing 6 riders in three rows of two. The cars use over-the-shoulder restraints, and may be themed (to an extent) to a customer's needs. Dare Devil Dive is the first Euro-Fighter to use the new lap-bar restraints.
The Euro-Fighter can feature a wide variety of inversions, such as the vertical loop, cobra roll, immelman and heartline roll. Some recent Euro-Fighters also feature LSM launches. Gerstlauer have also introduced new inversions with the Euro-Fighter, such as the banana roll. This model was superseded by the Infinity Coaster in 2013, but Gerstlauer still sells some stock models, like the 320+ and the 1000. They even designed a new stock model named the 320, the first of which (Hydrus at Casino Pier) opened in 2017.
Variants[edit | edit source]
320+
410
600
1000
Dare Devil Dive
