Katapul

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Katapul

Katapul in 2011
Hopi Hari Location Vinhedo, São Paulo, Brazil Park section Aribabiba Status Operating since 1999
Alton Towers Name Thunderlooper Location Alton, Staffordshire, England, UK Park section Thunder Valley Operated 1990 to 3 November 1996 Jolly Roger Amusement Park Name King Kobra Location Ocean City, Maryland, USA Operated 1987 to 1989 Kings Dominion Name King Kobra Location Doswell, Virginia, USA Operated 26 May 1977 to 1986
Statistics
Manufacturer	Schwarzkopf
Product	Shuttle Loop (Weight Drop)
Designer / calculations	Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH
Type	Steel - Launched - Shuttle
Riders per train	24
Propulsion	Weight drop launch
Height	137.8 feet
Top speed	53 mph
Length	722 feet
Track inversions	1
Rider inversions	2
Drop angle	70°
HELP

King Kobra at Kings Dominion in 1979.

Thunderlooper at Alton Towers

Katapul is a steel launched shuttle roller coaster located at Hopi Hari in Vinhedo, São Paulo, Brazil. The ride was one of the first Shuttle Loop models built by Schwarzkopf and used a weight drop launch to propel riders to a speed of 53 mph. It is also the most traveled, having operated at four parks in its 45 year history.

History

The ride was first installed at Kings Dominion in Virginia and opened on May 26, 1977 under the name King Kobra. It was the first Schwarzkopf Shuttle loop model, along with White Lightnin' at Carowinds and Greased Lightnin' at Marriott's Great America, both of which opened in the same year. The ride closed in 1986 and was sent to Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Maryland, USA.

King Kobra reopened under the same name at Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Maryland in 1987 and only operated for three seasons, closing in 1989.

The ride was then sold to Alton Towers in England. It opened in 1990 and was called Thunderlooper. Thunderlooper was situated across from where Nemesis is now in a newly created area called Thunder Valley (now Forbidden Valley). During its operation, planning regulations on Alton Towers were tightened, allowing nothing to be built higher than the treeline. Due to its height and noisy operation, Thunderlooper had to be closed - it ceased operation on November 3, 1996. Maintenance had also become an issue with cracks appearing on the track and trains. It was replaced with flat rides Ripsaw and Blade.

After being removed from Alton Towers, the ride was sent to Hopi Hari in Brazil. The attraction was repainted blue with red supports and opened in 1999 under the name Katapul. It was closed in February 2012 and was repainted red with blue supports. The ride was also given a Superman theme. Katapul reopened on December 14, 2012.

Design

Elements
Weight drop launch 46 foot diameter vertical loop Vertical rollback Vertical rollback

Ride experience

The train is launched out of the station at a speed of 53 mph before passing through a vertical loop with a diameter of 46 feet. It then travels up a 148 feet tall vertical rollback, slowing to a halt as it loses its momentum. The train then traverses the track backwards, passing through the vertical loop and station and up the second, smaller spike. After stalling a second time, the train rolls forwards into the station.

Colour scheme

Hopi Hari

Red track and blue supports, used to be blue track and red supports.

Alton Towers

Dark green track and supports.

Jolly Roger Amusement Park

Black track and supports.

Kings Dominion

White track and supports.

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.

Images

• 

  The vertical loop

• 

  The second spike situated behind the station

External links

• 
  Katapul on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

Tallest roller coaster tied with White Lightnin' Tidal Wave 1977 - 1978
Preceded by Giant Coaster	Tallest roller coaster tied with White Lightnin' Tidal Wave 1977 - 1978	Succeeded by Montezooma's Revenge

Articles on Alton Towers
Coasters	Present Galactica Nemesis Oblivion Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure Rita Runaway Mine Train Smiler Spinball Whizzer Thirteen Wicker Man Former 4 Man Bob Alton Mouse Beastie Black Hole Corkscrew Mini Apple New Beast Thunderlooper Unbuilt Secret Weapon 1 & 2 unknown
Other attractions	Present Alton Towers Dungeon Battle Galleons Blade Congo River Rapids Duel Enterprise Gallopers Carousel Gangsta Granny: The Ride Get Set Go Tree Top Adventure Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom ride Heave Ho Hex In The Night Garden Magical Boat Ride Marauder's Mayhem Monorail Postman Pat Parcel Post Sky Ride Former 1001 Nights Astraslide Boneshaker Cablecars Chair-O-Plane Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride Cred Street Carousel Dodgems Dynamo Ferris Wheel Flume Flying Carpet Gallopers Ghost Train Gravitron Loop-O-Plane Mississippi Showboat Octopus Old MacDonald's Tractor Ride Park Railway Ripsaw Space Boat Spider Submission Swan Boat Ride Tri-Star Twirling Toadstool Turbo Star Vintage Cars Waltzer Water Chute

Articles on Kings Dominion
Coasters	Present Anaconda Apple Zapple Backlot Stunt Coaster Dominator Flight of Fear Great Pumpkin Coaster Grizzly Intimidator 305 Racer 75 Reptilian Tumbili Twisted Timbers Woodstock Express Former Galaxi Hurler HyperSonic XLC King Kobra Shockwave Volcano: The Blast Coaster
Other attractions	Present Americana Bad Apple Berserker Blue Ridge Tollway Boo Blasters on Boo Hill Carousel Charlie Brown's Wind Up Delirium Drop Tower: Scream Zone Dodgem Eiffel Tower Flying Ace Flying Ace Balloon Race Flying Eagles Grand Prix Raceway Kite Eating Tree Linus Launcher Lucy's Crabbie Cabbies Lucy's Tugboat Peanuts 500 Peanuts Road Rally Peanuts Turnpike Sally's Sea Plane Scrambler Shenandoah Lumber Company Snoopy vs Red Baron Snoopy's Junction Snoopy's Rocket Express Snoopy's Space Buggies Wave Swinger White Water Canyon WindSeeker Woodstock Whirlybirds Xtreme Skyflyer Former Apple Turnover Bad Apple Calypso Crypt Diamond Falls El Dorado Haunted River Jamestown Landing Magic Carpet Slides Mt. Kilimanjaro Old Dominion Line Racing Rivers Sky Pilot Sky Ride Smurf Mountain Time Shaft Vertigo Wacky Wheels