Nighthawk

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Nighthawk

Carowinds
Location	Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Coordinates	35°06′10″N 80°56′30″W / 35.102785°N 80.941773°W / 35.102785; -80.941773
Status	Defunct
Operated	March 20, 2004 to 2024
Rider height	Minimum: 54 inch Maximum: 81 inch
Replaced	Carolina Sternwheeler

Paramount's Great America
Name	Stealth
Location	Santa Clara, California, USA
Coordinates	37°23′46″N 121°58′15″W / 37.396096°N 121.970826°W / 37.396096; -121.970826
Operated	April 1, 2000 to September 2, 2003
Cost	$17,000,000
Replaced by	Boomerang Bay

Statistics

Manufacturer

Vekoma

Product

Flying Dutchman (843m Prototype)

Type

Steel - Flying

Riders per train

24

Hourly capacity

1,000

Propulsion

Chain lift hill

Height

115 feet

Top speed

51 mph

Length

2766 feet

Inversions

5

Duration

1:50

G-Force

4.3

Nighthawk was a Vekoma flying roller coaster previously located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. It originally opened in 2000 at Paramount's Great America as Stealth.^[1]

History

Construction of the attraction started in early 1999.^[2]

The ride was announced as "Project Stealth" on June 22, 1999. It was marketed as the "world's first true flying coaster". However, two flying coasters had already been built by this time, (Skytrak and Komet). At the time, Paramount's Great America said that the official name would be revealed later, but it was never announced.^[3]

The ride opened on April 1, 2000 as Stealth. A soft opening was held on March 26, 2000.^[4]

During its run at Paramount's Great America, Stealth would suffer numerous maintenance issues. One of the issues was the electric box. Instead of being located in the mechanical room, it was located on the trains. As a result, an amount of stress was put on the components and ride vehicles. The system monitored the restraints and locking devices that allowed the cars to raise and lower.^[5]

On August 21, 2003, it was announced that Stealth would be relocated to Paramount's Carowinds.^[6] It closed on September 2, 2003 and was removed to make room for a new water park.^[7] The ride's station remained and was repurposed as part of the queue for several waterslides.

In January 2004, Paramount's Carowinds announced that the ride would be called BORG Assimilator and have a Star Trek theme.^[8] It reopened on March 20, 2004.

After Paramount's Carowinds was acquired by Cedar Fair in 2006, the name was changed to Nighthawk for the 2008 season. The Star Trek theming was removed.^[9]

The park announced in a press release on December 18, 2024, that Nighthawk would close permanently, alongside Drop Tower and Scream Weaver.^[10] Demolition began in January 2025.^[11] Most of the ride structure had been removed by the time park opened in March 2025.^[12] The ride was fully removed, sans its station, by the end of March.^[13] In May 2025, a train from the ride was sent to the National Roller Coaster Museum.^[14]

Design

Elements
Chain lift hill Lie to fly Horseshoe Fly to lie 66 foot tall vertical loop Lie to fly Double corkscrew

Color scheme

When the coaster originally operated at Paramount's Great America as Stealth, it had a white track with a red spine and gray supports. When it moved to Paramount's Carowinds as BORG Assimilator, the track was repainted black, while the spine was repainted green apple. In 2009, a year after the attraction was renamed Nighthawk, it was repainted with a yellow track and blue supports.^[15]