originally posted on 11/8/2019
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
When tubular steel coasters introduced inversions in 1975, the marketing zeal to innovate took off like mad. Launching, standing, flying, spinning, swinging, hanging … it seemed like there would be no end to the latest twist. Couple with that the nonstop crusade to set records, and steel coasters have had no problem producing iconic attractions, not to mention unending sales.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
If ever one thinks there is no new major direction for steel coasters to take, something like this comes along to prove them wrong.
Photo: Jason Mons. View full-sized image.
S&S Worldwide (S&S-Sansei Technologies) has been working on a new concept for not just months, but years. In the past two and a half years, the ride manufacturer has really gone full force on finetuning its latest creation: Axis.
Photo: Jason Mons. View full-sized image.
Coaster fans will find it easy to find slivers of familiar coaster experiences within this new design, but it all feels like something never done before. With good reason: It hasn’t.
Photo: Jason Mons. View full-sized image.
Descriptions are challenging. Axis places passengers in large seats with a swivel behind each pair of riders. Like an old Arrow suspended coaster, forces cause the seats to swing back and forth, and if the transitions are dramatic enough, riders flip upside down. Using the magnetic technology implemented in the company’s 4D Free Spin coasters, forces are dampened to keep the motion from ever getting too frantic or uncomfortable. Test rides have proved that everything works. It’s smooth as glass.
ACE News Editor Tim Baldwin (right) takes a test ride with Gerald Ryan from S&S.
Photo: Preston Perkes. View full-sized image.
Only once has S&S installed a ride with any similarities. The Free Fly coaster at Skara Sommarland (Skara, Sweden), Tranan, swings riders around the central track but with admittedly gentler forces. Tranan is not a large ride and certainly falls within the family demographic. [Editor’s note: An updated vehicle for this style of ride now graces the entrance to S&S Worldwide’s headquarters.]
Photo: Preston Perkes. View full-sized image.
Axis throws the doors wide open. Test track at the North Logan facility in Utah has the vehicles closer to the track and not initially extended to the sides. More dramatic maneuvers can initiate flips — in a direction no coaster has ever gone before. The track layouts are limitless as any park can customize what the coaster does simply by twisting the track and letting riders rotate around it, which illustrates Axis’ most signature attribute. On any other coaster, a rider can look at the track ahead and anticipate what will take place next. Because of the unpredictable nature of the swinging and rotation around the track, Axis delivers surprising motions. Fortunately, it is orchestrated marvelously with a fluid smoothness.
While the ride is now tested, it is still in development as far as any future projects are concerned. Engineers speculate that the appropriate length for the trains would most likely be around 12 passengers, but, again, there are still factors to determine in the final testing phase.
As park owners prepare to head to the IAAPA Expo this month, there is sure to be high interest. This is a good thing for ACEers. Enthusiasts are always eager to experience something new in the world of coasters. Axis appears to be a significant development. Stay tuned. (As if that even needed to be said.)
— Tim Baldwin
ACE News Editor
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Video: Courtesy S&S, ACE.
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