Jumbo Jet (Six Flags Great Adventure)
Layout
The ride was the first Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster to be built in the state of New Jersey. Unlike typical chain lifted or launched roller coasters, this model reached the first drop by way of small wheel motors that drove it up the incline of a helix. Electric spiral lift coasters, which became very common in the 1970s, differed from later steel roller coaster designs in track gauge.
History
Contemporary press accounts quote Great Adventure Vice President of Operations Robert Minick as saying that Jumbo Jet was "the largest ready-made roller coaster that [could] be bought". The coaster was leased from Willy Miller's Continental Park Attractions, along with several other rides in the Fun Fair section.
Assembled in the spring of 1975, the ride stood idle for weeks, never to be operated or opened to the public, before being dismantled one month later.
The ultimate fate of the ride remains unknown. Although Roller Coaster DataBase once proposed that it might be the Jumbo Jet at Morey's Piers, evidence exists that the latter attraction was in fact purchased in Germany. RCDB later listed the Canadian National Exhibition as another possible site at which the ride may have operated.
References
- ^ Marden, Duane. "Jumbo Jet (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
- ^ RCDB.com search results for Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line
- ^ Rutherford, Scott (2004). The American Roller Coaster. MBI Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 0760319294.
- ^ Cartmell, Robert (1987). The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster. Popular Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-87972-342-4.
- ^ Trollinger, Gary (24 June 1975). "Huge throngs main foe of Great Adventure". Reading Eagle. p. 5. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ "Jumbo Jet at Six Flags Great Adventure". greatadventurehistory.com. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ Applegate, Harry; Benton, Thomas (26 August 2009). Six Flags Great Adventure. Images of America (illustrated ed.). Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 128. ISBN 0738565695.
- ^ Marden, Duane (January 2, 2010). "Jumbo Jet (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase (archived). Archived from the original on January 2, 2010.
- ^ greatadventurehistory.com forums
- ^ Lilliefors, James (2006). America's Boardwalks: From Coney Island to California (illustrated ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 081353805X.
- ^ Futrell, Jim (2004). Amusement Parks of New Jersey. Amusement Parks Series (illustrated ed.). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811729737.