Six Flags Qiddiya announces Falcon’s Flight, a 655-foot-tall roller coaster reaching 156 mph

I'll admit to being out of the loop here, but I'm confused. Six Flags Qiddiya announced a new coaster two days ago that's been on YouTube for two years?

No. USA Today picked up the announcement two days ago – it has been around for a lot longer than that.

What happens at that speed if they put the wheels on backwards?

You're right Richard. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes, getting this project off the ground correctly. The saudis have sent lot of young people to Rosen College in Orlando to learn hospitality, plus having a school or college of sorts there to train people. They want a local talent pool to start with, versus UAE and Qatar who need to get foreigners for everything.

From speaking with the principals behind the project at IAAPA and listening to the update press conferences, the government realized that saudis young adults love to travel abroad for theme parks and that kind of entertainment. To that end, they are building Qiddiya, of which Six Flags (who is licensing their name and assisting in the design) is an important part.

GoBucks89 said:

What happens at that speed if they put the wheels on backwards?

Depends on whether the Flux Capacitor has been fitted correctly.

I also wondered about the potential wheel issue, but maybe there aren't any issues on Formula Rossa, which is close to speed, and environment. They aren't going with the hydraluic launch though, and I thought heat could cause issue with LSMs. Am I wrong there?

Wheel degradation is a function of speed but also duration (as well as the environment). If these trains are cooling off for a lengthy period of time between cycles (think Dragster), some of the wheel problems could be reduced.

Gosh that video looks ridiculous, all sped up like an old silent movie from hand cranked camera days.

Too bad it's in a ****ty, discriminatory country. I won't be visiting.

Oh, I know. And that’s ok- it’s not exactly like they’re inviting the likes of me.

SVLFever said:

I also wondered about the potential wheel issue, but maybe there aren't any issues on Formula Rossa, which is close to speed, and environment. They aren't going with the hydraluic launch though, and I thought heat could cause issue with LSMs. Am I wrong there?

Formula Rossa has water sprays that cool the wheels when it's stopped in the station.

I imagine Falcon's Flight will have something similar.

I wonder if the person in charge of this project is aware of roller coasters and stuff. I just looked at at image of a huge coaster, complete with rocky launching tunnel. Looks like a RCT2 dream. But really, how much fun are those big *snapping* speed coasters? I tried 4 times to like I-305 and it just didn't just it. Big fast and badass, but not much fun. And those snaps, sheesh. It would seem this thing would be down a lot and not last long. But I wish em luck, and of course would love try it out (probably once).

edit - I mean, it looks great in that video. Really a fantasy ride. But I can't help but thinking the Phoenix will still be more fun at 78 feet. If people like it, doesn't matter I guess.

Personally I think the tilt coaster looks like the best coaster at Qiddiya – but it'll be the record holder that draws people in.

They've released some renderings of the race circuit layout and it looks like a Mario Kart level. Turn 1 is on top of a music venue and is 300ft in the air. I don't know if that will ever come to pass because of safety but it's neat to see a pie in the sky idea like that.

The amount of water needed to service stuff like this in the desert is pretty insane, and not exactly environmentally solid.

That's insane. I can hear the F1 drivers' complaints already. There are currently four F1 events in that general area each season (five if you count Azerbaijan) and all of them are right on the water. I guess the heat will depend on the time of year (if it happens).

eightdotthree:

Turn 1 is on top of a music venue and is 300ft in the air.

I read another writeup that says turn 1 is around 200 feet high, but still. I think the whole track will have 108m (354ft.) of elevation changes.

The plan is for it to replace the Jeddah race and take place at night.

Yeah, I figured it would have to be a night race. Guess I didn't realize Jeddah was meant to be temporary.

Wasn't there some grumbling from some teams about Vegas? Night, or temperature or something? Seems like this environment is just as extreme.

For scheduling reasons, Vegas was a night race but it was unseasonably cold and there aren't a lot of turns so the drivers had trouble keeping temperature in the tires.