Bobsled roller coaster

John Norman Bartlett, a British aviator in World War I, came to North America after the war with an idea for a trackless wooden chute, full of twists like a bobsled course, with toboggan-like cars, based on a bobsled ride that operated in Europe. He had filed GB Patent 279109A for the idea in 1926.^[1] Bartlett met John Miller in 1928, and they commenced building the new ride. When the ride went into production, much of the idea was the same, but the cars looks more like monoplanes, which Bartlett designed. Miller worked on the loading station, supporting structure, braking system and incline.

On October 4, 2013, after seven years of construction, Knoebels in Pennsylvania opened the world's only modern wooden Flying Turns coaster, Flying Turns. The ride was scheduled to open in 2007, but had been delayed due to dysfunctional wheels and other issues. As there were no historic plans available, the new coaster was designed entirely from scratch.

Notably, the Gerstlauer Bobsled Coaster model is not a bobsled coaster by this definition but rather an improvement on the wild mouse.^[2]

As of 2012, 21 bobsled roller coasters have been built. The roller coasters are listed in order of opening dates.

More information Name, Park ...

Name	Park	Country	Opened	Closed	Type	Manufacturer	Status
Flying Turns	Lakeside Park	United States	1929	1930 - 1954*	Wood	John Norman Bartlett	Removed	[3]
Flying Turns	Euclid Beach Park	United States	1930	September 28, 1969	Wood	John Norman Bartlett	Removed	[4]
Flying Turns	Rocky Point Park	United States	1931	1938	Wood	John Norman Bartlett/Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters	Removed	[5]
Flying Turns	Forest Park	United States	1934	July 19, 1963	Wood	John Norman Bartlett	Removed	[6]
Flying Turns	Steeplechase Park	United States	1934	September 14, 1939	Wood	John Norman Bartlett	Removed	[7]
Flying Turns	Riverview Park Formerly Century of Progress	United States	1935 May 27, 1933	1967 October 31, 1934	Wood	John Norman Bartlett	Removed	[8][9]
Lake Placid Bobsled	Palisades Amusement Park	United States	1937	1946	Wood	John Norman Bartlett	Removed	[10]
Bobsled	Coney Island Formerly Flushing Meadows Park	United States	1941 April 30, 1939	1974 October 27, 1940	Wood	John Norman Bartlett	Removed	[11][12]
Flying Turns	HersheyPark	United States	1942 (intended)	N/A	Wood	Philadelphia Toboggan Co.	Cancelled	[13][14][15]
Screamin' Delta Demon	Opryland USA†	United States	April 1984	October 31, 1997	Steel	Intamin	Removed	[16]
Schweizer Bobbahn	Europa Park	Germany	April 1985	—N/a	Steel	Mack Rides	Operating	[17]
Bobbaan	Efteling	Netherlands	April 4, 1985	September 1, 2019	Steel	Intamin	Removed	[18]
Disaster Transport Formerly Avalanche Run	Cedar Point	United States	May 11, 1985	July 29, 2012	Steel	Intamin	Removed	[19]
La Vibora Formerly Sarajevo Bobsled	Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags Magic Mountain	United States	1986 1984	2024 1986	Steel	Intamin	Removed	[20][21]
Reptilian Formerly Avalanche	Kings Dominion	United States	1988	—N/a	Steel	Mack Rides	Operating	[22]
Avalanche	Pleasure Beach Blackpool	United Kingdom	June 22, 1988	—N/a	Steel	Mack Rides	Operating	[23]
Munich Autobahn	Kobe Portopialand	Japan	April 1991	March 31, 2006	Steel	Mack Rides	Removed	[24]
Schweizer Bobbahn	Heide Park	Germany	1994	—N/a	Steel	Mack Rides	Operating	[25]
Alpine Bobsled Formerly Rolling Thunder Formerly Sarajevo Bobsled	Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great Adventure	United States	1998 1989 1984	2023 1995 1988	Steel	Intamin	Removed	[26][27][28]
Trace Du Hourra	Parc Astérix	France	March 31, 2001	—N/a	Steel	Mack Rides	Operating	[29]
Flying Turns	Knoebels	United States	October 5, 2013	—N/a	Wood	Knoebels	Operating	[30]
Montanha Russa	Parque Shanghai	Brazil	—N/a	—N/a	Wood	—N/a	Removed	[31]

Close

• * Denotes that exact closing date is not known.
• † The Screamin' Delta Demon was transported to Old Indiana Fun Park following Opryland's closure in 1998, but was never reassembled and eventually scrapped.^[32]

Both the bobsled coaster and the Flying Turns coaster are buildable in the RollerCoaster Tycoon and Thrillville series of video games.