Stealth (roller coaster)


Stealth is a launched roller coaster in the Amity area of Thorpe Park located in Surrey, England. Built and designed by Intamin of Switzerland for £12 million, the Accelerator Coaster model opened in 2006, a year after another Accelerator, Rita, opened at sister park Alton Towers. It reaches a height of and accelerates from 0 to in 1.9 seconds. It is the fastest roller coaster in the UK, and the second tallest after the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Ride experience

After passengers are securely restrained, the launch sequence begins when the brake fins are retracted as the train attaches to the catch car. Overhead, a series of five red lights illuminate one by one in a horizontal row as a recording states, "Place your heads back, face forwards, hold on tight and brace yourself." Shortly after, a second row of green lights begin to illuminate as the American-accented announcer in the recording enthusiastically shouts "Three, two, one... Go, go, go!" The train accelerates to in 1.9 seconds into a steep, vertical top hat element. The train then turns 90 degrees to the left as it crests the top hat. It makes another 90-degree left turn as it descends down the other side of the element. After bottoming out, the train enters an airtime hill, which produces a brief sensation of weightlessness before the train enters the magnetic brake run and returns to the station.

Rollbacks

As with many Intamin Launch Coasters, Stealth experiences occasional rollbacks, which occur when a train is unable to complete the course, specifically failing to make it over the top hat element as a result of energy loss. Occurrences are rare, and there is a braking system in place on the launch side of the track to safely bring the roller coaster back to a complete stop. However rollbacks are safe, and all staff/engineers are trained to safely evacuate guests off the train.