The Flying Cobras, formerly known as the Head Spin, Carolina Cobra and The Mind Eraser, is a steel boomerang roller coaster located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Vekoma, The Flying Cobras was the first roller coaster addition to Carowinds following the park's purchase by Cedar Fair in 2006. It originally operated at Geauga Lake from 1996 to 2007 until its relocation to Carowinds in 2008. Following the 2016 season, the roller coaster was refurbished and renamed again in 2017.
History
The Flying Cobras, originally named The Mind Eraser, opened at Geauga Lake in 1996. It was renamed to Head Spin when Cedar Fair purchased Six Flags Worlds of Adventure from Six Flags in 2004. On September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair announced that Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom would no longer operate as an amusement park, and instead become solely a waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom. The ride was moved to Carowinds, where it was renamed to Carolina Cobra. The ride occupies the spot of the Flying Super Saturator roller coaster, which was dismantled and put up for sale after the 2008 season. This was the first roller coaster for Carowinds since the addition of Nighthawk in 2004. On August 18, 2016, Carowinds announced the expansion of County Fair for the 2017 season, which included refurbishing the Carolina Cobra. It was renamed The Flying Cobras to pay tribute to the classic air shows that were once seen at the Carolina County Fair, and also received a new paint scheme with blue track and white supports.
Ride experience
The Flying Cobras is one of over 50 boomerang coasters installed by Vekoma around the world, but it is the first roller coaster to feature all new re-designed MK-1212 trains directly from Vekoma. After dispatch, the train is pulled backwards up the lift hill. After that, riders are dropped down, fly back through the station and into a Cobra Roll element. The riders then are taken through a 360-degree vertical loop and are sent up a second hill. The riders pause, and are sent down to do the full circuit again backwards.
Incidents
On October 18, 2009, Carolina Cobra's second lift hill failed to catch, resulting in a rollback that couldn't make it back through the second set of inversions The passengers were able to exit the ride onto a nearby platform. All of the passengers were taken to first aid. Seven of the riders were released back into the park; the eighth was taken to a local hospital and examined. No serious injuries were reported.
