Worlds Fastest Roller Coaster

Kingda Ka is among the thrilling rides found at Six Flags Great Adventure located in New Jersey, United States. It is a launch type of roller coaster and in fact it is the world’s fastest and tallest roller coaster that opened last May 20, 2005. A hydraulic launch mechanism is use to launch the train and can speed up to 128 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds. Before the launch track ends, a climb is made going to the top of the main tower whose height is 456 feet or 139 meters.

Kingda Ka Main Ride

Once the trains are carefully locked and checked, it advances to the launch area. Each launch of the roller coaster is comprised of four trains loaded simultaneously. When the train is already in the correct position, the hydraulic launch mechanism will accelerate it from the zero to 128 miles per hour in just a very short time of 3.5 seconds with a tug of 1.67 G-force. The Kingda Ka train will then climb the main tower near the end of the launch track, then twist to a 90-degree angle going to the right before arriving to the highest point of 456 feet or 139 meters.

After the climb, it will descend straight down to the height of 418 feet or 127 meters via a 270-degree spiral motion. Then comes the second hill of the roller coaster where the train climbs up to 129 feet or 39 meters and for a few seconds, riders of Kingda Ka will experience weightlessness before the train is brought to a smooth stop with the use of magnetic brakes. A U-turn is then made and then returns to the station where it began. The entire ride of this world’s fastest roller coaster only lasts for about 28 seconds starting from the launch area to the end of the brake run. However, the official ride time of Kingda Ka is about 50.6 seconds.

Roller Coaster Trains

There are only four trains in Kingda Ka and they are color coded with orange, teal, dark blue, and green for easy identification. The maximum capacity of the train is 18 people seated at two persons per row. The first three trains sit two persons per row but the rear train sits only one row. The rear train is also positioned a little bit higher than the front trains for better visibility of the riders sitting at the back.

Seat Restraints

The seat restraints of Kingda Ka are using a kind of lock system that lets them to be tighten downward in any position. Once the system is locked, they can only pull down to any position but never up. Riders are also held down with a seatbelt for instances when there is locking system failure.