Jumbo Jet (Six Flags Great Adventure)

Jumbo Jet
Jumbo Jet, closed, 1975
Six Flags Great Adventure
Location	Six Flags Great Adventure
Coordinates	40°8′15.71″N 74°26′25.65″W
Status	Removed
Replaced by	Super Cat Alpen Blitz
General statistics
Type	Steel
Manufacturer	Anton Schwarzkopf
Designer	Werner Stengel
Model	Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet
Lift/launch system	Electric spiral lift
Height	56 ft (17 m)
Inversions	0
Jumbo Jet at RCDB

Jumbo Jet was a prefabricated steel roller coaster located within the Fun Fair section of Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Erected in 1975, the attraction was an example of the Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf.^[1]

Layout

The ride was the first Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster to be built in the state of New Jersey.^[2] Unlike typical chain lifted or launched roller coasters, this model reached the first drop by way of small wheel motors that drove it up the incline of a helix.^[3] Electric spiral lift coasters, which became very common in the 1970s, differed from later steel roller coaster designs in track gauge.^[4]

History

Contemporary press accounts quote Great Adventure Vice President of Operations Robert Minick as saying that Jumbo Jet was "the largest ready-made roller coaster that [could] be bought".^[5] The coaster was leased from Willy Miller's Continental Park Attractions, along with several other rides in the Fun Fair section.^[6]

Assembled in the spring of 1975, the ride stood idle for weeks, never to be operated or opened to the public, before being dismantled one month later.^[7]

The ultimate fate of the ride remains unknown.^[6] Although Roller Coaster DataBase once proposed that it might be the Jumbo Jet at Morey's Piers,^[8][9] evidence exists that the latter attraction was in fact purchased in Germany.^[10][11] RCDB later listed the Canadian National Exhibition as another possible site at which the ride may have operated.^[1]

References

1. Marden, Duane. "Jumbo Jet  (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
2. RCDB.com search results for Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line
3. Rutherford, Scott (2004). The American Roller Coaster. MBI Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 0760319294.
4. Cartmell, Robert (1987). The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster. Popular Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-87972-342-4.
5. Trollinger, Gary (24 June 1975). "Huge throngs main foe of Great Adventure". Reading Eagle. p. 5. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
6. "Jumbo Jet at Six Flags Great Adventure". greatadventurehistory.com. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
7. Applegate, Harry; Benton, Thomas (26 August 2009). Six Flags Great Adventure. Images of America (illustrated ed.). Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 128. ISBN 0738565695.
8. Marden, Duane (January 2, 2010). "Jumbo Jet (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase (archived). Archived from the original on January 2, 2010.
9. "greatadventurehistory.com forums". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
10. Lilliefors, James (2006). America's Boardwalks: From Coney Island to California (illustrated ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 081353805X.
11. Futrell, Jim (2004). Amusement Parks of New Jersey. Amusement Parks Series (illustrated ed.). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811729737.