Tatsu, Steel roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, US.
Tatsu is a flying roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California covering roughly 3600 feet (1100 meters) of track length. The circuit passes through several inversions and climbs to around 170 feet (52 meters) above ground at its highest point.
The ride opened in May 2006 after construction began during mid-2005. At opening it set records as the tallest and fastest flying roller coaster worldwide.
Tatsu is Japanese for "dragon", the name Six Flags trademarked on August 23, 2005, before the ride was announced that November. The coaster appeared on screen: Discovery Channel's Mega Builders filmed its construction, the MTV series Next showed two contestants riding it, and the show Who Wants To Be A Superhero? used it in the third episode of its second season.
Riders must be at least 1.37 m tall. The station floor is recessed beneath each seat, so the cars can rotate 90 degrees with room for riders' feet while the floor between cars stays level for easy boarding. Two trains can be loaded at once, and switches sit at both ends of the station.
Tatsu's pretzel loop rises 124 feet (38 m), 17 metres taller than the pretzel loops on Bolliger & Mabillard's other flying coasters at Six Flags Over Georgia, Great Adventure and Great America. Its zero-gravity roll is the only one on a flying coaster model.
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