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Phantasialand | F. L. Y. | Vekoma Launched Flying Coaster | 2020

CSLKennyNI

Giga Poster
I'll admit, I'm a little behind on the detail of this project, so was leaving room a flying show scene too. Happy to stand corrected!
To be honest, I don't think anybody can really follow this project at the moment! I check up on this coaster every day and I still can't grasp the layout.

*cracks knuckles*

I've been thinking about doing a post like this for a while now. No time like the present.

Given the complexity of this project and how updates come in confusing small bits and pieces with pictures from over/under fences; it is quite a confusing mess to follow and make sense of.
So I'm going to try my best to outline what we know of the layout so far, along with pictures for reference - most pictures are older ones from this thread only the pictures with (c) Bear on them are recent and show the current state of construction.

F.L.Y. Explained
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Length
It will have to be over 1,124 metres long to take the 'world's longest flying coaster' record from USJ's Flying Dinosaur. By how much is currently unknown but given the small space can't imagine it being by much (for comparison Taron is 1,320 metres long).
Tobi on PhantaFriends.de (famous for his NL2 recreation of Taron) calculated there was about 650m of track installed as of 13th August - more track has been erected since. So there is likely half/more half of the coaster already built.

Inversions
So far there appears to only be 1 inversion in the layout - a Zero-G roll. Will be interesting to see if there are anymore as construction continues.

Trains
The trains on the test set up consisted of 10 rows of 2 seats. On the German forums the train length has been found to match the length of the station platforms and the 3 maintenance bays so we once again can safely assume that F.L.Y.'s trains will be the same. The 3 maintenance bays (accessible by two switch points after the station) would suggest it will have a minimum of 4 trains (Blue Fire and Colorado Adventure have 3 bays as well, yet 5 trains so we can't rule out the possibility of 5).
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Maintenance bays switch track.

Station
The new generation Vekoma flying model as we've all seen from the test set up (courtesy of @mrrc ) utilises a new loading method where the seats on the trains are upright in a 'sitting position' and the train is on sideways track. Based off the foundations on the construction site and capabilities of this model we can safely assume the station, just like Taron's station, will have a load (marked in red) and off load (marked in blue) platform. The station is located underground between Maus au Chocolat and Wuze Town/the Fantasy Area.
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Station sideways track.

Dark Ride??
Still in the sitting position the train will leave the station, turn 180 degrees and enter a long room.
This could possibly be home to some sort of dark ride section or a pre-show scene (similar to Baron 1898 for example).

Of course though it may also just be a nicely themed room you quickly go through until at the end you turn 90 degrees upwards into the lifthill.
Unless they announce or tease a pre-show/dark ride bit beforehand we probably won't know for sure if there is one until it opens!

Lifthill
The booster wheel lifthill is the one from the Vekoma test set up (reused parts are noticeable as they used actual supports sitting on temporary extensions). As the lift is enclosed and riders are still sitting upright here; there is possibility for some kind of small dark ride scenes or at least animated theming - such as moving gears and cogs as you climb up maybe?
As seen in this video of testing at the top of the lift the track turns 90 degrees and inverts - meanwhile the seats rotate 90 degrees bringing riders into the flying position.

The train then exits the lifthill building via this smoked filled tunnel/cannon seen in the concept art. There could potentially also be some form of propulsion inside the cannon (booster wheels or short LSM section) here as @Bear suggested recently.
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1st Half of the Layout
What follows is currently unknown as the track has not yet been erected, however the train will somehow make its way over to this curve of track through the buildings and structures that have already been completed (start and end marked with a red dot - the right hand dot is where the curve starts/train enters it).
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(aerial picture from April 2018)
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Then (as Bear marked recently on the above picture with a blue line on the track) the track continues flying across the middle of the area, into a banked to the left turn around, followed a low to the ground S-Curve (which goes under the cannon/lifthill track) and then into a highly banked curve down into the underground launch tunnel (the lower of the curves in the picture below).
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Launch
In this underground tunnel is the start of the LSM launch - the world's first for a flying coaster. It's also going to be quite unique as it is unusually curved.
The rolling launch starts relativity straight in the tunnel, and then before the end of the tunnel, it begins to curve upwards and out.
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The blue arrow is on the slightly curved LSM track - then there are two bulky supports for the curved segments.

2nd Half
Its too early to exactly tell where it goes next.
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There's this heavily banked curve goes in-between the towers structure beside Wuze Town (also worth noting that between these towers will an entrance into the area, so the track in the 2 pics above will be overhead as you enter Rookburgh from Wuze), down through a concrete building, and then low to ground the track goes up into a large stretched airtime hill over the middle of the area (as seen 3 pics above).
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Afterwards the train enters the Zero-G Roll over a building - which is still currently the tallest part of the coaster. What the direction of travel in this section is yet is unknown.
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As the track after the roll hasn't been erected yet it is difficult to say what happens next.
Presumably it will turn right and eventually connect to the other long stretch of track over the area (the lower long stretch in the large overview pictures further up) - this stretch then goes into a banked curve (covered in blue tarpaulins in the old picture directly above) through the buildings and structures there, and then into a helix in the corner beside Maus au Chocolat.

Brake Run
The coaster will then eventually come around into the brake run which is housed in an underground tunnel directly beside the launch tunnel (although travelling in the opposite direction).
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At the end of the tunnel the track and seats will rotate again to bring riders back into the sitting position.
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Then after a section of curved section of brake run in the sitting position the train will enter the station off load platform.
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So I hope that helps some how for those interested in this project and hasn't just confused people further. :p
 
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CookieCoasters

Giga Poster
@CSLKennyNI what a fantastic breakdown! It’s really helped bring everything together in my mind, much more than it was before. I’m genuinely more excited and WOWed by this project just from reading that. Thank you!

Looking forward to new developments :)
 

CSLKennyNI

Giga Poster

VikingsAf

Mega Poster
I'm curious if Phanta will make an announcement after this sunday, when the park goes back to non-summer mode.
Not sure what they should announce, but a bit of teasing never hurt somebody :D
 

UruDeluxe

Roller Poster
[...]
The blue arrow is on the slightly curved LSM track - then there are two bulky supports for the curved segments - the launch will probably be like a half loop. The following support is angled to the left which suggests the track will continue that direction and together form an overall Immelmann-like element.

2nd Half
Its too early to exactly tell where it goes next, however based off the direction and height I presume the track will continue over to the curve through the towers.
Screenshot_20180830-003854_Gallery.jpg


[...]

If this angeled support was for the expactet immelman, the trains would collide with it. It used to be turned around by 180°. I hope you understand what I mean.
I think this support will be an other Zero-G-Roll like element if you compare it to the already existing roll.
There were to many curved LSM parts at Vlodrop for those two supports. I think there will be a second - only curved - launch.
 

Phantasiastisch

Mega Poster
If this angeled support was for the expactet immelman, the trains would collide with it. It used to be turned around by 180°. I hope you understand what I mean.
I think this support will be an other Zero-G-Roll like element if you compare it to the already existing roll.
There were to many curved LSM parts at Vlodrop for those two supports. I think there will be a second - only curved - launch.

Exactly what I was thinking too but we can't be sure until it's being built. :)
 

CSLKennyNI

Giga Poster
I'm curious if Phanta will make an announcement after this sunday, when the park goes back to non-summer mode.
Not sure what they should announce, but a bit of teasing never hurt somebody :D
Yeah I was hoping we would already have heard something by now. Klugheim construction updates/marketing started on 19th August 2015. I wonder are they waiting for more theming to done so there is more to show off?
Or could the name copyright issues being holding them back? If there is uncertainly as to what the coaster will eventually be called, they might want to avoid marketing something called 'F.L.Y.' if they end up having to change the name.

Hopefully though it is just as you suggested; once the summer is finished they will soon start their teasing! Fingers crossed.

If this angeled support was for the expactet immelman, the trains would collide with it. It used to be turned around by 180°. I hope you understand what I mean.
I think this support will be an other Zero-G-Roll like element if you compare it to the already existing roll.
There were to many curved LSM parts at Vlodrop for those two supports. I think there will be a second - only curved - launch.
Where would another curved launch go? Why would the coaster need another one?

mrrc's pictures from Vlodrop show only 5 different launch segments for F.L.Y.. And all are pretty much accounted for.

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1. This long straight(ish) section with the connection points for being mounted on the ceiling of the launch tunnel. This bit of track has already been installed.

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2. There was also this shorter bit of straight(ish) track. Looking back it now I'm just noticing that it doesn't have any visible connection points for the ceiling of the launch tunnel. And there doesn't appear to be the space (nor would it make sense as the launch is fully curved there) after the tunnel for another support/launch section. So where will it go?
I'm fairly convinced now by @ [Bear]'s theory on the previous page. The cannon/tunnel structure could potentially support this small launch track as the connections would attach to the side.
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Once you disengage from the lift and are in the flying position - the small launch to boost you out of the cannon.


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Launch segments 3, 4 and 5.
The 3rd part as also pictured below on a truck being delivered to Phantasia. Has the same connectors for the ceiling of the tunnel, and has been installed (it is the bit poking out of the launch tunnel in the site pictures). This is were the curve begins and the track starts to bend upwards.
Launch_being_delivered_Nov_17.jpg

That only leaves the two properly curved launch segments left (4 + 5). And there are two supports left after the tunnel for curved track.
 
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catsounds

Mega Poster
Random question but how are they pulling of an immelman on a flying coaster? I thought the reason there hasn't been one yet was because doing that at a high speed would be put the riders and trains under too much stress?
 

CSLKennyNI

Giga Poster
^ Not quite sure. I'm no expert when it comes to coaster elements.

But the launch track will pretty much form a half loop or almost a half loop. And then the following that the angled support behind suggests the track then twists off to the right.

The definition of an Immelmann from the Coaster Force Infos page on Inversions is:"This inversion is the same as a vertical loop until the train is inverted, when the track dives off to the left or right."
Immelmann.jpg


Of course until it is erected we can't tell how it exactly follows/is shaped, and therefore whether it can be considered an Immelmann or just an element that is similar to one (term I've been using typically is Immelmann-like). But to me (and others on the German forums) it seems like an Immelmann (of sorts).

Or are there any experts on here who know their inversions and can say otherwise/help out?

9484786-201x-neuheit-fly-launched-flying-coaster-themenbereich-rookburgh-phantasialand-fly-.jpg

Screenshot_20180830-002059_Gallery.jpg
The blue arrow is on the slightly curved LSM track - then there are two bulky supports for the curved segments - the launch will probably be like a half loop. The following support is angled to the left which suggests the track will continue that direction and together form an overall Immelmann-like element.

2nd Half
Its too early to exactly tell where it goes next, however based off the direction and height I presume the track will continue over to the curve through the towers.
Screenshot_20180830-003854_Gallery.jpg
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
The answer is in the launch track itself. It’s a curved launch, meaning a certain speed will be maintained at the bottom part of the immelman. As the launch curves up the immelman, it means that it can enter the element at a slower speed, and have the train forced up further with the launch. The bottom part of the immelman is the part that would have the highest G force, but theoretically the train could take the element slower, with a speed maintained utilising the magnetic launch.
 

CSLKennyNI

Giga Poster
Are you aware of the fact that this high support here is only stored there temporarily and is not in its final position?
You know this how? There have been countless of support parts stored on site over the past few months.
Why would they build up this ONE support if it is only being stored there? And then awkwardly squeeze it in the narrow space there between other structures and supports?

I've certainly not seen or read anything to suggest this. The true experts when it comes to this site on PhantaFriends (like Tobi) also believe it is in its final place - at least nothing has ever been said to the contrary.
Also given that the supports there almost perfectly match those of an Immelmann it would an odd coincidence for a temporary set up.
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
I think that's it's final position, too. What is the distance between that support and the support in front of it in the photo? Hard to get an idea of depth.
 

specter

Roller Poster
Sorry, my bad. I interpreted the picture wrong. Still I don't see how that support should become part of an Immelmann. I tried to draw the backbone and the rails here what i think is way more likely:
Bildschirmfoto 2018-08-31 um 11.15.28.png
 
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VikingsAf

Mega Poster
Sorry, my bad. I interpreted the picture wrong. Still I don't see how that support should become part of an Immelmann. I tried to draw the backbone and the rails here what i think is way more likely:
View attachment 3666
Seeing your picture I think you are talking about another support than the others :)
They say the support after the launch will be an immelman :)
 
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