Remember that odd mention of a “head-first” drop feature to be found on The Swarm? It just struck me as being kind of odd myself, and I’m not alone, as this has also sparked a new rumor, which does match up with some of the rumors I heard about B&M’s Wing Coaster project a year ago when it was first rumored for Italy.
According to the rumor, Raptor in Italy was just the first step in the Wing Coaster development project, as B&M were said to be planning on adding some kind of seat rotation element to future versions of the ride once they were able to get Raptor up and running and study all the stress and forces the new design would put on the winged seat design.
If The Swarm is indeed to be the next generation Wing Coaster design from B&M, it could be possible that the seats could rotate into a unique ‘head-first” position during the first drop of the ride, in much the same way that the seats on X2 (and other S&S 4th Dimension coaster) rotate. If this is true at all, expect to see the seats only move during this one element of the ride only… and will return to a standard riding position for the remainder of the ride.
Again, this is just a rumor, but it does match up with the rumors I was told a year ago about how B&M intended to add on elements and evolve this Wing Coaster design concept over the years with a series of baby steps.