To see a larger version of any of the photos in this trip report just click on the photo and a larger version will open up on top of the page for you.



The reason it took from 2006 until the end of 2013 for the Flying Turns to open was that recreating a ride that has been gone for half a century has a lot of trial and error and especially with the train.   Unlike most coasters The Flying Turns is not locked onto the track.  Instead it rolls freely in the wooden chute as it twists and turns in a very short space back and forth.  The hard part was bringing its train up to modern safety standards.

The train designs had to be tested thoroughly and there were several redesigns that took place during the long process.  Weight is a huge factor to the ride as it freely rolls through the chute.  When you enter the station you are weighed (don't worry no one sees how much you weigh, just the computer) before being assigned by the ride computer a row to sit in.  Keeping each car under 400 pounds insures the ride isn't too wild and makes it through the 1300 feet of track.



It is a little hard to photograph The Flying Turns as you really can't see much of the ride from the outside as the trains are inside the wooden chute.



Knowing that The Flying Turns would be hard to shoot I asked Knoebels if I could shoot video and they agreed.  The video above is forward and reverse point of view so you can get a taste of how much fun The Flying Turns is.



The question you have is what did I think of the ride?  Bobsled coasters have always been fun but none of them have really had any rapid side to side motion to really make them intense.  Flying Turns has that.  You whip from side to side in a split second and when The Flying Turns really gets going the ride is a blast.

Another question you might be asking is why am I holding up four fingers in the above photo?  The Flying Turns ended up being my 400th coaster.  I am really glad that it worked out that the Flying Turns was my 400th coaster because one of the things that really got me into being a coaster enthusiast was my mothers tales of Riverview Park in Chicago.  She frequented that park throughout her youth and loved getting on The Bobs or The Flying Turns and riding them again and again.  Back then there wasn't any sort of coaster enthusiast groups but if there were she would have been a member.  So as my mother loved The Flying Turns my400th coaster is for her.



What I have missed the most from my decade away from Knoebels is The Phoenix.



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Paul B. Drabek