Fantawild Group’s new theme park Fanta Park Glorious Orient opened in Ganzhou on May 28, 2021. Among the rides and attractions is Vekoma Ride’s new generation Launch Coaster Top Gun.

The ride is themed on an aircraft carrier take-off, boasting four fighter jet trains. Up to eight passengers can ride on each train. Following the power launch, which propels riders to a speed of 97 km/h in just three seconds, the ‘pilots’ are taken on a journey with several duelling train effects, alongside five airtime moments and four inversions.

The concept of the ‘Fighter Jet’ was created by the design team at Fantawild, which asked Vekoma to design a ride that would replicate the flight of a fighter jet when it’s launched from a carrier.

Vekoma integrated a series of force and direction changes throughout the ride to emulate a ‘dog fight’, when two fighter jets battle in out in the sky.

In one such manoeuvre, the jets experience a near-miss, and they pass each other mid-air. The pilots then fly down to reach water level via a powerful S-turn. They are then propelled over a Blitz Roll, which spins the vehicles on a 360-degree inversion, just inches above the aircraft carrier.