The Tornado is a steel inverted roller coaster at the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid in Casa de Campo, Madrid, Spain. Manufactured by Intamin, it opened on May 23, 1999.[1][2]
Description
Tornado is an inverted roller coaster with a length of 2,624.7 feet (800.0 meters) and a height of 98 feet.[1][2] It is unusual among inverted roller coasters made by Intamin in using a chain lift rather than a magnetic launcher.[3] It features 3 inversions, 2 loops, a corkscrew, and a 30m drop to 80 km/h.[2]
The ride was designed by Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH and opened on May 23, 1999.[2] It is one of five rides at the park that form the subject of physics problems in a student workbook that won the Madrid award for teaching materials.[4]
Ride experience
When Tornado starts, the coaster exits the station and goes up a lift hill. Riders then drop 30 metres (98 ft) and reach a speed of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) before entering the first loop, followed by the second. The coaster then goes through a corkscrew, which is one of the inversions. It then goes into 2 or 3 helices before going through the brake run, which takes riders back into the station, where the ride ends. The ride lasts 2 minutes.
Controversies
In June 2009 the ride was temporarily closed because it was so popular with teenagers that there was risk of an accident.[5] In 2011, a complaint that noise from the park exceeded legal limits singled out the Tornado as even noisier than two newer roller coasters in the same park, the Tarántula and the Abismo.[6]
References
- ^ a b Tornado, Atracciones, Parque de Atracciones de Madrid (in Spanish)
- ^ a b c d Duane Marden, Tornado - Parque de Atracciones de Madrid (Madrid, Madrid, Spain), Roller Coaster Database, retrieved February 3, 2013.
- ^ Matteo Crepaldi, Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, The Parks.it, April 4, 2009, retrieved February 8, 2013 (in Italian)
- ^ Beatriz Lucas, "Newton en el Parque de Atracciones: Las instalaciones del principal centro de ocio de Madrid se convierten en un gran laboratorio de física", El País, April 7, 2005 (in Spanish)
- ^ "Quejas entre la avalancha de jóvenes que celebran el fin de curso en Parque de Atracciones tras la suspensión de una atracción", Qué!, June 22, 2009 (in Spanish)
- ^ "Salvemos la Casa de Campo: el Parque de Atracciones 'burla' la norma de ruido", Noticias agencias, ABC, June 16, 2011 (in Spanish)