Stealth (AKA Nighthawk) At California Great America
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ม.ค. 2012
- Nighthawk (formerly Borg Assimilator) is a steel flying roller coaster at Carowinds, near Charlotte, North Carolina. It was relocated from California's Great America where it was named Stealth, in 2002. Nighthawk was built by Vekoma of the Netherlands.
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This ride was so awesome! I wish it never left.
It is still awesome! I rode the ride when it first opened and the last time I went to Carowinds.
This thing is so bad now. It’s so rough at carrowinds. It was very smooth here
Miles Campbell it wasn’t unbearable. I’d ride it again. In fact, it was so much better than I expected!
@@Pidge287 it's not as bad as hurler.
I remember seeing this roller coaster under construction around 1999. The lift hill and the first few piece of track were set up, but when I saw it, I wondered how could a roller coaster immediately roll to the upside down position right after the lift hill? Then a few months later, the commercials aired on local TV and showed that riders are in the lie down position and holy crap my mind was blown. That was nothing like any of us had imagined. I think I only got to ride this ride 3 times and each time it was well over a 2 hour wait. But it was by far the best moment I had a Great America ever, even better than the time I could ride Top Gun (now flight deck) for the first time.
It’s honestly awesome to have this piece of roller coaster history at my home park still janky as ever :D
Getting rid of this coaster was perhaps one of the most dumbest things they could have ever done. I am still disappointed that they got rid of it.
+Hervin Balfour
Same. I remember waiting in line for 4 hours for this. Totally worth it. :D
+Hervin Balfour where is it now, and where was it in Great America?
Leo Newt
I don't know where it is now, but I remember they took out the Splashboat ride to put in Stealth, and after they took out Stealth, they built the Boomerang Bay water park.
I think it's Nighthawk at Carrowinds now.
they took it out because it was down more than it was operational.
This coaster is now at carowinds called Nighthawk. It's sooo much fun
I went on this in August 2001 on my first ever trip to the US (LA, SF and Vegas). We went to Great America on the Cal train from SF for the day and I was really excited for this ride because it was so much bigger and more crazy looking than anything we had in the UK at the time. Afraid to say I hated this ride but only because I was terrified of the restraints! When you get flipped over into the flying position I was so scared that the belt buckle thing over your upper body would open up, kinda silly looking back lol. On the day I preferred Demon and Invertigo.
I remember seeing this ride the first time I went to Great America back in 2003, unfortunately I was never able to ride it because I was too short and the next time I went to Great America the ride was gone and replaced by the water park. However in 2014 when I went to Magic Mountain for grad night I went on The Tatsu which is another flying roller coaster.
I miss riding this with my buddy and girls we picked up when we were 13 lol good times at Great America.
I went on this back int he summer of 03', I never go on rollercoasters but my friend's sister who liked me talked me into it, she said "all you do is lay down" I was like alright, and it wasn't that bad... so this was one of the first and only real rollercoasters I've ever been on, if you don't count the big dipper in santa cruz
So sad I never got to ride this!!!!! 😭😭😭
I rode this is in 2000!! Aww. Memories :)
Closed before I could be tall enough to ride it :(
@@Kayyleeeeee Same, but I’ve been on Tatsu when I visited Magic Mountain.
I rode this for the first time in summer of 2002
My husband and I got on this on our first date. It was a long wait but AWESOME!!!!
Hey, I worked on that ride a few times way back when it first came out. That thing was unpredictable, one train breaking down and only one in use most of the time since the company that made it went bankrupt. Long waits and unexpected breakdowns made operating that ride unbearable. Too bad they had to get rid of it. It gave the park a lot of pride in having the very first flying coaster.
Vekoma never went bankrupt. They probably just didn't have it running because it was too expensive to keep up.
it still Is very Bumpy at carowinds All Vekoma Relocation Rides are Very painful,,,,,,,,i miss the ride that replaced It at carowinds
Andre Wallace yeah I wish I rode it
Did you have block systems.
I would love to ask you some questions about the history of great America during that time
I went on this ride once. It kept breaking!!! The line was so long and on the heat! I remember people passing out in line!
And it wasnt even worth it!
My home park is Carowinds but I just wanna say it's kinda better over the water
I dont understand why they got rid of this and put in Boomerang Bay! Raging Waters is just around the block! I dont get why they madr that decision! This was a great coaster!
AJ Inanoria Cedar fair wants all their parks to have water parks, and it still is a great roller coaster, just at Carowinds instead.
+Coaster Universe it wasn't Cedar Fair that removed the Coaster it was Paramount.
Great America should've bought raging water making it their waterpark and kept stealth
So was ThunderRoad but Carowinds decided to tear it out the ride that built the park
Yup totally agree now it’s so rough because it got relocated to carowinds
This was my favorite ride to be at the controls at!
This coaster had awesome colors
I used to work this ride too the first year it opened.
Thank you for sharing this video. I was there riding Stealth for many of the media film sessions back in the day. I rode it about 60 - 65 times total for various filming sessions since I lived (still do) so close to Great America and could be at the park quickly at a moment's notice.
I recognize some of the people shown being interviewed about Stealth and also some of the people riding it. Those were some great and happy times!
The publicity that Stealth brought to Great America cannot be understated. Shortly after the coaster's media day, I went on a vacation to Florida to check out the then some what new park Islands Of Adventure at Universal Studios Florida. I wore my brand new Stealth shirt that day and as I was walking through the park and absorbing all of the incredible themeing (which was mind blowing to me...until I went to DisneySea) a few park managers stopped me to ask me all about Stealth. They wanted to know my opinions about it since they had seen it on TV and read about it but had never seen it in person.
Thanks again for the wonderful stroll down memory lane!
Rail blazer is way better glad that one is here now
One thing that's always weirded me out about Great America was how many of their coasters had outdoor/non covered stations. Flight Deck/Top Gun, Patriot/Vortex, Demon, Invertigo, and Stealth. I have to wonder why that is? Most parks don't do this, let alone with so many coasters.
It especially comes off as weird with the shorter runtimes of the park’s coasters.
It's almost always sunny in Santa Clara, CA, at least during the park's open season. The South Bay doesn't get as much rain as the rest of the SF best area. Maybe the park designers thought the roofs weren't really needed?
I remember when it was originally called the Millennium
Why do they keep ripping out rides from great america for?
Same as Carowinds no history left just a oversized Waterpark it's a shame I liked this ride at Carowinds has longest line in park cedar fair only runs one train during slow days
Cuz they are dumb
Because paramount didn’t know how to manage parks
Coaster Coyote we have cedar fair now and they said the park has major potential so
Why remove such a world-class coaster to make way for a boring waterpark? You should’ve gotten an Intamin.
Yeah it first opened in 2000 but sadly it stayed open for 3 years and closed in 2003, in 2004 the coaster was relocated to a former paramount park Carowinds in 2004 As The Borg Assimilator
The layout is the same, and they are both made by the same company, Vekoma. The only difference is that Stealth/Nighthawk has Corkscrews where Batwing has barrel rolls, and Stealth/Nighthawk has a different ending because Stealth is the original Vekoma Flyer. There is also another coaster the is completely identical to Batwing called Firehawk at Kings Island.
They should bring it back! Forget boomerang bay. This and Invertigo were by far the best coasters they had
And then it flew to Carowinds
True, it was at Califonia Great America, nad it's now at Carowinds.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawk_(roller_coaster)
I remember being 14 chasing girls at great America and riding stealth with the homies lol good times.
So glad and so lucky i got to ride this before they let it go.
I got on that ride one time and my back paid for it the next day had to go to the chiropractor
What yeh heck 8 INVERSIONS it’s only 5 inversons
this was uploaded on my birthday.....
Funfact : the two dutchman coasters still standing are all yellows
I was finally tall enough to ride this we planned lo go in a few months, two days later they removed it
That’s how I felt in 2004, and it was already gone.
This video is hilarious because they make it sound like Stealth was a great successful coaster, when in fact it was a prototype maintenance nightmare and completely failed, being removed from the park altogether just 1 season after it opened! I got to ride it once, tho it definitely wasn't worth the 4 hours I waisted waiting in line while it kept breaking down every 5 minutes!
As to why California Great America got rid of this beats the hell out of me ='(
So they could make the water park
maxwell Guenther fuck the water park i want stealth back
Cause ot has a lot of fown time
It was expensive to maintain
Paramount made tons bad decisions with their parks
Joseph Mora it was haunted, that's why XD
The coaster became a maintenance nightmare so they shipped it to Carowinds. The ride hasn’t aged very well there and there’s talk of the park removing it entirely.
@Rhinoryan97 Never caught that one, good catch.
Notice the airplane shadow at 1:26
That's my ride too! Who's that at 4:41!
1:35 FREE AS A BIRD
free as a bird, in restraints, not choosing where it flies 🦅
Air at Alton Towers On Blue Peter type that in and you will find that stealth is not the 1st rollercoaster to incorporate the lying down position as though you were flying
That's my ride. I used to run it
Mine now
Should've gotten a B&M
B&M didn't make these at the time. (yes, I know it's a joke)
Already had vortex and top gun
Formerly stealth / Borg assimilator at Carowinds
Now nighthawk
Rachel Kirkland This and Hurler at Carowinds Are the Worst rides I won't mention fury because MillenniumForce is my Fave Giga all B&M's need Altering after about Five years LOL
1:27 a plane's shadow can be seen on the ground
If u want to ride it just go to Carowinds bc they relocated it and changed colors and name
But it sucks there. Rough and ugly.
Rides that are Relocated are often rough real Rough
Great America used to be a true hotspot for thrills
4:26 and 4:41. :) good times
Stealth was the best!
I never got a chance to ride it, why did they take it down?
Christopher K apparently it had lots of maintenance issues, so paramount took it out and sent it to Carowinds, where it is now known as nighthawk, and has quite the bad reputation of being a rough ride.
Why did they get rid of this and the Edge, Tidal Wave, Whizzer? Yeah, a water park is no substitute! Why was the rock the Demon looped around removed?? God, I loved the Whizzer. Rode it in the rain one day.
+stephenn77 think I can answer a few questions for you on those answers I see you are pretty old school I myself used to go there dating back to1980 when I was 4 years old I remember when the demon was first calld turn of the century and I was actually able to sit in my dads lap and i was bout 4or5 when the whizzer awesome ride was taken down because f stupidity when a father and son were riding it and when they got to the top just before going down and hairpin turning they realized they were seated wrong position and got up to switch places so dad wouldn't crush son right at the top they got up it went down killing both the edge well lets say it went off the edge never killed nor hurt anyone they just said thank god no one was standing at the bottom at time tidal wave my favorite besides demon no reason behind getting rid of pisses me off what they did to that park shame on all of them they suck!
Crystal Morgan tidal wave was likely taken out due to no one knowing how to maintain it since they laid off the only guy in the park that knew how to(which was my dad).
+BucketDweller Tidal Wave was my favorite ride for years and years growing up. RIP :(
the edge got removed because it was replaced by drop zone stealth was removed because of downtime supposably the tidal wave was removed after the 2002 season for unknown reasons Invertigo was removed because of maintenance issues Willards whizzer or the Whizzer was closed in 1988 was sBno in 1989 it was removed because of maintenance issues and neglect plus the bad reputation of one fatality it was considered a death trap
+Crystal Morgan actually the park was at fault for the whizzer fatality a 13 year old boy was killed well boarding the train another train came in the station struck the train he was getting on he was crushed the ride was closed in 1988 because of maintenance issues and neglect
Wrong, it was built in California and relocated to Carowinds.
"But even Vekoma required some out of this world assistance." Your argument is invalid.
I would rather this be at CGA than Boomerang Bay, but BB is still awesome
They need to scrap demon and re landscape the area for a way better coaster.
Is this the same track layout as Batwing at Six Flags America in Maryland?
Nope
ugh as soon as i was tall enough to ride, it was GONE
They should have got a b&m flyer instead.
this was the biggest and stupidest mistake this park could have made removing this one of a kind flying coaster at the time it was the biggest and tallest coaster at the park towering over 145 feet it only lasted three seasons what a shame this was at a time when two of there roller coasters got removed back to back 2002 was the title wave grease lightening and then this in 2003 I remember going there in 2004 and thinking this was the beginning of the end for this park today' Cedar Fair does a much better job maintaining the park
+Groovdafied yeah this park is notorious for getting rid of cool rides mainly roller coasters without any replacement
The ride got relocated to Carowinds, renamed to Borg Assimilator and repainted in a fitting gray, black and green color scheme. Then, when Carowinds was bought by Cedar Fair, it was renamed to Nighthawk, got yet another repaint (this time bright yellow with navy blue supports) and is now in a somewhat sorry state. The ride is rough and Nighthawk is now generally considered the worst of Vekoma's Flying Dutchman rides.
If I end up opening a park as a side business, I'm going to see if Cedar Fair would be willing to sell Nighthawk. Now that I know the history of this coaster, I really feel that it doesn't deserve to be neglected like that.
Nathan Lopez Blame Paramount movie company
3:15 Vekoma? The company that stole the tubular track idea from Arrow? Yeah. That Vekoma. The one that left Arrow out to dry.
Marc Weiner Arrow let vekoma use their track design
And arrow was still better, so sad lol, oh well Vekoma now has a sweet track design
wasn't air at Alton Towers the worlds first flying coaster???
no
cameron donohoe it was the first flying coaster by a certain company
cameron donohoe the first by b&m
I miss stealth why the fuck did they build boomerang bay over it!?!
Umm that's not Carowinds.
Nighthawk at Carowinds is not going to close i go there all the time i have a season pass the whole path for the line is about a mile long and at mid day the line is packed all the way to back, and sometimes all the way to the front gate of the park, because Nighthawk is at the Front of the park. Sorry but i wouldnt get ur hopes up1
2022. Ride was down most of the season because parts are getting hard to find. I give her another few years tops. That and vortex will likely both go for a giant B&M wing or dive machine.
This ride is poorly maintained at Carowinds, It is extremely Dirty, and has needed a paint job for almost 6 years, Not to mention how rough it has become, I cant even ride it anymore without getting an extreme headache.
Yeah I agree steel roller coasters have expiration dates they take work too
+Kevin Thompson Wooden coasters even more so.
Man new trains can always be added to Wood coasters,,,,B&M's often Develop Rattles and get real Rough after about 5 years LOL wood can always be repaired
Steel Rides Eventually Fall In Disrepair My Friend i hear arrow parts are Almost All Gone!!!!!!Hence Why all Old arrow log Flumes are Closing???????Ive Heard otherwise Yes Wood is More To maintain But Its Worth in long haul,,,,i see Thunderhead at Dollywood Open and Run faster Than Most Steel coasters,,,,,at dollywood
Tatsu.
If it wasn't for this there would be no Tatsu...Besides, I prefer this over the B&M flying coasters...Why?...Because when you start out, you are backwards instead of starting out flying already like B&M...When you hit the first drop and invert over to the flying position feels awesome...
Great America was stupid for letting this one go..now all they have is those traditional wooden coasters and the other boring ones like Top Gun, and Viper
To think that nighthawk was at one point good...
yeah i know i miss The Carolina Sternwheeler Cedarfair if you are Gonna put a GCI in carowinds retire Nighthawk put it there
Great America got rid of this right as I finally was tall enough to be able to ride it :( I went there all excited just to be disappointed
Why did they get rid of it? It looks like a fun rollercoaster I would ride it.
dominic arnone They put a waterpark there and moved the coaster to Carowinds.
Coaster Universe at least the coaster still exists
+Elevator Filmer Dominic Arnone they took it out because it was broken down more often than it was running.
This thing has NOT aged well at all. It's gotten really rough.
Not sure what you mean? It seems the same to me when it was in 2000 when it was at Great America.
gld1010
That was 16 years ago. Since then, Stealth was moved to Carowinds and is now Nighthawk, and people have generally complained about it being painful to ride these days. A shame, really.
It didn't feel any different to me when I rode the ride in 2000 (living in Ca at the time) and later in 2015 (live in NC now). The most difficult part of the ride, is being cooked in the NC sun and humidity waiting for the other train to depart while it wasn't so bad in Cali.
gld1010
Was it always rough back then? Or did it not feel rough to you at all?
It doesn't feel rough to me. I will pay attention to it more next time. I think cooking in the sun and humidity may be taking precedence.
This isn't even a flying coaster
It's a Vekoma flying dutchman, one of the 3 ever built, and one if the 2 left. Fire Hawk was recently torn down, so only Batwing and Night Hawk remain. Night Hawk being what Stealth is currently today. It's located at Carowinds