American Eagle

American Eagle General [[File:|link=|center]] ' ' Park Six Flags Great America Location Gurnee, Illinois, USA Status Operating Operated Operated 23 May 1981 - Opened 23 May 1981 Opening Cost Height restriction Statistics Manufacturer Intamin AG Builder Designer Type Wooden Type Model Riders per train 30 Riders per hour 1,800 Lift/launch system Chain Lift Height 127 feet Drop 147 feet Top speed 66 mph Length 4,650 feet Dimensions feet x feet Duration 2:20 Inversions 0 Steepest drop 55 degrees Maximum g-force

American Eagle is an Intamin AG racing wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. The ride contains a helix, and several large drops. It is the first wooden roller coaster designed by Intamin AG.

Design

American Eagle begins with several airtime hills, then concludes with helices.

Incidents

• 1984-09-09: Three guests were hospitalized after two trains collided in the station.
• 9/7/1997^{date or time ambiguity, please resolve}: Four guests were slightly injured after the second and third cars on the blue train separated and collided on the brake run.

Photo Gallery

The drop

The lift hill

Trivia

• This ride was hand painted.

Records

When American Eagle opened on May 23, 1981, it held five amazing world records. It stole from Beast the record of being the fastest roller coaster for 7 years until the opening of Bandit, and the largest drop on a roller coaster for 7 years until the opening of a present defunct coaster, Six Flags Great America Shock Wave. It was the tallest wooden roller coaster for 5 years until the opening of Le Monstre, the world's tallest racing wooden coaster. It also stole from Beast the record of being the fastest wooden roller coaster for an amazing 19 years until the opening of a present defunct legendary roller coaster, Son of Beast. Lastly, it had the largest drop on a wooden roller coaster for 8 years until the opening of a present defunct massive wooden coaster, Hercules at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, followed by Mean Streak at Cedar Point.

American Eagle today^{date or time ambiguity, please resolve} holds 3 world records. They are the fastest wooden racing roller coaster, the longest wooden racing roller coaster, and the largest drop on a wooden racing roller coaster.

References

Preceded by Beast

​World's Fastest Roller Coaster May 1981–March 1988​

Succeeded by Bandit