Dodonpa - Engineering Concept

Engineering Concept

Typical roller coasters use a lift hill, to drag a train up an incline, and then allow the force of gravity and a steep drop accelerate the train. The idea behind Dodonpa, and Hypersonic XLC, was to leave the train at the bottom of the hill and give it enough initial acceleration to climb the hill on its own, through the use of compressed air. The engineer behind this concept was Stan Checketts, founder of S&S Worldwide. Checketts founded S&S Worldwide in 1994 with the simple concept of using an ample resource (air) to power thrill rides. This innovative concept led to the patented pneumatic launch that made Dodonpa famous and cemented S&S Worldwide's legacy in the roller coaster industry.

At first, they focused on tower rides, putting their own unique twist on the initial concept. Traditional tower rides raise riders to the top and release them into free fall, but S&S Worldwide took their tower rides a step further by adding upwards acceleration, as well. Their tower rides are well known for launching riders up at 4 G's, then dropping them back to the ground at 1 G. It occurred to Checketts that the same pneumatic technology could be laid on its side to launch a roller coaster on a horizontal plane, parallel to the ground, rather than straight up. Thus, the prototype for the world's first pneumatic launched roller coaster was created, and representatives from theme parks across the country flocked to Logan, Utah, S&S Worldwide's base, to witness the unveiling of Thrust Air 2000. The ride was a success; Checketts had discovered a highly-energy efficient, environmentally friendly way to have a smooth ride with an unheard of acceleration. Numerous theme parks fought to be the first to feature the novel roller coaster; in the end, Kings Dominion obtained the rights, and after slight modifications to the prototype, they opened Hypersonic XLC.

Dodonpa, was built shortly after, quickly overshadowing its predecessor with its high speeds and incredible launch acceleration which nearly doubled Hypersonic XLC's. It has been tested at speeds of up to 120 mph, its rubber tires prevent it from performing reliably at these speeds, so engineers capped the speed at 106.9 mph.