Flight of Fear

Flight of Fear (previously known as The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear) is an enclosed launched roller coaster at two Cedar Fair parks, Kings Island in Mason, Ohio and Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Both Flight of Fear roller coasters first opened in 1996 and were the world's first roller coasters to feature a linear induction motor (LIM) launch. Flight of Fear has won three awards from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, including one for Major Theme/Amusement Park Ride/Attraction and two for Technology Applied to Amusements.

Kings Island
Flight of Fear is located in the X-Base section of Coney Mall at Kings Island. For years it was the only ride on the other side of The Racer. With the addition of Firehawk in 2007, the area took on its own theme centered on flight and propulsion.

Kings Dominion
Flight of Fear is located in the Safari Village section of Kings Dominion. It is one of three launched roller coasters at the park.

For most of the 2006 season, the Flight of Fear at Kings Dominion was closed. On August 18, 2006, it reopened, under the park's new owner, Cedar Fair. The ride continues to operate at Kings Dominion.

During the 2007 season, the ride was equipped with cameras that recorded a video of riders. It was available for purchase at the conclusion of the ride. The in-car video cameras were removed for the 2008 season.

Test run
At 5:33 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, 1996, Premier Rides and Paramount's Kings Dominion performed the first test launch of a Linear Induction Motor Catapult Coaster under the supervision of rides manager Don West. For the first time ever, a train was accelerated from 0 to 54 mph in less than four seconds. It proved that linear induction motors could be used to accelerate a train using only magnetic waves with enough force to complete a full circuit.

The ride
After boarding Flight of Fear, riders are launched through a narrow launch tunnel into a "spaghetti bowl" of track which contains a cobra roll, a sidewinder, and many twists and turns. After reaching the ride's mid-course brake run, riders spiral downward and to the left, and after more twists and turns they pass through a corkscrew before arriving at the ride's final brake run.

Premier Rides built other LIM Catapult roller coasters from 1996 to 1999, including Joker's Jinx at Six Flags America, Poltergeist at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and Crazy Cobra at Discoveryland. The two Flight of Fear rides are the only indoor versions. All share a similar layout and have the same technical specifications.

Flight of Fear initially had over-the-shoulder restraints, but those were replaced with individual ratcheting lapbars at the beginning of the 2001 season. The over-the-shoulder restraints, combined with the curving track, caused riders' heads to bounce back and forth between the restraints. The main difference between the rides is that Kings Island has two trains with five cars per train and Kings Dominion's coaster has three trains with five cars per train

Theming
Originally, the ride was themed to the television show The Outer Limits and was called The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear. Because the license for using the name and theming of The Outer Limits expired, the ride's name changed to Flight of Fear at the start of the 2001 season.

The ride's queue still contains UFO-related theming, although it is no longer based on a television show or film. The ride's building is designed to represent a military installation, and has a sign outside informing riders, "You are entering a government security zone. Area under constant surveillance." The Flight of Fear queue transitions through several distinct stages. Riders enter the building through a "Press Area", which includes queue switchbacks under an awning. They are then led down a narrow tunnel into the interior of the hangar, where a mockup of one-half of a UFO appears to be sitting in the middle of the room through the use of mirrors. A video is played over multiple monitors that explains how the UFO was recovered not far from the park. While some base personnel are running tests on the spacecraft to determine its origin, others are convinced that it is a hoax and decide to allow the public inside the hanger to view it. The hanger also utilizes color and strobe lighting effects which are synchronized with the video. At Kings Dominion, much of the hanger has been converted into a space for the "Lockdown" Haunt maze, although the much of the UFO theming remains. The queue winds around inside Hanger 18 before entering the underside of the UFO up a short flight of stairs. The inside of the saucer features a display with alien markings and various spacecraft sound effects. The queue takes a right turn and then sharp left turn into the boarding area. The loading and unloading stations are separate, so riders in the loading side of the building see an empty train returning. The loading station features "cryotubes" containing mannequins dressed in the park's souvenir clothing and wrapped in plastic to look as if they have been captured by the aliens. While the train is loading and waiting to be dispatched, a sound effect imitating a jet engine warming up is played. As the train is dispatched, take off sound effect is played and the lights in the launch tunnel previously flickered in a wave pattern. The two stations are the only parts of the ride which have much lighting; most of the ride is in the dark. As such, the Flight of Fear buildings at Kings Island and Kings Dominion are also used to store trains and parts for other rides; the building at the Kings Island location formerly held the trains for that park's defunct stand-up coaster, King Cobra and still holds some of the seats removed from The Crypt.

Some of the theming includes hidden references to real places and names. The outside of the hangar is marked with the number 18, a reference to Hangar 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where the Roswell crash site evidence is supposedly stored. A sign above the entrance to the queue reads "Fort Kinzel Press Area," referring to the former Cedar Fair Entertainment Company CEO, Richard Kinzel. This sign has since been removed at the Kings Island location. At Kings Dominion, the area was renamed "Fort Zimmerman Press Area" after the retirement of Richard Kinzel, now referencing Cedar Fair's Chief Operating Officer and Kings Dominion's former General Manager Richard Zimmerman.

Statistics and awards
The Flight of Fear rides at Kings Island and Kings Dominion were the world's first linear induction motor roller coasters, both holding press/media days on June 17, 1996, and opening to the public on June 18, 1996. The highest peak of each ride is 74 ft; and the total length is 2705 ft. The maximum speed, which is attained in less than four seconds during the launch, is 54 mi/h. The launch requires 3 megawatts of electric power. When the rides opened, both had the fastest acceleration of any roller coaster in the world. Flight of Fear won awards at the November 1996 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions trade show for the best new Major Theme/Amusement Park Ride/Attraction and Technology Applied to Amusements.