Swiss amusement park Conny-Land installed several improvements and innovations to visitor-favourite Cobra coaster earlier this summer, thanks to German manufacturer Sunkid-Heege.
At a length of about 215 metres, the 42-meter-high coaster features a slightly overhanging drop tower, a loop, two camelbacks, and a scorpion tail. Originally built by PAX, the roller coaster received an entirely newly developed train from Sunkid-Heegefor its tenth anniversary.
The most distinctive change is the new arrangement of the seat rows. Except for the first and last cars of the train, all cars are equipped with two seat rows facing each other. The guests are not only sitting face to face during the ride but can experience it from two different perspectives. “This is an innovation that visitors love, particularly in a shuttle loop coaster like the Cobra in Conny-Land,” park manager Roby Gasser said.
The fully adjustable and dampened undercarriage ensures a more pleasant ride feel and reduces the forces that act on the mechanics, extending the service life. “Targeted improvements were introduced even in the areas of operation and maintenance,” Sunkid-Heege CEO Michael Kalsch says. Lifetime-lubricated bearings and the optimized size of the components reduce the maintenance and inspection efforts required. In daily operation, the new bracket position monitoring of every single safety bracket, combined with the touch display in the command centre, optimizes processes. The operator is not only shown information on the system status and bracket position of each seat, but also can unlock them at once or individually as required. Special paint with anti-slip effect ensures high functional safety in the foot area of the cars and on the friction areas of the drives.
The seat rows now have Sunkid’s new and patented Embrace 5 retention system, with the traditional solid shoulder brackets replaced by the protruding safety bracket and the belt system connected to it.
Instead of being restricted by solid shoulder brackets, the rider is now hugged by padded special belts and the also-textile chest support. The Embrace 5 adjusts to physique and size of the riders, providing an unprecedent amount of comfort and adaptability.
Children from a size of 130 cm (51 inches) or 8 years onwards can use a category-5 ride without an accompanying person. A category-3 ride lowers the minimal body size to 110 cm (43 inches).