Batwing shoots towards completion

Batwing Spaceshot, Warner Bros. Movie World's newest thrill ride is days away from opening as work shifts from vertical construction to scenery and surroundings.

Batwing is the first of its kind in Australia, as well as being the first attraction in the country built by S&S Power, a company that has built up a reputation over the past decade for bringing some of the wildest thrill rides on the planet. With countless models across the United States, including the world's highest thrill ride atop the 350m Stratosphere Tower in Last Vegas. All their rides focus on two things - height and speed - and Warner Bros. Movie World's newest ride is no different.

At 60m tall, Batwing Spaceshot is one of Australia's tallest attractions, overshadowing the adjacent Superman Escape by some 50%, which just a year ago debuted as the tallest roller coaster in Australia.

The name Spaceshot sums up this attraction without leaving too much to the imagination. Riders are strapped into four rows of four around the four sides of the square tower. From here a system of cables shoot riders skyward in two seconds, powered by an impressive pneumatic piston system with a chamber that spans the entire 60m of the ride's tower. The buildup of air in the chamber is release sending riders plummeting. The ride's not over yet, with the carriage yo-yoing until all the air is exhausted and riders return to the ground.

Perhaps one of the ride's best features is that unlike conventional drop rides like Giant Drop, Batwing uses its compressed air to accelerate riders downward at a rate faster than gravity. You'll feel more than butterflies as your body descends with the carriage leaving your stomach to fall with gravity.

Batwing opens Wednesday December 20.

You can view ozcoaster.net's latest Batwing Spaceshot photo gallery here.