Idaho Amusement Park Set to Debut New Coaster in 2021

If you're one of fellow roller coaster addicts, this one will be well worth the drive up north to try it out. Everything about this coaster screams Idaho! 

On September 17, 2020 Silverwood Theme Park announce their newest roller coaster would be called "Stunt Pilot" and open during the 2021 season. The single-rail coaster will take guests 105 feet in the air before dropping them back down to earth at speeds up to 52 miles per hour. According to the park, the trains are meant to make guests feel like they've strapped into the cockpit of a Pitts Special biplane.

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That model of plane has a special history with the Athol, ID theme park. From 1988-1996, Silverwood was the only theme park in the world that put on daily airshows for park goers. Unfortunately, the shows were grounded after Bob Heale, one of Silverwood's stunt pilots, passed away during an accident at a non-theme park air show in Spokane. The Stunt Pilot is meant to reignite the spirit of those airshows.

Honoring the park's history isn't the only way this coaster has a special connection to Idaho. It was designed and manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction. The company is known for creating some record setting coasters all over the world, but is based in Hayden, Idaho. This is one of their "raptor" coasters.

The track features a 100 foot drop, three inversions including a dive loop, cutback and corkscrew and a 90º drop after a banked turn coming off the lift hill. According to Taylor Baybee, creator of the Coaster Studios YouTube page, the coaster is nearly identical to RailBlazer at California's Great America and a mirror of the Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

Baybee is a big fan of RMC's "raptor" coasters and called the two coasters similar to Stunt Pilot some of the craziest, most aggressive coasters in the world. He predicts that riding in the back car of one of Stunt Pilot's two trains will be even more thrilling because there are two more cars on its train than the other two coasters, making for a crazy powerful whip through the hairpin turns and other features.

While it's unclear exactly what date during the 2021 season the new coaster will open, construction on it is moving along. The park's been sharing construction photos via their Instagram account. Right now the park is planning on opening for the season May 1.

Want a preview of what to expect from Stunt Pilot? You can check out Coaster Studio's in depth analysis and the simulated ride experience provided by the park in this video: