Thorpe Park's new ride The Swarm terrifies Red Arrows pilot

Updated
Thorpe Park's new ride The Swarm terrifies Red Arrows pilot
Thorpe Park's new ride The Swarm terrifies Red Arrows pilot

Thorpe Park


Signs that Thorpe Park's new ride The Swarm is going to scare the living daylights out of us? It terrified an ex Red Arrows pilot - and that's all we need to know!

The UK theme park drafted in four fighter pilots to be the first humans to ride the winged roller coaster, which recently made headlines when crash test dummies returned from a whizz round - with missing limbs.

Team leader of The Blades, Mark Cutmore, described the ride as "gut-wrenching", telling The Metro: "I am a self-confessed adrenaline junkie but even as a pilot used to G-force there were some gut-wrenching moments, and I have to admit the near miss element is eye-watering - you really do feel as if you are going to crash into the structures."

So what else can you expect? The ride is built on its own island, and cost £18 million to create.

It will the be the UK's first winged ride - with thrill-seekers sitting either side of the track - and will also feature 4D rotating seats.

You'll fly through the air at 100km hour, and the post-apocalyptic theme will take over the whole island, with an overturned big rig truck, a destroyed television satellite truck, and shipping containers doubling as shops, foot stands and toilets.

And the ride itself will nose-dive through a backdrop of devastation, including a crashed airplane, a burnt-out fire engine, and a smashed-up helicopter, with the ride station being a demolished chapel.

The Swarm opens in 20 days and counting - quite literally; the Thorpe Park website currently features a calendar-countdown, so you know exactly how long is left until you can scare yourself silly.

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