Flight Deck at California 's Great America
Upside down 3 times 4.5 gstrongest force on riders

California's Great America, Santa Clara, California

Flight Deck

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“It’s very smooth and has great pacing.”

POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
gracefully dangling your feet
What riders love
  • That vertical loop into the helix makes me gray out every time, and the zero G roll is forceful.
  • Flight Deck always leaves me out of breath on the break run, and wanting more.
  • The G-Forces are so strong during the turns it was awesome.
  • Probably the most intense inverted coaster I’ve ever been on, with an incredibly forceful vertical loop and ensuing zero g-roll.
  • The whip on the inversions and both of the helixes were very intense.
  • The inversions in the first bit of the ride are fun and have some solid whip.
  • The whole thing is just a grey out fest and the scenic helix over the water is phenomenal I just don’t see why this gets no hype because it should.
  • Forces are good and the turn over the water is epic.
  • The flight over the water is amazing and the ride in night especially when they employ the fog generator is superb!
Flight Deck Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Flight Deck Front Row (HD POV) California's Great America

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

Flight Deck Back Row (HD POV) California's Great America

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

Onride: 'Flight deck' 🎢 4K/POV 2023 - California's great america

youtube.com › Theme Park Nomads

Flight Deck (Off-ride HD) California's Great America

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

Flight Deck Review California's Great America B&M Invert

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Flight Deck Review, California's Great America B&M Invert | Short but Powerful

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Flight Deck Review - California's Great America's Excellent Inverted Coaster

youtube.com › Thrill Report

Flight Deck maintenance, California's Great America

youtube.com › tkkyj

Flight Deck. California's Great America.

youtube.com › Luciano TORRES

Performance

Vs. other coasters at California's Great America

It has always been a little short, but it gives a lot of thrills without being overly jarring like some of the newer coasters.

Garth Gross

Smooth, good layout, and some really fun twisty inversions.

Duke Howard

The Top Gun theming on this along with the smooth ride and wonderful layout makes it by far the best B&M looper I’ve ridden.

David

It’s very smooth and has great pacing.

Jesse Wight

This ride was horribly painful for me.

Erik C.

I know many people love the intensity of this ride, but it made my legs feel like they were being crushed, and that ruined the experience.

Erik C.

It’s a good ride but it’s too short, for being that small of a ride it definitely brings the intensity on it especially on the helix at the end.

Josiah

Probably the most intense inverted coaster I’ve ever been on, with an incredibly forceful vertical loop and ensuing zero g-roll.

Vivaan Chopra

This ride has INSANE whip on the corkscrew and zero-g roll, as well as very strong positive g’s on the loop and two helixes.

Aiden Davenport

surprised how well this 90s invert holds up tbh, rode it yesterday (June 2024) and man that corkscrew-helix combo is very forceful

@caffeinatedtrouble

It was kind of a scary start to riding coasters with inversions, given how intense it is - but well worth it, I went on it three times today because it was so much fun.

@nalathequeen2186

I especially like how intense the second half is where you do a quick half-batwing flip, then dip near the water, and do a fast turn around to complete the set of elements.

Max S.

Recently I went to CGA and rode Top Gun (it will always be Top Gun to me) and I have to say that it felt faster than it did before.

@dorsaldude

Pacing is a little slower than more recent Inverted Coasters though, with considerable gaps and long straight sections between many of the elements.

Theme Park James

It is kinda short though and has one notable dead spot before the second corkscrew.

Nathan F

I also have to give it props for capacity since there was no wait and they were churning out riders quickly.

Max S.

No station cover is kinda weird; there was no line, so I lapped it.

Caleb D.

It has high capacity, short lines, and it’s intense.

Ryan B

now it gets some attention every time i visit due to the short line, really hope this one has a future, it runs pretty well for its age.

@GavHern

You also spend ages on the brake run because of its short duration and slow dispatches.

Valentin Schneider

They were only running one train and the lines were long, so I was only able to ride it once.

@cheezandbees6934

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

102 ftHeight
108 GoldStriker 106 RailBlazer 102 FlightDeck 102 Demon 91 Grizzly 91 Patriot
91 ftFirst drop
103 GoldStriker 100 RailBlazer 91 FlightDeck 90 Demon 88 Grizzly
50 mphTop speed
Grizzly55 Gold Striker54 RailBlazer52 Flight Deck50 Demon50 Patriot45 055 mph
3Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

IntenseGreat inversionsGreat layoutGreat viewsShort waits

Criticised for

Too short

I haven’t felt this much intensity on an inverted since Dueling Dragon’s Chinese Fireball many years ago.

Peter Glenn Mihelich, Captain Coaster review

While a good ride, there are much better B&M Inverts out there that are not only longer, but with much more interesting/stimulating layouts as well.

Evangelion Martini, Captain Coaster review

Manages to be compact while also spread out and surprisingly picturesque (that zero-G roll over the entrance)!

Jackson Bryman, Captain Coaster review

Pacing is a little slower than more recent Inverted Coasters though, with considerable gaps and long straight sections between many of the elements.

Theme Park James, published review

Good invert overall, but it’s on the short side, and I was also hoping for a little more intensity.

Coaster Nut, Captain Coaster review

Super intense and fun just a little bit short, I like it a lot more than Silver Bullet at Knott’s Berry Farm.

RThirtyEight Coasters, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Flight Deck at California's Great America
Stephen Yeargin from Nashville, Tenn., United States, CC BY-SA 2.0
Flight Deck at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Flight Deck's station at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
The track of Flight Deck at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Flight Deck (California's Great America)
FASTILY, CC BY-SA 4.0
A train on the lift hill of Flight Deck at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Vortex & Flight Deck from Eagle's Flight
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Flight Deck
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Flight Deck
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Flight Deck
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Flight Deck
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

March 19, 1993Opened

Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, designed by Ing.-Büro Stengel.

4.5 gStrongest force on riders

Past incidents

  1. June 2015An employee working Flight Deck was seriously injured after being struck by a train moving into the roller coaster's station on June 12, 2015.

Golden Ticket Awards, top steel coaster: ranked in 1 polls, 2003

45th2003, its first poll
1incident blamed on the ride

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Height requirement: California's Great America. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, themeparkjames.co.uk, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), Stephen Yeargin from Nashville, Tenn., United States (CC BY-SA 2.0), FASTILY (CC BY-SA 4.0), Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California (CC BY 2.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

Quote at the top of the page: Jesse Wight, Captain Coaster review.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Nathan F, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This lays on the positive G’s almost nonstop. A…”; California Coaster Addict, rider review on Captain Coaster: “That vertical loop into the helix makes me gray…”; Reed Dutton, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Flight Deck always leaves me out of breath on…”; Peter Glenn Mihelich, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The G-Forces are so strong during the turns it…”; Aiden Davenport, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride has INSANE whip on the corkscrew and…”; Vivaan Chopra, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Probably the most intense inverted coaster I’ve ever been…”; Dylan JM, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The whip on the inversions and both of the…”; Shmee, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The inversions in the first bit of the ride…”; Sarah Smith, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Riding it as an adult, it definitely feels a…”; Lightning Productions, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The whole thing is just a grey out fest…”; Will Anderson, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Forces are good and the turn over the water…”; Vojtech Mašek, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The flight over the water is amazing and the…”; Reed Dutton, rider review on Captain Coaster: “One second, you're gracefully dangling your feet, with a…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: coastercrutchfield's back row POV, Flight Deck Back Row (HD POV) California's Great America (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.