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Flying Turns still grounded By LEON BOGDAN Press Enterprise Writer ELYSBURG — Flying Turns, the eagerly-awaited new thrill ride at Knoebels Amusement Resort here, is being ridden only by sand bags these days as park officials test its banking curves for safety. More engineering work is needed to fine-tune the bobsled-style attraction. When it's finished, it will reach speeds of 26 mph while banking riders through a series of curving turns, said park spokesman Joe Muscato. Videotapes of the ride with weight-bearing sand bags are being studied to ensure the trackless bobsled on wheels can safely maneuver through swooping curves without literally flying off turns, Muscato said. The park also needs to get approval from state ride inspectors and the park's insurance carriers before the ride gets rolling. While progress is seen "every day," it may not be ready before the start of next park season, he said. "We'd like to have it ready to open this season. It's not out of the question," Muscato said. "If it's simply too wild, only diehard people will want to ride it. That's not good. We want everyone to feel comfortable riding it, while still keeping that thrill," he added. Muscato said park operators never anticipated taking this long to finish Flying Turns. Excavation work at the ride site and frame construction began in April 2006. Flying Turns is being built by Knoebels from scratch with help from engineers and structural designers in California and Texas. When completed, it will be the only ride of its kind in any amusement park today, Muscato said. "We want it to be the best ride for the most people possible," he said, adding that test rides show "it's quick." $3 a ride Knoebels plans to charge people $3 a ride, with 10 riders in each five-car bobsled train as it zips down the sloping structure. Seating is similar to the Flume ride, with two people to a car. The ride lasts a couple of minutes, Muscato said. "When we opened Twister, we ran into similar things with people asking all the time when it's going to open. They're so anxious to ride it," he said, referring to the park's second wooden roller coaster, which opened in July 1999. "The difference with the Twister is we don't have a track to break in. The vehicle and riding surface with Flying Turns is different, and faster is not necessarily better with this type of ride," he said. "It's like riding a bobsled if you take out all the straight-aways," Muscato explained. "Everything is more intense once you start going through the curves. It's curve after curve, swinging on one side and then the other side," he said. Park co-owner Dick Knoebel gave Flying Turns a big thumbs-up after taking a test ride, Muscato said. "We initially were going to charge $2 to ride it. After Dick rode it, he said 'I think it's $3.' " Leon Bogdan can be reached at 784-2121, extension 1307, or by e-mailing him at leon.b@pressenterprise.net