Williamsburg, Va. (March 20, 2007) - The construction of Griffon, the world's tallest, floorless dive coaster, recently reached a major milestone at Busch Gardens Europe. Crews installed the first two of three trains onto the Griffon track.
Griffon's floorless trains distinguish the coaster from all others. Each train has 30 seats arranged into three rows of ten. The outmost six seats of each row hang away from Griffon's track. With no floor under them, Griffon's divers will experience a ride unlike anything else. Larry Giles, vice president of design and engineering at Busch Gardens Europe, says "it will be like sitting on the tip of an airplane's wing." The wide seating arrangement will exaggerate Griffon's twists and turns.
Park leaders also announced the date of Griffon's public debut – May 25. In addition, the European-themed park developed an interactive website dedicated to Griffon and its fans around the world. Griffoncoaster.com opened to the public packed with unique downloads and the latest dive coaster information.
Crews broke ground on Griffon in July 2006. The ride reached its peak of 205 feet in December, and construction workers installed the 90 degree drop and first Immelmann loop in early January. Track construction was completed in late February. | 