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Falcon's Fury is a free-standing Sky Jump drop tower attraction at the Busch Gardens Tampa amusement park in Tampa, Florida, United States. Manufactured by Intaride (a subsidiary of Intamin), the ride reaches a maximum height of making it North America's tallest free-standing drop tower. It is also the first drop tower to use 90-degree tilting seats (facing riders straight down). Riders experience about five seconds of free fall, reaching a speed of . The ride's name was chosen to invoke a falcon's ability to dive steeply at high speed to capture prey.〔 The project had been planned to start in 2012 and open to the public in 2013, but was delayed one year. Construction began in 2013, with a scheduled opening date of May 1, 2014, but the opening was delayed due to mechanical and technical issues. Falcon's Fury opened to park employees in August before a soft opening on August 16, 2014 and an official opening on September 2, 2014. == History == Planning for Falcon's Fury began around the time the park completed its Cheetah Hunt ride in 2011.〔 Ground tests in the Timbuktu area (now known as Pantopia) revealed "interesting soil conditions", with steel beams and concrete required to reinforce the site.〔 Rumors that Busch Gardens Tampa might replace its Sandstorm ride with a drop tower surfaced in the fall of 2011 when its sister park, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, opened Mäch Tower that August. Construction surveying was observed in January 2012.〔 Two months later plans were filed with the city to build a drop tower, possibly for the 2013 season. Speculation about the new attraction's name began when SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, owners of Busch Gardens Tampa, filed trademark applications for "Desert Dive" and "Falcon's Fury" on May 2 and July 11, 2012, respectively, and bought the DesertDive.com domain name.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Desert Dive )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Falcon's Fury )〕 When permits for the new ride differed from those for Mäch Tower in November 2012, rumors began that the seats would tilt forward.〔〔 Due to the height of the attraction, approval from the Federal Aviation Administration was required. According to the FAA and the city of Tampa, the tower was supposed to be built in December 2012 and open to the public in 2013. For unknown reasons the project was delayed, with its construction pushed back to the second half of 2013.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Project 380286 – Permits 1 & 3 )〕 On May 31, 2013, it was announced that Sandstorm would close on June 2 to make room for a new attraction. About two weeks later, on June 11, Busch Gardens Tampa announced plans for Falcon's Fury〔 and construction began that month.〔 During the fourth quarter of 2013, the park drove steel piles for the ride's foundation nightly for about a month. On September 20 the tower for Falcon's Fury was shipped from Spain in nine sections, arriving at the park near the end of October; the ride's smaller parts had been delivered earlier from several European countries.〔 Installation of one of the nine tower pieces was planned for every other night, with the last piece in place by New Year's Eve.〔 Construction was done by the Adena Corporation, and on November 18 the first piece was installed. The ride's second piece was installed on December 2, and two more were installed by December 6. The fifth section was placed by December 21, and the sixth was erected by New Year's Day. The seventh tower piece was installed by January 3, 2014 and the eighth by January 5, reaching a height of about , and Falcon's Fury's gondola was seen at the park on January 12. The ride's counterweight was installed on January 22, and the tower was capped during the weekend of February 1. Work on the ride's electrical components then began.〔 Assembly of the gondola was completed by the end of March. Testing was originally scheduled to begin in February, but due to construction delays the first drop tests were not made until April 15.〔 Tower painting began in June, with its sunset motif estimated to take 60 hours over a three-week period.〔 At the end of February, Busch Gardens Tampa announced that Falcon's Fury would open on May 1, and on April 3 the park began a sweepstakes contest for its "Falcon's Fury First-to-Ride Party". A second, similar contest began on April 11, with fifty winners from each contest being among the first riders. A week later, the park announced that the ride's opening would be delayed, and several media events scheduled for April and May (including the First-to-Ride party) were cancelled.〔 It was later disclosed that the delay was due to manufacturing and technical issues with the cables which pull the gondola up the tower. During the week of August 10, Falcon's Fury opened for park employees. On August 16 the ride soft-opened to the public, and two-and-a-half weeks later Falcon's Fury officially opened. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Falcon's Fury」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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