The S&S Coasters of America - By the Numbers

S&S is an American company that was founded in the mid-90s, its first coaster debuting in 2001, and they've built a diverse catalog for themselves. Today, let's just look at their American coasters and break them down - by the numbers.
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Music in this video:
Demon
Black Vulture
Passage

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

I really like the overall ranking at the end. Its like which ride has the best total stats.

[@ScottyMania313]

Steel Curtain is truly one of the best-themed coasters in America. 1) Team Colors 2) The name itself 3) The football-themed area it's located in. 4) Trains that look like Steeler Helmets stripes. 5) Literal Football shaped seat backs 6) One train has a #19 another a #33, which is the team's founding year 7) The station song is Styx "Renegade", the song they B-L-A-S-T at Steelers games when it's late in the game but close. 8) The first inversion is 197 feet tall to honor the 1970 Super Steelers, who won four SBs that decade. 9) On the lift hill up you go through uprights with a football announcer doing narration. 10) It's always broken, like the fans' spirit on any given Sunday in the Steel City (though they overachieved this season)

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

The Steelers did not overachieve this season. They wasted an elite team with horrible QB play and one of the worst OCs ever

[@huntzzio]

Wouldnt consider that theming, more like easter eggs

[@ScottyMania313]

@@huntzzio black and yellow trains with football seats on a ride called Steel Curtain licated in Steeler Town is definitely theming. It's themed after an NFL Team called The Pittsburgh Steelers.

[@ScottyMania313]

@@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037 to me, anything over 2 wins for them is over-achieving 🤣 but for real, they kept Canada on for way too long. Going 10-7 in a fonference that had the Ravens, Browns, and Bengals is definitely over-achieving. As for talent, Kenny Puckett's numbers were some of the worst in the NFL. This is a fact. Also, Go Lions!

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

@@ScottyMania313 The Browns and Bengals both have pretty mid rosters aside from Joe Burrow. IMO, the Steelers have the second best roster in the division. Once Mason Rudolph came in and provided us with league average play, we looked like a real football team. I think if they had Rudolph as the starter all season, we certainly could've beaten any team in the playoffs.

[@Blake_Danger]

I wrote a letter to s&s in 2020, and they let me tour their facility. I live in utah, and it was cool to see what they do here. I also got to see and ride the axis coaster, and it was pretty cool. I can't wait to see the future of what they do with it. (I also love the series and all of your videos)

[@360coasters]

What did you say in the letter? I don't wanna sound rude when I maybe write to them that's all

[@Blake_Danger]

@360coasters I just talked about how I loved roller coasters and their company and then asked if they did tours. I also added a return adress in the letter.

[@coaster_chronic]

You should do a by the numbers video of all of the rides that have gotten first in each video and rank them up

[@jzckvsn]

Here’s hoping Steel Curtain is a lot better in terms of operations this year. I’ve heard it struggled to stay open last year which is so odd

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

Yeah there were bolts flying off the structure 😂😂😂

[@EnzoDiscoveryMoonLight23]

what?

[@SkyrushFanboy]

That thing has had structural issues and a rattle since day 1 and is still a constant issue, like I almost guarantee that it's gonna be in the scrapyard in 5 years or less 💀

[@SkyrushFanboy]

I feel like if a different company like Mack did the ride it could've been elite but we got a good but not great ride

[@spaceistheplace2293]

@@SkyrushFanboy I have heard that S&S made several design suggestions to Kennywood during the design/construction that Kennywood chose not to implement because they wanted to build it as cheap as possible.

[@BadCarDesigner]

You Should do "Coasters that are named like their models" by the numbers. I don't know how many there are, but El Loco and Xcelerator come to mind. Great Video!

[@OriginalJoe]

There are definitely some “Boomerang”s out there

[@huntzzio]

This is a good one! I can also think of “Eurofigther,” which is close enough.

[@huntzzio]

@@OriginalJoeThere is also “Giant Inverted Boomerang”

[@BadCarDesigner]

Good Ideas! Hope Chris sees my comment.

[@michael7054]

Great video! I enjoyed learning about this companys coasters. I didnt know too much about this company before this!

[@user-zk2xh9co3o]

One year my father and I went to the dells, and it was raining all day so mount Olympus was closed. We ended up at timber falls and the guy let us marathon avalanche. As a 9 year old at the time it was the best moment of my life. It's definitely a part of the reason I'm an enthusiast now

[@Da_knee7]

Going to the Vegas El Loco this month!

[@605coasters]

I really hope they can get Steel Curtain figured out. It was my favorite coaster at Kennywood when I went in 2022. Mostly because it was the only one that exceeded my expectations, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride from start to finish.

[@Goliath146]

Six flags, goes to buy a free spin from S&S : purchases it Also six flags: we’ll take your entire stock

[@constable012]

Shout-out to Avalanche. It will be missed. That thing was incredible, especially the night rides. Definitely didn't have to worry about getting stapled with the ride ops there.

[@RankingTheMouse]

As a newbie coaster fan & PNW local, I honestly completely forget Timberhawk is an S&S. Took me by surprise to see it get mentioned since it's in such a tiny park up here in the PNW hahaha. Great vid

[@Heatherofscots]

I'm really hoping SC is up and running well this summer. I really do like it and I miss it 😢

[@joehartman8138]

Timber falls was so much fun. It wrapped around the log flume. I miss this one

[@user-ry1mg3bi5i]

The intro almost a minute into the video, damn.

[@WhatAG23]

S&S is one of my favorite manufacturers for sure.

[@CoasterParadise12323]

I def think Steel Curtain was a fail for the park, and i would not be suprised if it was in the scrapyard within a few years. Keep up the great work!

[@aeroforce2202]

Dropping a like and comment to say, love the new average ranking segment!

[@ValueNetwork]

I honestly feel real bad for Steel Curtain. The race for the “most inversions” left the US when arrow stepped away from the big loopers. Coasters with 8+ inversions spreading across the world, mainly due to Intamin hung a home run with a cloneable 10 inversion model, whilst the US stayed behind. That made Steel curtain really exciting: a way to put the US back into contention. I thought S&S was creating an answer to Intamin and Gerstlaur. What if SC was the prototype for a full multi inversion model that could rival the Gerstlaur infinity and break the Smilers record… Welp… that didn’t happen. From what I’ve seen the ride looks good, but it’s been plagued by so many problems that S&S definitely didn’t anticipate. So instead of a new model Kickstarter, it’s now another one of the wacky S&S outliers!

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

There's really nothing crazy about the ride model itself. It's basically just a standard sit down looper. Just poorly engineered by the company.

[@Basketballkid2342]

I

[@AirtimeThrills]

I do sell a Pythagorean Theorem shirt

[@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od]

@AirtimeThrills I would buy it if I wasn't broke :(

[@soylentbob6725]

Always the best coaster content.

[@CalvinHughes-Thomas]

Hello Mr airtime, I personally prefer hangtime anyways good video and I will always watch your videos till the day I die

[@mitchel4361]

Hypersonic there..what I would have done with it was remove the ride but not entirely..it keep those supports on that top hat and turned those into dueling drop towers..but that's just me.

[@AirtimeThrills]

A nice homage, better than ripping it out

[@CoasterRider325]

Love your intro!

[@ryan_wii_sports6899]

8:59 wait Chris is that fr?!?! 🤣 💀

[@alexbaker7722]

Love me some GaleForce...!

[@Coasterarecool]

This man comes back with too many good video ideas keep it up🫡💪

[@BadCarDesigner]

A lot of them are actually suggested by fans, he usually will credit people in the video if they suggested it in the comments. Hope this helped :)

[@Coasterarecool]

@@BadCarDesigner ty

[@katieolson9538]

Maxx Force and the free spins having the same pacing is hilarious

[@AirtimeThrills]

same ride time not pacing lol

[@ZontarDow]

I'm almost disappointed that the smaller free spin didn't sweep last place in all categories.

[@627jace627]

I'm that weirdo that loves S&S. I don't get the hate for SC and thought it was awesome, same for Maxx Force, Powder Keg is a blast and even though I expected to hate the Free spins I actually enjoy them. Gale Force looks really good and I haven't ridden one of their wooden models yet but they don't look very good.

[@askjeevescosby2928]

Gene staples is working on getting hell cat smooth again. I'm usually against titan track on wood coasters but I really think that coaster shoild either be rmcd or get titan track. Thr mistake he made was getting ptc trains for a coaster that twists around as much as hell cat does. If they keep it wood they NEED new millenium flyer trains. And it isn't guaranteed to fix the problem. But those ptc trains will continue to chew up any new track they install.

[@alex33952]

It’s a shame max force wasn’t the next six flags clone. The Goliath plot at sfne would be a nice home for it. Also interesting that six flags great America gets one off models for six flags. Rmc cooper track, wing and this model. They more of a test park then fiesta Texas?

[@kingchuckfinley]

The battle on r/rollercoastercirclejerk for maxx force was amazing to witness though.

[@Ryzohm0141]

WENT ON TUMBILI (Got 12 credits at KD) YESTERDAY!

[@HockeyGUY66871]

Should redo this and add a new category Down time 😂😂😂😂

[@ShockerTopper]

I can tell you where an S&S freespin will never be...Six Flags Magic Mountain haha. They may have one in a ton of parks, but adding one would be a total waste of money at that park. Too many people have a bad taste in their mouth from Green Lantern.

[@samuelblack7314]

Might as well take a look at S&S's coasters from around the world and rank them based off of prime ride time.

[@AirtimeThrills]

That's coming soon. Just split them up because there were so many and the split was pretty even

[@dadbodgamesquad]

I was secretly hoping you’d be at SFOT today for the eclipse 😆

[@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od]

Eclipse? When did this happen....

[@AmusementProductions.]

Imagine quadruple testing

[@askjeevescosby2928]

Amazing hypersonic xlc is the FIRST COASTER. what do we call every coaster before it since it was the first.

[@rogerbordine7]

Just a thought: Maybe amend that rule about number of cycles for rides that rely on cycling to pick up the pace and COMPLETELY change the ride forces.

[@AirtimeThrills]

I do count the whole ride cycle when it comes to swing launches or shuttle coasters but it just gets too random once you get into how many times they cycle it

[@zacg_]

This kind of analysis is so weird for S&S. It almost feels like doing a "By the Numbers" video for a random hodgepodge of coasters. A lot of manufacturers like B&M, Arrow, Vekoma, Premier Rides, CCI, GCI, Schwarzkopf, Gerstlauer, and Gravity Group all have a general style and their coasters often have certain common characteristics that makes them feel like they come from that manufacturer. But S&S coasters are just all over the place. The only real common thread is weirdness.

[@AirtimeThrills]

Thats why S&S is great, such a random collection

[@ShockerTopper]

I’m glad SS bought arrows assets but it doesn’t seem like they have the ability to recreate any Arrow classics or modern versions of them (think corkscrew, viper and other loopers). It’s too bad Schwarzkopf isn’t around anymore they made some amazing shuttle coasters and other loopers that were fantastic. It’ll be hard to call Montezuma a Schwarzkopf after this whole renovation. I think Knotts has to make up for their mistake of taking boomerang out by seeing if Vekoma would make a new a NEW inverted boomerang since they take up less space that the original boomerang they had and they can take out that crappy Pony Express ride (or better yet coast rider). If they built it where coast rider is, then they’d definitely have the space and it would be next to the original boomerang.

[@DougGlendower]

How did you use Google Earth and the Pythagorean theorem to analyze a coaster INSIDE A DOME?

[@AirtimeThrills]

Superman x ray vision

[@CoasterRider325]

Have you done a Premier rides by the numbers? If not can you do that please

[@AirtimeThrills]

I have not but ill look into it

[@CoasterRider325]

@@AirtimeThrills thank you!

[@HayFatwithSurf]

Unrelated to the video: Do you think it's worthit going to Fun Spot for AF1, or SFoG for 12 coasters. I would be going with family, so, considering that, which would be more fit?

[@kaitakeo]

You should try one of the make your own roller coaster games (forgot the names) and make a "perfect" roller coaster in an enthusiasts perspective.

[@kaitakeo]

Planet coaster*

[@Cubcoaster]

Are you going to the top thrill 2 preview event?

[@Cubcoaster]

You can get a ticket if you have a gold pass/ summer pass/ platinum pass/ or a coastermanis keychain

[@AirtimeThrills]

Nope, wont get to cp til july

[@Cubcoaster]

@@AirtimeThrills best of luck to ride top thrill 2!!

[@AirtimeThrills]

​@@Cubcoasterdefinitely a rope drop coaster

[@Messreads]

Stealths launch is nuts but kills my shoulders

[@drewsapp4384]

When steel curtain is hitting, the front row ride is awesome. On hot days, it halls and the front is glossy smooth. The back is very meh

[@AirtimeThrills]

I can tell

[@ryanlevan1158]

So do you count a swing launch then?

[@AirtimeThrills]

I do, that and the full shuttle cycle

[@Sonic-gy7kq]

S&S is like #2 in the industry (woulda been #1 before falcons flight was announced) for willing to take risks. Almost always pays off for S&S. Also Maxx force at my home park and I never heard of matinence issues or down for a full day/more than 1-2 hours.

[@AirtimeThrills]

Really? I heard maxx force was causing a lot of problems and the reason there hasnt been a follow up air launch in the chain

[@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od]

@obamatraore2339 L take tbh

[@Sonic-gy7kq]

@@AirtimeThrills I haven't heard of any problems with it ngl. I followed it's construction, taking pictures, road it opening week. I rode it every year besides 2023, so I been a little out of the loop. But i never heard of it having any issues, especially major ones?! It's actually rarely down, similar to any other coaster. Kinda like V2 but honestly less common, if not the same rate. Never seen it down for an entire day. Nothing compared to dragsters downtime. They haven't installed anymore because Great America is a test park. Six flags never installed anymore wing coasters either... doesn't mean B&M failed with it and had issues. 4 years later an im still baffled they decided on an air launch coaster. They basically don't exist in the coaster world outside of China and powder-keg, which nobody holds in high regard. I watched the reveal live like every year. Out of all parks, all chains, and all models. They decided on an air launched coaster. Cool asf. Honestly though have not heard about any issues. You don't go to great america and go "aw crap. Maxx force down for the day" it doesn't happen in my experience.

[@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od]

Why did I think there were only like 5 S&S coasters in America (not including Freespins)

[@zeeferer3035]

Buy and sell: ceber pront’s tall cooter is here

[@AmusmentCrazy]

Buy or Sell: Six Flags will buy back Darien Lake in the next 10 years

[@seriomarkj]

Can you build us a coaster. S&S "yes" But we didnt say what type

[@marcuswells9655]

When I went to click "Like" it was at 666 . . . . .

[@SnowghostFilms]

Can we just make sense of RCDB’s Inversion rules? So to count as an inversion, it has to go beyond 135 degrees. Makes sense. But in order to get a double inversion, it has to go back to less than 45 degrees. If we are following that rule, then Maxx Force has 3 inversions, The Smiler has 13 (that cobra roll would only count as 1), Cannibal would have 3 (the Lagoon Roll being 1 inversion) and Twisted Cyclone may only have 2. If you’re doing this for a flying coaster with a double inverting stall then maybe it would make sense, but pretty much every other purpose it does not. This isn’t the only RCDb categorisation problem either, with some wing coasters still being labeled as “Sit Down” like they were before circa 2016, and their thing about the Cobra Loop, which they previously said was Intamin’s name for an Immelmann on the former Element Cross Reference Sheet, similar to how B&M would call some of their corkscrews “Flat Spins” or Arrow calling a batwing a “Boomerang” or “Kamikaze Curve”. Oh yeah, and there are coasters from as early as 2017 that are still labeled as “Under Construction”, including a Chinese 11 inversion coaster set to open around 2019. Point is, it’s a mess and probably best to get other sources, especially on the more subjective topics.

[@obamatraore2339]

tbf isnt it just one guy managing the whole thing? i think some errors are allowed as it is basically a glorified hobby project

[@kotchapakmaneechote2062]

9:04 😈😈 You know what I mean.

[@just-dashin]

man what are these fell off comments

[@danmucciarelli5916]

With all those stats, Steel Curtain is not even the best coaster at Kennywood.

[@karinaespinoza3948]

Sns free spins > x2 trust me

[@AmazingElevatorsandClaws]

N O P E

[@bankrolDiggy]

Never ridden one but been on x2 many times and find this very very VERY hard to believe

[@AirtimeThrills]

Trust gone

[@wickedsickfunkyfreshroller2037]

First of all Sns is wild

[@netherixplatinumking6692]

first

[@AmazingElevatorsandClaws]

🤓

[@karinaespinoza3948]

A little too late buddy

[@flipsoback]

no views in 2 secs dang you fell off😢

[@user-ry1mg3bi5i]

Buddy you 30 minutes late

[@flipsoback]

@@user-ry1mg3bi5i i watched the video earlier and then i commented