Ranking Every Alan Schilke Coaster - The GOAT of Coaster Designers

Alan Schilke is the GOAT of coaster designers, and also kind of a madman when it comes to those designs. Let's go around the world, look at all the coasters he's responsible for across 3 different manufacturers, and rank them up not based on how great the coaster is, but how good the design is.
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Wrong

[@Cje_-yj8ov]

I can’t see that pic of him in the intro without laughing. Gets me every time

[@CoasterParadise12323]

which one

[@DanielGreen61]

Facts bro😂😂😂

[@VelvetteSimp]

Hakugei at 18th is wild its definitely a top tier RMC

[@maddmaxx46]

Keep in mind he's ranking the actual design and uniqueness of each coaster and not the actual ranking of how good it is. His RMC coasters ranked in America is a completely different order.

[@marlindragendorf4417]

hakugei 18 is craazy

[@triplej755]

Video idea: Make another ranking video of coasters with a common name. This one being all coasters themed to races, for example, Windjammer surf racers, racer at Kings Island, West Coast Racers, rewind racers, etc.

[@Fury325Fan]

I second this

[@mcrcwmasonshorts]

Me 3

[@archimetropolis]

This kind of ranking just stopped making sense after goliath, batman and superman. I like this idea though

[@MrBlonday]

He does this! He's got all the superman rides and others all with the same names and he ranks them

[@CobaltTetris]

Got a chance to ride X2 this past week, and I can't fathom what people must've thought of it upon its release. It harnesses all of the typical fears people have of roller coasters, magnifies them, and burns every unique ride element into your memory. Stellar coaster.

[@h1dd3n56]

Anyone who knows their coaster history knows what this man did for the amusement industry. Always innovating ahead of time

[@zacg_]

100% agree about X. I get that a lot of people prefer Steel Vengeance, Iron Gwazi, Zadra or Lightning Rod. But if you are looking at the design and from a creativity and ambition standpoint then there is no contest. X was possibly the craziest coaster ever designed when viewed by comparing a coaster to its predecessors and X2 remains one of the craziest and best coasters on earth. I only wish Arrow had survived their own monster because I can't imagine how cool their projects would have become if they'd had enough time to go through their own computerized renaissance like Vekoma has.

[@AirtimeThrills]

I absolutely think X was the craziest coaster ever designed. Especially at the time when there was nothing even remotely like it

[@SlimFury]

X2 is a no-brainer for number 1.

[@HandsomeRob2008]

@@AirtimeThrills Isn't it interesting how there's only 3 4D coasters of its kind out in the world to this day? I don't count the Batman 4D clones. I guess the 4D coasters are just too expensive and amusement parks don't want to take risks on them. I agree with you that X2 is definitely the X factor when it comes to ranking Magic Mountain against other parks.

[@ChairmanChico]

Tennessee Tornado… the one where Arrow said “Screw it, let’s put in ALL the elements!”

[@nixienooo]

It’s one of the only coasters to make me grey out

[@DaveysWonderfulWorld]

He kind of looks like Aaron Rodgers if he wanted to be an engineer

[@StamfordBridge]

To me he looks like a guy who played for a prog rock band in the 80s.

[@connorauman6735]

@@StamfordBridgeGeddy Lee?

[@StamfordBridge]

@@connorauman6735 A bit of that, yeah.

[@Thrill_Report]

He does!!

[@AirtimeThrills]

Definitely Rodgers vibes if he was 20 yrs older

[@dominicholas3695]

I am so glad to see X2 in your #1 position. It is just about my favorite thing in the whole entire world! So excited b/c I am going to SFMM next week. I am introducing my new bestie to the park for his first time... and I cannot wait to share X2 with him! We call it roller coaster therapy and I am super excited to have a super session next week! Thanks for this compilation of the creator of my favorite thing in the world. What an awesome creator he is! TY and super thanks to Alan Schilke!! 🎢

[@meddoxsocool]

Twisted Cyclone over Hakugei and Wild Fire is crazy 😂😂

[@Relz-wd5xd]

10 seconds and i already know this will be a banger video

[@OriginalJoe]

I’d love to see the Ron Toomer version of this video.

[@JJRClassic88]

Same with a Werner Stengel video.

[@colinschmitz8297]

Great video! Now that he's retired, I look back and think that given how good Tennessee Tornado, Road Runner Express, and X2 were, if parks would have been willing to just take a chance on Arrow or S&S (instead of the usual players), he might have a legacy of twice the quantity. It's a shame that such a long period of Alan's career (a man of such incredible talent) was wasted waiting for a projects.

[@chasebingaman]

Iron Gwazi taking the old structures of the two original sides and making one massive hyper rmc makes it personally the best rmc design

[@askjeevescosby2928]

Nope... you are wrong.

[@VelvetteSimp]

Its definitely the most creative RMC design

[@askjeevescosby2928]

@@VelvetteSimp Nope.

[@VelvetteSimp]

@askjeevescosby2928 then what is?

[@askjeevescosby2928]

@@VelvetteSimp nothing

[@ryanb398]

X2 and SteVe are my top 2 overall, though I'm never sure which is at the top. Thanks again for making a great video!

[@history_leisure]

If I could name an Alan Schilke-deigned roller coaster that had a quarry wall to play with, I'd have two nickels. That might actually be a lot in this case, but its still interesting that it happened twice

[@kaylawhipple7570]

I love this so much.

[@josiahsimmons9866]

If I remember correctly, Alan was the one who came up with the Idea of independently spinning the seats for a 4D coaster. It's a crazy engineering problem with a fascinating solution in the second pair of running rails. It would be cool to have a fly-on-the-wall view of that first conversation...

[@ejectorairtime73]

He is TRULY the goat of coaster designers

[@zacg_]

He's my personal favorite but I think that Werner Stengel is objectively the more impactful and accomplished designer.

[@MarsJenkar]

@@zacg_ John A. Miller. Werner Stengel. Alan Schilke. All of them were major influences on the development of the roller coaster for different reasons. I think they all deserve recognition.

[@cparkes92]

Adding to his cool factor: His mullet when discussing X

[@michael7054]

Great video! A lot of fantastic coasters! I enjoyed watching!

[@christrammel1053]

Amazing video, as always, content is always top notch and I appreciate, as always, the time and effort you put into the research and and commentary on everyone of your videos. Kings island history especially. Have been going the for 38 years and everything in your 5 part documentary were spot on. Keep up your phenomenal videos! Can't get enough!

[@AirtimeThrills]

Thanks for the kind words and for watching the doc!

[@StamfordBridge]

Don’t sleep on Falken!! It’s rough as hell on some of the turns but it has great airtime throughout! Actually one of my favorite coasters in Denmark.

[@AirtimeThrills]

Now you made me even sadder that it was closed for me

[@StamfordBridge]

@@AirtimeThrills I just bring a little sadness wherever I go.

[@blakebetsworth9869]

I could have sworn that Schilke designed Lightning Run, had to google it. It just screams Schilke, but owell. Good job Joe Draves! One of my favorite non-inverting coasters, by far! (Makes sense, they worked together at Ride Centerline)

[@AirtimeThrills]

Joe Draves definitely has some funky cool designs himself

[@DanCrowleyNYC]

Wow! Thanks for shedding light on this legendary designer! He gave the world so many gems!

[@ghostercoaster]

Hakugei only on 18 is a crime

[@Coaster_Crash]

FRR 😭

[@davefroman4700]

Yeah if he rode it, it would not be there.

[@AirtimeThrills]

Just because there was so much to work with and i havent seen people say it blew them away even though it wqs great, granted i havent seen too many people who have ridden it

[@afightatmidnight1401]

Really? A lot of people say Hakugei is one of the best RMCs ever made.

[@afightatmidnight1401]

Also Eejanika’s ranking is just sad, putting Chaser above it.

[@christianortiz-v1l]

Alan is imo the best coaster designer ever, what a legendary man!

[@coasters4life388]

Stengel >>>>

[@matthewcole4753]

Tennessee Tornado was the biggest surprise for me on a roller coaster (until Verbolten many years later). We did that small drop and I was thinking, that's it? And then BOOM, you plummet down into that tunnel and get a flash of the camera before you do those massive series of loops. I was next to my brother and I was still pretty young. I expected a mine train, I got a literal tornado.

[@bryangintora9541]

Wicked Cyclone, I am still wrapping my mind around how Alan was able to put so much into such a tiny footprint. Honestly one of my favorite rides I look forward to every summer when I go to my local Six Flags. I have so many good memories on that ride.

[@matthunwick5230]

'Going out on a LIM' fantastic pun 🫡

[@AirtimeThrills]

Yes i totally meant to do that.......

[@Premier_Thrills]

I rode Eejanaika 9 times this week, the layout is perfect in my opinion

[@coastercube838]

You are the goat of coaster videos

[@HYDRAdude]

Hakugei at #18 is absolutely criminal as someone who has been on it.

[@travisvanalst4698]

Different rides on different days. And differing of opinions. Not criminal at all.

[@therealmacaron]

He ranked these based off of innovation

[@kotchapakmaneechote2062]

He's ranking it based on design or layout.

[@Trainmaster909]

This might sound crazy, but Dinoconda is even better than Eejanaika. The extra row and smaller size makes it tear through it’s layout even faster. And it’s smoother.

[@AirtimeThrills]

Good to know

[@Posirep]

Dont forget...hes may be retired but he's still the creator of the S&S Axis coaster according to the patents. Maybe not a layout but its his baby in part.

[@gilbertceballos8674]

AWESOME VIDEO! Did not know he made all these amazing top tier rides! Thank you!

[@CarlileCoasters]

Do all these coasters, but make it a “by the numbers”

[@Cyb3rSynaps3]

Alan Schilke is by far my favorite designer. He has designed all of my favorite coasters, especially at Cedar Point. When making coasters in Planet Coaster or No Limits 2 I try and think like he would.

[@DBI2000]

I still don't understand why design wise x2 is higher up than eejanaika which supposedly has slightly more insane elements and a smoother execution to boot. I get that concept was groundbreaking but I would still think design wise how it operates (if it is rough vs not) would come into play too

[@iamdigbick4675]

I hardly ever disagree with you about coaster stuff, so I'm pretty sure after you ride Jersey Devil you'll change your ranking. I thought I would hate it. Especially after waiting almost 2 hours. I couldn't stop smiling when I rode it though

[@nito209]

I love when you use this background music!!!!

[@shadesfromikea]

If you haven't done a video likes this already, could you do a "Most ridden rollercoaster from each major manufacturer"?

[@christopherfinch-mccollum1753]

No Wonder Woman Flight of Courage but you have Jersey Devil?

[@AirtimeThrills]

I didnt see anything that showed that he worked on WWGLC, even though it is his layout. I think his final coaster was Iron Gwazi. I did have to piece together multiple sources to get this complete list

[@RMPMcDermott]

I grew up about 15 minutes from Clementon Park and rode that woodie a ton of times as kid. Had no idea Alan Schilke designed it.

[@wags3603]

It confuses me how one man can work for so many different manufacturers and parks. I always assumed that the ride companies designed their own rides in collaboration with the park, but apparently not? Can someone explain how this works? Am I being dumb?

[@plighting_engineerd]

From what Wikipedia says, he worked at Arrow, designing some coasters for parks who bought coasters from arrow. He did this until arrow's bankruptcy. Then, when S&S bought arrow's assets, schilke designed coasters for them for a couple years until he created his own company called Ride Centerline LLC. He worked with companies (RMC) to design and engineer coasters from there.

[@AirtimeThrills]

@@plighting_engineerd thanks for the summary. Schilke is definitely one of the outliers in this sense

[@Themeparkfan630]

I get to ride steel vengeance in 2 weeks and im so hyped. Might become my number 1.

[@robertbarga3694]

I've been on only a handful of these. It looks like I need to add more of them to my bucket list.

[@JungleJoel845]

You should ride the jersey devil after 12-1pm on a hot day. The ride speeds up a lot and the elements feel perfectly timed when its running faster. The tilted air time hills are amazing and the drop after being pushed off by the lift chain is nuts!

[@TheRealestHooman]

I am officially going to holiday world for the first time later this month!

[@cmbluey98]

Lol #24 is the only coaster I was sure I was going to die on

[@luciano6967]

Twisted Cyclone over Hakugei and Wildfire? Lol

[@Dude-channel16]

Hi Airtime Thrills

[@AirtimeThrills]

Hi Dude channel16

[@reteledman]

this is a banger. now let’s watch the video!

[@Paolo8772]

The difference between your #29 and #30 is shocking. Also: Objectively speaking: The only thing ghat makes X2 better than Eejanaika are longer trains with more cars, and also the ability to request a back row ride on those trains, best in an inner seat (unless you're riding with someone who needs wheelchair and requests one of the inner seats in the back row of X2, which I granted, when there in Nov. '19. I've been a monster to say no. But I still think Steel Vengeance is the best thing Alan Schilke designed. In any case: I love this video. Thanks so much for posting!

[@AirtimeThrills]

I definitely think Eejanaika would be better than X2, but since X2 was such an innovative design that's why it tops my list. X blazed that trail

[@Paolo8772]

@@AirtimeThrills Fair enough, I can't disagree with that!

[@pipepicasso8112]

I think it will be interesting with A.I. designing roller coasters. It is close to taking every design as a reference, like Schikle’s, and design a coaster. An area can be mapped, put in what you want it to do, then hit .

[@AirtimeThrills]

If AI does take over it probably would be a lot less creative than what we got now

[@QueenElizabeth-lh2ne]

I’m interested in how many of these rides are on your top 50. Alan Schilke has seriously made some incredible coasters

[@valopro4243]

I can understand that you placed wildfire that low, but if you ride it on a hot and sunny day, the speed in the second part of the layout is insane.

[@mrchrisliddell]

I just got my first ever Zen ride on Road Runner during an ERT. I knew he designed it but had no idea it was his first ever! I zen'd a legend!

[@jefcoble8827]

There was an interview of Alan shilke on steel vengeance and someone commented on the video “this is like interviewing van goh on the Mona Lisa”

[@ColeYote]

It is so bizarre to me that the guy responsible for so many of RMC's greatest hits also came up with Straight Track: The Ride over at the Nurburgring.

[@batshtcrazy5293]

The order in your list is seriously flawed. But thanks for making an effort. Interesting takes, for sure. And good info.

[@coastercaz]

Falken is wild on the back. The drop is one of the best I’ve experienced and it absolutely throws you

[@ItsSiebay]

It’s crazy to imagine how popular Twisted Timbers is with such a limited amount of elements. Heck, it literally only has right turns, not a single left turn, and yet it’s my favorite coaster of all.

[@iangraham6351]

I rode avalanche. My family and I were on a road trip from Pittsburgh, PA to St Paul, MN. We stopped for a bathroom break on the outskirts of Wisconsin Dells and my brother and I took a couple laps on Avalanche. Very wild ride. Really good!

[@AirtimeThrills]

That was a very fortunate pit stop

[@LakeCountyLoops]

Avalanche was incredible. A short, aggressive airtime and lateral machine. In the right conditions, you were out of your seat from the first drop until returning to the station. I miss it.

[@ericdaley7033]

Wicked Cyclone is running absolutely insane this year. Even the third lap is trying to rip you out of your seat,

[@ShockerTopper]

I’m so dumb I was engaged to a girl that was from Boston and I just now realized why the ride is called “wicked cyclone” because it’s “wicked awesome” as she would say lol

[@DaGoofyAhhs]

not a mad man, a smart man!)

[@Tom_bradys_unretirement]

Yes but if you’ve ridden X2 or steel vengeance you understand he is a madman

[@ThrillProductions2018]

We need more engineers like him!

[@jahx8148]

Agree with your opinions, now a days people are always chasing “bigger and better” and don’t appreciate things for what they are and how they came to be, it’s always someone getting on rides analyzing everything about it to get off and say “ well this one is better because” or vice versa and never appreciate the ride for what it is

[@luckykat08]

Great video!

[@LucyAmelia2000]

This video was so needed

[@FameyFamous]

Does this make SV your favorite RMC? Or how do you feel about ArieForce One and Wildcat’s Revenge which were done after he retired?

[@Themeparkfan630]

He considers wildcat a mid tier rmc and arieforce is in his top 10. And yes steve is his favorite rmc and number 1 coaster overall.

[@AirtimeThrills]

Arieforce one is close but steve is the goat

[@matthunwick5230]

People still sleeping on Hakugei, America is so funny, great video as always!!

[@AirtimeThrills]

To me it just seemed like he had a ton to work with and he did fine with it, but who knows when i ride it maybe itll blow me away

[@matthunwick5230]

@@AirtimeThrills this makes a lot of sense, from a design standpoint it wasn't as gamechanging or drastic an experiment as other, or even earlier ideas :)

[@devdevthrills]

Wicked Cyclone is the only head scratcher here, I’d say it’s about 10 or so spots too high. The rest I totally agree with!

[@EnoughRhetoric]

Twisted Timbers needs more love. Basic yes. But perfect as well. No filler. Does everything perfectly! Try drawing a circle free hand. It’s harder than you’d think. That’s Twisted Timbers. Pure perfection with little to nothing to work from other than talent.

[@katherinezimmerman6997]

Trust me dude: Hakugei should be higher on this list. It’s incredible. I’m excited to see what you think when you ride it next year.

[@dadbodgamesquad]

I guess that makes SFFT the park with the most Schilke credits?

[@Posirep]

4 Schilke monsters lol

[@AirtimeThrills]

Definitely seems like it

[@midnightmoonlight04091]

You could do all of John Wardley’s designs for Europe, that would include: Galactica, Nemesis Reborn, Oblivion, Runaway Mine Train, The Smiler, Th13teen and Wicker Man at Alton Towers. Rattlesnake, Scorpion Express and Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures. Raptor at Gardaland. Flug der Dämonen and Krake at Heidi Park Resort. Megafobia at Oakwood Theme Park. Dragon Khan and Stampida at PortAventura. And Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, Saw: The Ride and The Swarm at Thorpe Park.

[@ulrikagustafsson790]

Just a cuestion. How is x2 the better coaster when steel veangence is you’r number one coaster?

[@JackDPearl]

I would suggest a Werner Stengal version of this video, but you'd probably need at least 10 parts.

[@newenglandcoastershots]

Just making sure that Wicked Cyclone was top three.... all right sir carry on

[@DavidBehlman]

Love this video idea. Agreed, it could start a short series! Based takes for the rides I know (the California rides).

[@RedPandaStan]

Riding timberhawk is truly a strange experience. it's like watching a 360 degree pov of a rollercoaster, it looks like you should be experiencing forces, but you just aren't.

[@airtimeaddict]

Video Idea: ranking ever coaster by John Wardley. Now he is the Goat of Coaster design

[@MarkVelichko-bc6tw]

This would be a great contender for by the numbers series

[@DylynKay]

A coaster like that open for only 4 days? An absolute tragedy

[@tomclemens5345]

I think there was some sort of explosion in the launch mechanism, a few people got injured and they never reopened it after that.

[@edt-ze3ke]

Despite Twisted Cyclone being short, it still packs a punch and keeps its pacing. There isn't anything wrong about having a small and compact RMC hybrid anyway. I do wish it was longer but its still great the way it is.

[@nicoladale1668]

It was always going to be between X/X2 and Steel Vengeance but X put Alan Schilke on the map.

[@eekedout]

Would be really cool to see what Alan would say about this list.

[@namevone]

Alan Schilke did an interview and in it he talked about Twisted Cyclone's length, he said that there just wasn't enough structure to do a third lap.

[@AirtimeThrills]

Ah i just assumed six flags was being cheap. But he made the most of it

[@priorityrecords1]

I've said this before but I think you should do a mount Everest of coaster designers Or a top 10

[@gemmachaos]

You could do one of these for Werner Stengel. And the 500 coasters he designed.

[@jaredb1096]

Great vid! RCDB lists Dennis McNulty as the designer of Timberhawk at Wild Waves. Is this confirmed a Schilke design?

[@AirtimeThrills]

I had to piece together multiple sources to get the full list, I looked a little deeper and it seems like Schilke was involved in the project but he may have not been the lead designer

[@The-bp1kr]

finally giving outlaw run some credit it deserves

[@DucksOnTopDidds4lifeGaming]

Alan Schilke is the goat for making X2

[@stboombasloth9424]

Awesome video man.

[@coasterfair2602]

7:22 doesn’t Twisted Cyclone at SFOG have a twisted drop

[@ampleplace2617]

you should do another video like this with joe draves!

[@bassplayer2011ify]

0:54 I predict whatever his most recent RMC is will be number 1.

[@rushtest4echo737]

We need to normalize the airtime thrills Wicked/Twisted/Cyclone bias here though. Anything with any of those words gains +5 spots for his ranking above where they actually should be (other than Twisted Timbers). And if it's a combination (Wicked or Twisted Cyclone) then it's +10 from where it belongs. And maybe White Cyclone losing the word Cyclone forces him to remove -5 spots from that.