Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 5, 2013

SheiKra is a steel Dive Coaster roller coaster at the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay amusement park in Tampa, Florida, United States. The name is derived from "shikra", an Asian-African hawk that is known to dive vertically for its prey. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride was planned to reach a height of approximately 160 feet (49 m), but this was later changed to 200 feet (61 m). It reaches a maximum speed of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), and has a total track length of 3,188 feet (972 m). It opened in 2005, and was converted to a floorless roller coaster in 2007, following the opening of its sister Dive Coaster Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. SheiKra was the first Dive Coaster to be constructed in North America; it was also the first of its kind to feature a vertical drop, a splashdown and an Immelmann loop. It broke the records for the world's longest, tallest, and fastest Dive Coaster, but has since lost these records. In 2005, Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards voted it the fourth-best new steel roller coaster of that year (in a three-way tie) and the 28th-best steel roller coaster. It was voted the 30th-best steel roller coaster in 2012. (Full article...)

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