Bolliger and Mabillard
From Freepedia
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Bolliger and Mabillard (short: B&M) is a notable roller coaster manufacturer based in Switzerland. The company was started in the 1980s.
The company, named after Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard pioneered the inverted rollercoaster. They are well known among enthusiasts for their "glass smooth" rides, although some argue that being too smooth detracts from being on a roller coaster.
Bolliger and Mabillard originally worked for Intamin AG before they created their own company. During their time at Intamin they helped the company design their first Stand-Up Coaster as well as contributions to other parts of Intamin’s projects. Feeling they had enough ideas and know-how to start their own company, they broke off forming Bolliger & Mabillard, otherwise known as B&M to coaster enthusiasts.
Since their first coaster, Iron Wolf, a Stand-Up coaster at Six Flags Great America, they have designed 58 more rides bringing their final tally to 59. They are responsible for many great classic rides such as Batman: The Ride, Raptor, Top Gun, Alpengeist and Apollo's Chariot, at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Medusa at various Six Flags parks, Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure , Raging Bull, Hulk Coaster, Nemesis at Alton Towers, Silver Star at Europa park and many others. The company also built the trains for Psyclone, a wooden coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
B&M were the first company to produce a coaster with a vertical drop with Oblivion at Alton Towers, England. This type of coaster is called a dive machine and there are only 3 in the world. They also created their own version of Vekoma's flying coaster with Air, which is also found at Alton Towers.
B&M is a leader in developing new technologies and new concepts. They are also masters at taking existing concepts and expanding on the ideas to further enhance and perfect the idea. B&M works closely with engineering great Werner Stengel to bring a lot of their ideas to life.
They currently have 7 different ride styles to choose from: Stand Up, Inverted, Floorless, Flying, Mega Coaster, Dive Machine and Sit down coaster. These styles come in many shapes and sizes and can be found in parks across the globe. They are known for their reliability, low maintenance and perfect safety record. It is very rare for a B&M coaster to stall.
Currently B&M has 4 rides in the Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards Top 10 list which is a testament to their designs and concepts. Many supporters speculate that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future and will help keep the roller coaster industry on pace in this Golden Age of amusement rides.
