| Jumbo Jet | |
| Location: | Morey's Piers |
| Replacement: | Jet Star |
| Type: | Steel |
| Status: | Removed |
| Coordinates: | 38.986°N -74.809°W |
| Manufacturer: | Anton Schwarzkopf |
| Designer: | Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH |
| Model: | Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet |
| Lift: | Electric spiral lift |
| Height Ft: | 56 |
| Length Ft: | 2854 |
| Speed Mph: | 50 |
| Inversions: | 0 |
| Duration: | 2:23 |
| Capacity: | 1,200 |
| Cost: | $400,000 |
| Rcdb Number: | 1916 |
The Jumbo Jet was a prefabricated steel roller coaster at Morey's Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey. Jumbo Jet was a Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster built by noted roller coaster designer Anton Schwarzkopf.[1] In 1975, the Morey brothers traveled to Germany and purchased the Jumbo Jet for $400,000.[2] [3] Morey's Surfside Pier had to be extended a total of to make room for the Jumbo Jet.[2] Despite the expense, however, Jumbo Jet became one of the most popular roller coasters on the Jersey Shore, and was credited for increasing attendance at Morey's Piers.[2] It was the second and final Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster to be built in the state of New Jersey.[4]
Although multiple sources support the purchase of the Morey's Piers Jumbo Jet as occurring in Germany,[2] [3] some sources persist in the rumor that this coaster may have been the relocation of the ill-fated Jumbo Jet from Great Adventure (now Six Flags Great Adventure).[5] [6]
Regardless of the ride's origins, Jumbo Jet was sold in 1987 to a German broker. The broker eventually traded the coaster to Gorky Park in Moscow for two railroad cars of ketchup—as the ruble was not a widely accepted currency outside of the Soviet Union at the time.[2] [7]
Like other coasters of the Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line, the Jumbo Jet did not utilize a chain lift or launch mechanism to reach the top of the lift hill. Instead, small wheel motors drove it up the incline of a tight helix.[8] The track was also different on Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet roller coasters than on most later steel roller coasters. The former has much thinner track rails than the tubular steel of the latter.[9] Riders on the Morey's Piers Jumbo Jet cited its high-speed, banking turns as a noteworthy element.[2]