Kiddy Hawk is a suspended family coaster at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, built by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma. The ride first opened on March 22, 2003, as Rugrats Runaway Reptar, themed around the Nickelodeon cartoon, before the park rebranded it as Flying Ace Aerial Chase to tie into the Peanuts characters featured throughout Carowinds.
In 2018, the coaster was repainted with blue track and yellow supports and renamed Kiddy Hawk, a nod to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where the Wright brothers made their first powered flight. The attraction remains a staple of the park’s family-oriented zone, giving younger guests their first taste of an inverted-style coaster experience, with seats fixed directly beneath the train rather than swinging through the turns.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Carowinds (Charlotte, NC)
- Manufacturer: Vekoma
- Opened: March 22, 2003
- Height: About 48.6 feet
- Top speed: 26 mph
- Length: 1,122 feet
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
Although Vekoma markets this model as a ‘Suspended Family Coaster,’ Kiddy Hawk’s seats are mounted directly to the wheel carriage rather than hung from a separate swinging arm, so the ten-car train stays fixed beneath the track through the turns instead of swaying side to side like older suspended designs. A booster wheel lift hill pulls the single train up before it winds through a compact, gently banked circuit lasting about a minute and a half.
With a maximum G-force of around 2.2 and no inversions, the ride is designed to feel adventurous without being intense, making it a common first ‘big kid’ coaster for young Carowinds visitors stepping up from the park’s smaller rides.
A Ride With Several Identities
Few rides at Carowinds have changed identities as many times as this one. It launched as Rugrats Runaway Reptar in 2003, later became Flying Ace Aerial Chase under a Peanuts theme, and was repainted and renamed Kiddy Hawk in 2018, even as the physical Vekoma track and layout stayed the same throughout each transformation.
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Kiddy Hawk FAQs
How tall do you have to be to ride Kiddy Hawk?
Kiddy Hawk is designed as a family coaster, so it has a lower height requirement than Carowinds’ larger coasters, making it accessible to younger riders accompanied by an adult if needed.
What manufacturer built Kiddy Hawk?
Kiddy Hawk was built by Vekoma, a Dutch roller coaster manufacturer, using its Suspended Family Coaster model.
Has Kiddy Hawk always had this name?
No. The ride opened in 2003 as Rugrats Runaway Reptar, was later renamed Flying Ace Aerial Chase, and became Kiddy Hawk in 2018.
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Photo: Floppersop / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.