Nighthawk was a steel flying roller coaster at Carowinds, the amusement park straddling the North Carolina-South Carolina border in Charlotte. Riders were flipped into a face-down, arms-forward flying position before soaring through a vertical loop, a double corkscrew, and a series of disorienting Lie-to-Fly and Fly-to-Lie transitions. Built by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma, it was one of only a handful of true flying coasters ever constructed worldwide.
The ride had an unusually well-traveled history before it ever reached Carowinds. It debuted in 2000 as Stealth at California’s Great America, billed as the world’s first flying coaster, before mechanical issues and a park expansion led to its removal in 2003. Paramount Parks relocated the ride to Carowinds, where it reopened in 2004 as Borg Assimilator, the first roller coaster ever themed to Star Trek. After Cedar Fair acquired the park and dropped the Star Trek license, the coaster was stripped of its theming and renamed Nighthawk in 2008, running under that name until its retirement at the end of 2024.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Carowinds, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Manufacturer: Vekoma
- Opened: March 20, 2004 (as Borg Assimilator; renamed Nighthawk in 2008)
- Closed: December 18, 2024
- Height: 115 feet
- Top speed: 51 mph
- Length: about 2,766 feet
- Inversions: 5
The Ride Experience
Nighthawk seated riders four across in a single row, locked into a flying position with their bodies parallel to the track and facing the ground during the ride’s inverted moments. Two trains of six cars each carried up to 24 riders through a 115-foot lift hill, a 103-foot first drop, one vertical loop, a double corkscrew, and paired Lie-to-Fly and Fly-to-Lie elements that repeatedly flipped riders between a normal seated position and the flying pose. The full circuit covered roughly 2,766 feet and lasted about one minute and 50 seconds, reaching a top speed of 51 mph and pulling up to 4.3 G’s.
From Stealth to Borg Assimilator to Retirement
Few coasters changed identities as many times as this one. It opened in 2000 as Stealth at California’s Great America, was relocated across the country and reopened in 2004 as the Star Trek-themed Borg Assimilator at Carowinds, then lost its theming and became simply Nighthawk in 2008 after Cedar Fair took over park operations. Carowinds announced the ride’s permanent closure on December 18, 2024, and demolition followed in early 2025. A lead car and a section of track from the ride were later donated to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives in Plainview, Texas, preserving a piece of the world’s first flying coaster design.
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Nighthawk FAQs
Is Nighthawk still operating at Carowinds?
No. Carowinds announced Nighthawk’s permanent closure on December 18, 2024, and the ride was demolished in early 2025.
What type of roller coaster was Nighthawk?
Nighthawk was a Vekoma-built steel flying coaster, a rare model that rotates riders into a face-down flying position during the course of the ride.
Did Nighthawk operate anywhere before Carowinds?
Yes. It originally opened in 2000 as Stealth at California’s Great America before being relocated to Carowinds in 2004, where it reopened as Borg Assimilator and was later renamed Nighthawk.
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Photo: Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.