This video is available in 16:9 high-quality widescreen and features the Air ride at Alton Towers theme park, located near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is a steel flying roller coaster located in the Forbidden Valley area the park. The ride was the first flying roller coaster to be made by Swiss manufacturers Bolliger & Mabillard. Guests ride in a prone position and experience a feeling of flight created by "flying" close to the ground, under footpaths and gliding narrowly past objects such as trees. It almost feels like youre a superhero! It currently sits on the site of the Beast roller coaster, which went out of operation at the end of 1997. The idea came to fruition after many years of planning, and construction on Air started towards the beginning of 2001. It became one of the most expensive rides in the park, with a lot of advertising going around the park prior to its launch. It officially launched in 2002 and has become one of the most popular rides in the park. The footage is taken from the YourDay DVD. Visitors can wear special wristbands which trigger footage of you on the main rides and this customised footage is shown on the DVD. The rides the DVD features include Oblivion, Congo River Rapids and Nemesis. Check out the thrilling good time we had on it!
The towers of the old Ponce de Leon Hotel -- now Flagler College's Ponce Hall -- are undergoing their first intensive restoration. Primarily made of terra cotta, the towers are solidly built, according to Roland Ray of Byron & James, Inc, the construction company working on the restoration. But their age -- the Ponce was built in 1888 -- is catching up to them. The towers have small cracks that worsen during rainy weather, as water causes them to expand. Byron & James is fixing that problem by repairing cracked areas and recasting them with concrete, in addition to reinforcing the entire structure with steel rods. Work on the roughly $560000 project began this spring and should wrap up before fall classes begin. Video shot and edited by Liz Daube, Assistant Editor of Flagler Magazine: flaglermagazine.com