Flight of the Demon coaster set to haunt Germany’s Heide Park

The Flight of the Demon winged coaster debuting March 29 at Germany’s Heide Park will swoop through the dark along a twisting track bathed in devilish lights and lasers.

Photos: Flight of the Demon winged coaster at Germany’s Heide Park

Known as Flug der Damonen in German, the $20-million coaster built by Switzerland’s Bolliger & Mabillard is currently undergoing on-track testing at the Hamburg-area theme park.

Custom painted by German graffiti artist Markus Genesius, the coaster trains will be themed as flying demons with gleaming red eyes and dagger-like fangs.

As the back story goes, the innocent souls of riders will power the possessed coaster, which will be aptly located in the Transylvania section of Heide Park.

During press previews, Heide Park cloaked Flight of the Demon in an array of lasers and lighting effects that gave the ride the diabolical appearance of a jailbreak from hell. Unfortunately, park officials said the temporary lighting package won’t be employed when the new coaster opens in March or during the annual Halloween Nights event.

On a winged coaster, riders sit on either side of the track in a winged formation as the train navigates multiple inversions.

To date, Bollinger & Mabillard has built five winged coasters: Raptor at Italy’s Gardaland, Swarm at England’s Thorpe Park, Wild Eagle at Tennessee’s Dollywood, X-Flight at Six Flags Great America outside Chicago and Gatekeeper at Ohio’s Cedar Point. China’s new Ocean Kingdom theme park recently opened with the Flying Over the Rainforest winged coaster.

After climbing to the top of the 130-foot-tall lift hill, Flight of the Demon will slowly turn upside down for an initial dive drop before navigating a series of elements including a twisting Immelmann loop, a rolling corkscrew and double-inversion pretzel knot.

Reaching speeds of 60 mph along a 2,500-foot-long track, riders will also experience a camelback airtime hill, an overbanked turn and a near-miss pass under a maintenance shed.

Related theme park stories and photo galleries

Disneyland: Fantasy Faire | Mickey & the Magical Map

Universal Studios Hollywood: Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Six Flags Magic Mountain: Full Throttle

Knott’s Berry Farm: Timber Mountain | Coast Rider

SeaWorld San Diego: Aquatica

U.S. parks: Top 13 for 2013 | Disney World | Cedar Point | Top 10 water coasters

International parks: Top 13 for 2013 | Shanghai Disneyland | Disneyland Paris | Top 20 water parks

> Follow the Los Angeles Times Funland theme park blog on Twitter, Facebook and Google+