A Lunar Lander-Testing Company Has Revolutionized Rollercoasters

Not many companies can boast a portfolio as diverse as a treehouse restaurant, a smart guardrail system, and the NASA lunar lander testing procedure.

Holmes Solutions has worked on all of these and is now launching its newest innovation for recreation purposes. It is called The Flying Ox, a zip line rollercoaster that is just as mad as it sounds.

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Outdoor adventures

The Flying Ox is the world's first cable-to-rail rollercoaster, built by Holmes Solutions. The company claims it wasn't satisfied with old methods for stopping zip lines — such as the classic tying a mattress to a tree trunk.

“Historically, Holmes Solutions has worked in the background, developing and testing new innovations for other companies and organizations, as a secret weapon of sorts,” Chris Allington, CEO of Holmes Solutions explained in a press release.

“Our recent work in the adventure recreation industry has required us to step out of the shadows and take credit for the work we have done."

Holmes Solutions has created and worked on some incredible contraptions. It has tested the lunar lander for NASA and created incredibly efficient climbing gear.

Most recently, the company has unveiled its Flying Ox in Pigeon Forge, TN. As the company says in its press release, the hybrid design allows for the delight of flying down a zipline to merge with rail for the looping helixes and twists of a cool coaster.

Rigorous engineering methods

"We use rigorous engineering methods behind our design thinking in creating these systems," says Andrew Diehl, Technical Director of Holmes Solutions.

"A heck of a lot of computer modeling and physical testing goes into our evidence-based design approach."

The company claims its approach to engineering brings a much-needed safety focus to the industry.

"That's our bottom line in the adventure recreation space, really - keeping people safe while they experience the fun, crazy stuff," Diehl says.

Seeing as Holmes Solutions tested the braking system for NASA's lunar lander, we can't deny the company's expertise when it comes to things that are fun and crazy at the same time.

A zip line rollercoaster hybrid, while very impressive, is probably easy work when compared with landing on the Moon.