Luna Park Debuts New Hang Gliding Ride: WindstarZ

You can captain your own kite through the air at Coney Island.

Luna Park previewed the new WindstarZ ride for the media on Thursday. The attraction, which officially opens this weekend, is the world’s first ever passenger-guided ride and is a lot like hang gliding, according to park officials.

“WindstarZ is all about taking control of the wind. You need the wind to push and pull your aircraft around,” said Angie Morris, brand manager at Luna Park.

The sails catch the wind while they are spun around by the machine, which uses a special counterweight system to allow riders to pilot their craft. You can maneuver from side to side, dive towards the earth and then zoom back into the air. Reporters climbed into the rocket-red seats today for a test drive.

However, there were some technical difficulties during the second run. The contraption had trouble getting off the ground and one of the technicians looked quite frazzled while trying to get it to take flight. Some passengers needed to get off and move to another seat in order be spaced more evenly around the ride.

Morris said passengers were moved in order to make sure the ride was evenly balanced and promised that WindstarZ was ready for the public.

The name WindstarZ comes from nautical term for compass and several compass roses decorate the attraction. The ride is inspired by the nearby ocean and seeks to take advantage of the sea breeze, which helps WindstarZ riders pilot their winged vessels.

There were 4.8 million rides taken at Luna Park in 2014, an increase of 30 percent from the previous year, park officials told the Daily News. WindstarZ is the fourth new ride to open at Luna Park this year. The fifth, called the Endeavor, will be unveiled later this summer, but the opening date has not been determined.