A bobsled roller coaster is a roller coaster that uses a track design that is essentially a "pipe" with the top half removed and has cars that are sent down this pipe in a freewheeling mode. The name derives from the great similarity to the track design used for the winter sport of bobsleigh. Most modern bobsled roller coasters are made of steel; however, the first bobsled coasters, known as Flying Turns roller coasters, were made of wood.
John Norman Bartlett, a British aviator in World War I, came to North America after the war with an idea for a trackless wooden chute, full of twists like a bobsled course, with toboggan-like cars, based on a bobsled ride that operated in Europe. He had filed GB Patent 279109A for the idea in 1926. Bartlett met John Miller in 1928, and they commenced building the new ride. When the ride went into production, much of the idea was the same, but the cars looks more like monoplanes, which Bartlett designed. Miller worked on the loading station, supporting structure, braking system and incline.
On October 4, 2013, after seven years of construction, Knoebels in Pennsylvania opened the world's only modern wooden Flying Turns coaster, Flying Turns. The ride was scheduled to open in 2007, but had been delayed due to dysfunctional wheels and other issues. As there were no historic plans available, the new coaster was designed entirely from scratch.
Notably, the Gerstlauer Bobsled Coaster model is not a bobsled coaster by this definition but rather an improvement on the wild mouse.
As of 2012, 21 bobsled roller coasters have been built. The roller coasters are listed in order of opening dates.
Both the bobsled coaster and the Flying Turns coaster are buildable in the RollerCoaster Tycoon and Thrillville series of video games.