Masons Fly O Plane Number ‘3, Eagle Squadron’, an English Fairground Ride

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Masons Fly O Plane Number ‘3, Eagle Squadron’, an English Fairground Ride

About the Item

Masons Fly O Plane Number ‘3 - Eagle Squadron’. A stunning and most rarest of English fairground ride history and the art form that went hand in hand with this genre. Manufactured in the US in 1948, the ride was brought to the UK in 1951 for the Festival of Britain. The complete ride itself with eight arms was the only one of its kind to come to Europe and the only one in the world to have been painted in the renowned fairground art that is so quintessentially English. These beauties are as ‘one off’ as it gets, you will never see anything like this again for sale and a true investment. The ride was ‘broken’ up recently and three of the planes have come in to our possession. This Fine example of one of the eight remaining two seater planes with hand painted livery which we are currently researching the artist. The possible ‘culprits’ in the frame are Fred Fowle, Edwin Hall, 'Sid' Howell and Lee Meech. The mural on this plane depicts and American eagle in boxing gloves with Prize fighting pose. The plane is fully intact as it would have been at the fair, the condition is totally original with no restoration works been carried out as of yet. The cockpit can seat two adults and has a safety belt and two joysticks. The Fly O Plane ride was manufactured in 1948 by Eyerly Aircraft Company. The Fly O Plane was originally designed to train pilots. Lee Ulrich Eyerly (1892–1963) was an American civil aviation Pioneer and amusement ride manufacturer. Eyerly was born February 22, 1892 in Cuba, Illinois, and raised in Canton. In 1909, his family moved to the Judith Basin area of Montana. Because he was mechanically handy, he found work repairing broken farm equipment. While in his early 20s, he built his first airplane in the lobby of the hotel his mother managed, but was unable to fly it because he had no suitable engine. By 1919, Montana suffered from wind erosion and drought, and the opportunities for repairing farm equipment dwindled. Eyerly moved his young family to Salem, Oregon, where he became a heavy-equipment operator, working on the state’s burgeoning system of roads. As automobiles became more popular, he opened a service station called “The Grease Spot.” In 1920, he took three hours of flying instruction from Elmer Cook – the only formal flying instruction he ever received. In 1921, he enrolled in the engineering program at the Oregon Agriculture College, where he was hired as an instructor shortly after. From 1923 to 1926, Eyerly and his family lived in Waldport, Oregon, where he worked as a ferry operator and opened another service station. In 1926, they moved back to Salem, and he purchased his first aircraft, a small mail plane. With funds raised by the American Legion, Lee purchased a five ACRE plot of land near the former Governor’s Mansion on which he established Salem’s airport. By 1929, he founded an aviation school, and later, the first aircraft service station on the west coast. When the Great Depression hit, he devised two inexpensive ways to train pilots. The first was the Whiffle Hen, a plane which only burned two US gallons (8 L) of fuel per hour of flight. The second was a ground-based flight training device patented under the name “Orientator”. The Orientator consisted of a small airplane suspended in what looked like the tines of a giant tuning fork. Air from the electrically driven propeller passed over the wings and rudder, and the operator controlled the movements of the plane in a manner similar to a real aircraft. The Orientator was produced commercially and five were purchased by the Cuban government. When the Orientator was most popular to visitors at state fairs and carnivals, and Eyerly realized the Orientator was more profitable as an amusement park ride. It was renamed the Acroplane and 54 were subsequently produced. Eyerly changed his company’s focus from aircraft to amusement rides.

Dimensions:
Height: 47.25 in (120 cm)Width: 78.75 in (200 cm)Depth: 59.06 in (150 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Steel,Painted
Period:
1940-1949
Date of Manufacture:
1948
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Minor structural damages. Minor fading. With all our items for sale the very bare minimum of restoration work has been carried out to retain the age and history of each piece preserving the essence of originality and integrity.
Seller Location:
Alton, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 00003.1stDibs: LU6819228705932