Area served Worldwide Founder Lee Eyerly | Headquarters Salem Founded 1930 | |
Industry Manufacturing and design Products Aircraft, amusement rides | ||
Eyerly Aircraft Company was a designing and manufacturing company in Salem, Oregon. It began in the aircraft industry, but later shifted to amusement rides. It was founded by Lee Eyerly in 1930.
Contents
Aircraft manufacturing
Lee Eyerly founded Eyerly Aircraft Company in 1930 to manufacture two inexpensive ways to train pilots which he devised when the Great Depression hit. 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 eventually renamed the Acroplane.
Amusement rides
A salesman approached Eyerly about selling them to carnivals and parks as an amusement ride after noticing several Acroplanes stored on the lot outside Eyerly's shop. While Eyerly was initially skeptical, he agreed to a deal which led to selling about 50 Acroplanes as an amusement ride. The following year, Eyerly changed the company's focus from aircraft to amusement rides based on the successful sales. Eyerly developed and patented numerous amusement rides which would become staples of carnival midways, including The Loop-O-Plane (1933), the Roll-O-Plane, the Fly-O-Plane and the Rock-O-Plane (1947). Perhaps their most popular design was the Octopus, which resulted in later variations: the Spider and the Monster. Two of the company's kiddie carousel rides were the Midge-O-Racer and Bulgy the Whale.
Although Eyerly’s manufacturing business became amusement rides, the name of the company remained Eyerly Aircraft Company.
Closure
After the company closed, the rights to their rides were purchased by Oregon Rides Inc.