: >
: > >I would agree that the Kangaroo at Kennywood is indeed a "Flying Coaster".
: > >In fact, during the days of Palisades Amu***t Park (long defunct and
: > >missed park which ended in the 70's), they had this same ride and it was
: > >actually called the "Flying Coaster". As a matter of fact, I believe the
: > >Kangaroo the actual Flying Coaster which was purchased when Palisades went
: > >under.
: >
: > Couldn't be. Kennywood's Flying Coaster/Kangaroo has been a fixture in
: > the park since the early 1960s, ten years or so before Palisades closed.
: > It's remotely possible that Kw would've bought the Palisades ride for
: > parts, but it seems unlikely - there were other parks with Flying Coasters
: > at the time. (Someone else mentioned Waldameer, which had one until only
: > a few years ago...)
: The Flying Coaster was introduced at the end of 1958, and according to
: reports from the 1958 NAAPPB convention (precursor to IAAPA), the first
: unit was to be operated by Peck Amu***ts at the Florida State Fair.
: Eight units were operating by the end of 1959, and there were another 30
: orders for the 1960 season.
: Initially, Lowell Stapf Amu***t Company of Amarillo, Texas advertised
: that they were the Exclusive Manufacturers of this Norman
: Bartlett-designed ride. However, in April 1960, adverti***ts
: indicated that the ride could be obtained either from Stapf or from
: Aeroaffiliates Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas. (Aeroaffiliates also sold the
: Umbrella Kiddie Ride as their main line.) By May, only Aeroaffiliates
: was advertising the ride. At the end of 1960, Aeroaffiliates was
: reportedly meeting the demand for the ride by producing a unit a week.
: (I am guessing that Stapf lost the exclusive production rights because
: they were unable to produce the rides fast enough.)
: A version of the ride with an electric drive suitable for park operation
: was first introduced in 1960, and Bartlett was patenting improvements to
: the ride as late as 1972.
: At the 1960 NAAPPB convention, Herschell introduced a rampless Jumping
: Jupiter ride. I do not have a description, but I suspect it was an
: attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the Flying Coaster.
Interesting. Now I can offer some additional muddiness to the waters...
There is a set of blueprints for the Aeroaffiliates Flying Coaster on file
in the engineering office at ORI Industries, the successor company to the
Eyerly Aircraft Co. My understanding is that this is because some or all
of the Flying Coaster rides were built using a Fly-O-Plane center cage.
The Kennywood ride certainly shows a possible Eyerly influence on the center
cage, with two differential shafts coupled via a chain to the main drive,
and a counter-shaft connected to the two differentials just as on an
Octopus.
Aside from Kennywood's Flying Coaster, the only other Aeroaffiliates ride
I have seen (that I know of) is an umbrella kiddie ride at Oaks Park in
Portland, OR.
--Dave Althoff, Jr
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