Questions about "-O-Plane" rides

As far as I know, Eyerly Aircraft produced four different variations of their "-O-Plane" rides:

Loop-O-Plane

Roll-O-Plane

Fly-O-Plane

Rock-O-Plane

I know that the strange contraption that sits next to the Cannonball coaster at Lake Winnie is a Fly-O-Plane, and I think that the ferris wheel-type ride with the circular cars is a Rock-O-Plane (but I'm not sure). Does anyone know the differences between these rides, or have links to pictures of them?

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-Rob (feeling a little confused)
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

Rob, you're right about the Rock-O-Plane. I love that ride, but have only ridden it at traveling carnivals and fairs. I am not sure about the others.

edit-(rock/roll, so easy to mix up on a lazy Friday at work)

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paul ruben
ran lube up
*** This post was edited by Zingo! 10/3/2003 12:45:13 PM ***
*** This post was edited by Zingo! 10/3/2003 12:45:42 PM ***

I like Batman-o-Plane: The Ride.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

The Rock-o is an 8-tub ferris wheel that features cages where you can rock backk and forth until they roll-over. LeSourdsville Lake has one as well as many carnival circuts.

A Roll-O Plane is a verticle boom (which turns) and the opposite ends twist back and forth. If you load right-side up on the bottom, and the boom turns around to the top, your seat will remain upright. Erieveiw park, Conneaut lake, and Knoenobles have these. Kennywood removed theirs last year.

A Loop O Plane is a mini version of a Skyflyer or a Kamakazi. Two booms seperated by a support, swing back and forth until making a 360 degree loop. Many have had thei powerful GAS engines replaced by electric engines taming them significantly

Just do some searches for them. Heres some picts:

Rock O Plane: http://www.italintl.com/major/m7.htm

Roll-OPlane:
http://www.italintl.com/major/m70.htm

Loop O Plane:
http://www.allthefunofthefair.co.uk/loopoplane.html

Im adding another post so i dont mess up my links through editing.......

The Roll O Plane's Boom will tilt (so its laying flat up high in the air so the seats will tilt side to side) It basically goes from this: l to this: \ and then to this: - while spinning

Its kinda hard to explain, but it does that

In 2001 the Dover Firemen's Fair in Dover PA (1/2 mile from my home) featured both a Rock-O-Plane and a Loop-O-Plane. Not sure if they were there these past two years since I didn't visit in 2002 and 2003.

I only ever rode one Roll-O-Plane and that was at Conneaut Lake. I feared for my life (much more than on any coaster) because I was a single rider and when the "car" made its "turn" as it descended and ascended I had to brace myself to keep from flying from side to side and against the door because. You don't get this in a Rock-O-Plane or a Loop-O-Plane since it is a straight forward "head over heels" inversion, while a Roll-O-Plane has that little twist... you are never quite inverted... right side up at the top, right side up at the bottom, spinning in between.

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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.

If anyone wants someplace to ride these wonderful things, Lakeside Amusement Park in Denver has I believe all of the O' Plane rides. If not all, I know that they have at least three out of four.

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"Every day is a bad day on Hollywood and Vine!"

Ahhhh OK... I remember seeing that thing at Knoebels... I had always thought to be an Eyerly ride but was never certain. I remember if being odd because it never did completely invert the rider. The Loop-O-Plane, however sounds (and looks) like it does, which I suppose is the difference between the two aside from the fact that it doesn't go from vertical to horizontal rotation?

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

I've seen and rode the Loop-O, Roll-O, and Rock-O, but could you describe the Fly-O-Plane?

Okay, here's a picture:

http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/flyoplane.html

Can the planes go upside down?

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"I go out at 3 o' clock for a quart of milk and come home to my son treating his body like an amusement park!" - Estelle Costanza
*** This post was edited by janfrederick 10/3/2003 1:25:49 PM ***

There was a tilting Roll-O-Plane at Blackpool Pleasure Beach around 1980. It was pretty uncomfortable when riding with a partner when the boom went to the horizontal position. You would end up laying on your side with the weight of your riding partner on your other side and vice versa. I don't recall it lasting more than a season or two.

I loved those rides - they always got me howling with laughter, especially the Rock-O-Plane:)

-Jim

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Coasters, kitties, beer n buddies - life *is* sweet :)

The Fly-O-Plane is a freakshow of a ride! If you to go to the Lake Winnie section of Adam Sandy's Amusement History site (click here) and scroll down to the bottom, you can see a pretty good pic and description of the ride.

It looks a lot like a Flying Skooter ride with enclosed "planes" instead of tubs with rudders. Once secured inside, you turn a steering wheel inside of the cockpit back and forth, which eventually "rolls" the plane upside down. Like a Flying Skooter, it takes a little skill and patience to work... in the beginning, all I did was "rock" the plane and get it stuck in an almost-upside-down position, which proves quite uncomfortable for long periods of time. Once I got the hang of it, it was a blast.

The only one I know of is Lake Winnie's... the ride op I spoke to told me that he used to work for a carnival operator who owned a version of the ride but kept it at the company's headquarters for his own enjoyment.

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

Rock-O-Planes are just plain sick. Especially when ya get is spinning so good you go upside down 30 plus times in a ride cycle. I felt like I was drunker than a skunk when I got off the ride when I road one at a fair once.

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Zero G Thrills - Moved and Improved

Are the cokpits balanced so that the wings roll the plane? Or is it powered by some type of motor?

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"I go out at 3 o' clock for a quart of milk and come home to my son treating his body like an amusement park!" - Estelle Costanza

No, they're balanced (although have the tendency to roll to a certain extent on their own as the ride starts to spin). The actual rolling is determined by the way you turn the wheel from left to right, kind of like how you reverse the direction of the rudder on a Flying Skooter ride.

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

Bell's Amusement Park in Tulsa, OK has a tilting Roll-O-Plane. It can be pretty uncomfortable when the "tilt" has fully gone horizontal and the roll causes cent. force to pull your body away from the axis of rotation.

The Rock-O-Planes I have ridden have a lever in the "pods" that you can pull towards your lap that stop the pods from rotating. These are a blast.

edit:grammer

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Bell's deserved the CCI they almost received.
*** This post was edited by Zingo! 10/3/2003 3:45:55 PM ***

The Roll-O-Plane at Knoebels rocks! Its better if u ride it alone cause you kill ur partner that sits next to you when the ride flips and turns. To think this ride was made in the 50's, I am just amazed. It is just like a modern looping coaster. It also feels like you're going to hit the tree at Knoebels which makes it even more fun.

I also rode the Rock-O-Plane at a fair and it was very fun. Kind of a predecessor to the ever popular Zipper at many carnivals. If you hold the bar up you will remain upsidedown for the entire ride. It is insane! It also creates the sensation of hitting the platform when you come down to it. I could ride that thing all day.

The Roll-O-Plane is weird because it sounds like a bicycle chain as it operates!

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

No, those riding directions for the Rock-O are incorrect.

The handle on a Rock-O-Plane allows you to control a brake on the tub pivot bearing (that is, where the car attaches to the wheel). As with all Ferris wheel variations, the Rock-O-Plane tub is able to rotate freely relative to the wheel, so that the tub will tend to remain upright during the ride. By pulling back on the handle, you can lock the tub to the wheel. This means that you will be upside-down when the wheel gets around 180 degrees from where you were when you pulled the handle. If you hold the handle back, you WON'T be upside down for the whole ride. If you want to dangle upside down for the whole ride, you have to work a little harder than that. You have to get the tub balanced in an inverted position, though you can use the brake to help.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Rob - I'd forgotten about the cool sound of the Roll-O-Plane mechanism :) Wow - that takes me back 30 years LOL Thinking back, it was pretty much a bicycle type mechanism than moved the arm. I always looked forward to the annual summer fair over here for my 'dose' of DiveBomber as it was known :) If it was a slow night they'd stop the ride half way and reverse direction - sweet :) Talk about hangtime ;)

Dave - Have to say I prefer the *out of my hands* ride that the 'unbrakeable' Rock-O-Plane provided :)

-Jim (wondering what a Delirium-sized version of these rides would be like)!

See? I knew I was right ;) http://www.allthefunofthefair.co.uk/divebomber.html
*** This post was edited by Invy 10/3/2003 5:43:06 PM ***

I too rode the Lake Winnie Fly-O-Plane this summer. It was my first time on such a contraption. It was wild as the planes lift higher and higher and you move the wings to flip it over upside down. It was a little hard to control as it is an old ride and my particular plane needed some greasing to make it flip easily. This is one ride that should be updated and added to many parks, but perhaps that's what makes the one at Lake Winnie so special.
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Nashville needs a theme park!