fall inside a hole
Tomy Toy Town Sky Plane/Flippity Flyer toys (1970s-early 1980s)
First written June 10, 2024The "Flippity Flyer" is the American name given to a few versions of a stunt plane toy developed by Toy Town and Tomy in the early 1970s. In Japan these toys were sold as Sky Plane (お空のヒコウキ). An initial style developed in 1971 performs only a few flips while the later "New" version has a more advanced track and stunt show.
Sky Plane (お空のヒコウキ) (1971)
In 1971 the original Sky Plane set トイタウンの電動お空のヒコーキ (Toy Town Electric Airplane in the Sky) was released in Japan featuring a motorized propeller plane that lifts off, flips over, and lands before turning around to do it again. An airport is also included, and a track stopper lets the player stop the plane.
The front of the box includes a sticker stating that it won an award from the Minister of International Trade in the 10th Industry Awards plastic toy design competition in 1971.
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plane |
 |
| 2 | Straight rail |
 |
| 1 | Stop rail |
 |
| 2 | Sky rail |
 |
| 2 | Sky rail support |
 |
| 1 | Turn base (red) |
 |
| 1 | Turn base (yellow) |
 |
| 1 | Sign |
 |
| 1 | Airport |
 |
The airplane in this set has two large rubber tires which are driven by plastic drums. These run the plane around the track when on the ground. Hanging pins in the bottom of the battery cover guide the plane along the track. The cogs sticking out of the side of the plane also run constantly when the plane is switched on and engage with the tracked sky sections, lifting the plane up and carrying it along. The larger gear on the left side is static and is held in place which is what makes the plane flip around when it meshes with the rack in the sky rail.
To disassemble the plane, the three screws on the bottom must be undone and the propeller pulled off the protruding motor shaft. Then lift the tail of the upper body shell up so the area at the nose hinges closer together so it can be removed from the plastic yellow collar. A weight in the tail of the plane helps it perform its flipping actions. The gearbox has a small plastic noisemaker clicking against one gear. The motor shaft also sticks out of the other side of the motor (really what I would traditionally consider the front) and runs the propeller, with a small bushing as a spacer. This earlier plane has a plastic power switch that is connected to the motor and swings it slightly back and forth, connecting and disconnecting the motor.
At either end of the "runway" are two turnaround pieces, one banked and one flat. Guide rails and troughs swing the plane around and keep it in line. The stop rails have a plastic lever that forms a spring that holds the plane in place.
The blue plastic sky rail fit into two support pieces to form the flying track. Without the sign installed the two pieces can splay apart and cause the plane to slip out of the rail. The protruding sections catch on the plane's wings.
The sign is a nice piece of painted tin bent over a wire insert frame.
The set also includes a neat little airport with translucent radar dish. Some of the stickers had fallen off my set, so I scanned them before gluing them back on. The airport has relatively simple graphics, but there is something about this style of graphic design I seem to primarily associate with toys and advertising posters that I really like... It is basically just a plastic box with two stickers and a radar dish, but I think it gives an easy way for a child to start imagining what else might be going on at the airport and getting other car or city-type toys involved.
The instructions show how to set the track up and also show some of the other Toy Town toys that had been developed at the time.
The plane in this set swings around, takes off, rises, flips around, and then comes back down to do it over and over again.
Flippity Flyer (American release) (early 1970s)
In the early 1970s an American version of the Sky Plane was released under the Toy Town name as the Flippity Flyer. This version of the set does not include the airport and has two stopper tracks and no regular straight track.
New Sky Plane (ニューお空のヒコウキ) (early-mid 1970s)
As early as later in 1971 a "New" Sky Plane was released with a much more complicated flying sly track. An original Japanese release of this set can be seen here. The box for this set includes the 1971 award winner sticker, but I suspect that this may be in reference to the original design and not necessarily when the new track layout was developed. Other than the new sky rail design and some alternate colors, it is largely the same as the earlier Sky Plane set.
New Flippity Flyer (American release) (early-mid 1970s)
In the early 1970s the New Sky Plane was also exported under the Toy Town name as New Flippity Flyer. Like the previous international Flippity Flyer, no airport is included and the track selection is slightly different and can be seen below in the Sears Flippity Flyer version of New Flippity Flyer.
Flippity Flyer (Sears release) (mid 1970s)
The New Flippity Flyer design began being sold at Sears at least as early as 1975, first with this blue box design and then later a darker box design with cartoon arrows pointing out the action.
The box is marked for sale in the United States and in Canada through Simpsons-Sears.
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plane |
 |
| 2 | Stop rail |
 |
| 2 | Sky rail |
 |
| 2 | Sky rail support |
|
| 1 | Turn base (orange) |
 |
| 1 | Turn base (yellow) |
 |
| 1 | Sign |
 |
Like the other "New" flyers, these Sears sets have the inverse color plane to the original Flippity Flyer. The mechanism is largely the same as the older plane but with a newer discrete power switch that is riveted into the bottom case. Like the original set, the gears on either side of the wings spin when the plane is turned on, engaging with the clear blue sky rail and making the plane flip when the larger static gear hits specific racks in the rail. Plastic rollers sit against the rubber wheels and drive the plane forward on the ground.
At some point it seems batteries leaked in my example and the battery contact was broken off and floating inside the plane body. The body comes apart similar to the older plane, but the propeller has an actual metal cap on the motor shaft instead of being press-fit like the older plane. This must be pulled off to disassemble the plane. Once it is off, remove the three screws from the bottom and hinge the back of the top body shell up so the rim at the nose of the plane hinges together and the yellow retaining ring can be removed and the two parts seperated. The gearbox was partially corroded, with both of the drive drums being seized on their pegs and one being cracked away. The ten-tooth gear that was brass on the older Japanese plane was cracked and needed to be replaced as well. The gearbox is otherwise more or less identical to the older type, and it includes the plastic noisemaker.
The tooling for the banked turnaround has changed slightly at some point in its production. There are only stop rails included.
This more complicated flyer has a much more complex path. The racked sections and protrusions guide the plane up and down, spinning around and changing direction. The sign has a raised cutout where the plane flips through at the top of the sky rail.
From one direction, the plane rises up and then flips over backwards into a spinning drop, then rising back up and over the top of the rail before diving down, flipping upside down, and then diving back down again before evening out to land. Click the GIF to see or download the full-length video with sound.
Toltoys Stunt Flyer (Australia) (late 1970s-1980s)
December 2024A comment in the guestbook tipped me off to Toltoys of Australia importing the "New" Flippity Flyer to Australia as Stunt Flyer circa 1980. The box for this variation is similar to the later darker style of Sears box with illustrated arrows pointing out the plane's stunt actions.
Sky Jumbo (お空のジャンボ) (1983)
In 1983 a new more colorful version of the New Flippity Flyer with a new jumbo jet-style plane with flashing red light on top was released in Japan under the Toybox name as Sky Jumbo Flippity Flyer (お空のジャンボ).
Set contents| Quantity | Item | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plane |
 |
| 2 | Stop rail |
 |
| 2 | Sky rail |
 |
| 2 | Sky rail support |
 |
| 1 | Turn base (red) |
 |
| 1 | Turn base (yellow) |
 |
| 1 | Sign support |
 |
| 1 | Sign |
 |
This version of the set features an All Nippon Airways 747 jumbo jet. Instead of a spinning propeller, the light on top flashes as the plane runs. The tires on my example have completely melted, showing the metal cores inside. I will have to replace them with something at some point...
The flasher has a little switch hit by a cam in the gearbox that makes it blink, also causing it to fluctuate as it makes better or worse contact.
This set has a banked red turnaround and flat yellow turnaround as well as two green stopper tracks. The sky rail supports are red, and the sky rail itself has the more complex flight pattern. The sign at the top of the sky rail section has a more complicated support with a cardboard insert sign.
Flippity Dippity Flyer
Click for full loop with sound!
Because these sets are all essentially compatible, if you have more than one you can set the tracks up in series to choreograph a larger stunt show. I set up the track from the two working sets I have in what I like to call Flippity Dippity Flyer. It would be neat if the track system included a curve.