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 Whiffle Hen,[1] a plane which only burned two US gallons (8 L) of fuel per hour of flight, and a ground-based flight training device patented under the name "Orientator".

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.

[2] Eyerly developed and patented numerous amusement rides which would become staples of carnival midways, including The Loop-O-Plane (1933),[2][3] the Roll-O-Plane,[4] the Fly-O-Plane and the Rock-O-Plane (1947).

[72] A fatal accident occurred at the Broward County Fair in Florida in 1988, when an arm (carrying four rider baskets) of a Monster ride snapped along an existing crack that had been painted over years before, and had then been missed in inspections.

[75][74] Following the lawsuit against the operator, Eyerly Aircraft's insurance premiums increased and became unaffordable; the company filed for bankruptcy and closed in 1990.