{"id":4137,"date":"2015-09-15T17:06:40","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T23:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/?page_id=4137"},"modified":"2026-02-20T17:29:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:29:45","slug":"sky-fighter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/attractions\/sky-fighter\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky Fighter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opened: May 1956
Location: Kiddieland<\/a>
Manufactured By: Allan Herschell Company, Inc. \u2013 North Tonawanda, New York
Ride Model: Sky Fighter
Max Height: 8 ft
Footprint: 24 ft \u00d8
Number Of Planes: 8
Ride Capacity: 16 (2 per plane)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Allan Herschell Company introduced the Sky Fighter in 1952 and it soon became popular at kiddie parks and fairs across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Example of a Sky Fighter plane at the Allan Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum in New York. Photo: B. Miskin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lagoon’s Sky Fighter was added in 1956, along with several other kiddie rides, in the new Mother Gooseland area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Illustration from a 1956 Lagoon ad showing Sky Fighter near the middle of Mother Gooseland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ride consists little fighter jets seating two kids each, back to back with a mounted, swiveling gun on each side. When the trigger is pressed, the gun’s electric buzzer makes what early ads described as a “realistic crackling” noise. When the ride begins, a hydraulic lift elevates all of the jets to the same height as the ride spins counter-clockwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sky Fighter in July 1984. Photo: Curtis Tuckfield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1985, many Mother Gooseland rides were moved around. Sky Fighter was moved to the north where Ladybug Bop is today. Sky Fighter moved to its current location east of the Carousel Theater in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sky Fighter in operation, 2012. Photo: B. Miskin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
MORE LAGOON HISTORY<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\"Kiddieland\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
OTHER LAGOON RIDES FROM ALLAN HERSCHELL<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Baby Boats<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiddie Autos<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiddie Coaster<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speedway, Jr.<\/a> (original cars)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helicopters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
REFERENCES<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Novel Features Make Standout Of Freed\u2019s Salt Lake Kiddieland<\/a>. The Billboard<\/em>, 26 May 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1959 Sky Fighter ad<\/a>. The Billboard<\/em>, 18 May 1959.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lincoln, Ivan M. Lagoon opens with focus on entertainment<\/a>. Deseret News<\/em>, 24 May 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allan Herschell catalog<\/a>. Undated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opened: May 1956Location: KiddielandManufactured By: Allan Herschell Company, Inc. \u2013 North Tonawanda, New YorkRide Model: Sky FighterMax Height: 8 ftFootprint: 24 ft \u00d8Number Of Planes: 8Ride Capacity: 16 (2 per plane) The Allan Herschell Company introduced the Sky Fighter in 1952 and it soon became popular at kiddie parks and fairs across the country. Lagoon’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3,"menu_order":1150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4137","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4137"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19609,"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4137\/revisions\/19609"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}