Wings
About This Machine
Wings, manufactured by Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO) in June 1940, is a flipperless electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine with an aviation theme, reflecting the widespread popularity of flying-related themes in pinball during the pre-war era.
The gameplay on Wings is characterized by an intricate ruleset. The machine has 13 illuminating spring bumpers, four kick-out holes, two captive ball lanes with kickers, and a time clock. Yellow spring bumpers score 200 points when unlit; when lit and hit, they launch a ball into the left captive ball lane, where balls progressively advance through kick-out holes, each scoring 1,000 points when released from the bottom hole. The alternately-lit red spring bumper pairs at the bottom of the playfield score 1,000 points via rollover and also launch a ball into the left lane. The blue bumpers in the middle score 200 points, and when lit, their rollover launches the right captive ball lane for 3,200 points. If a player reaches an operator-set high score, a yellow beehive lamp illuminates, causing all targets and rollovers to score a replay. The game uses a single bell for sound, with no knocker.
As one of ESCO's aviation-themed EM machines from 1940, Wings offers a detailed and mechanically elaborate example of pre-war pinball design.
Images (14)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Aircraft - Airplanes - Airports - Aviation - Flying - Travel
- Notable Features:
- 5 balls for 5 cents. Illuminating spring bumpers (13), Kick-out holes (4), Captive ball lanes with kickers (2). Time clock. The left captive ball lane contains three captive balls and three serial kick-out holes. At start of game, all captive balls in this lane are kicked-out to return to the captive ball shooter. The right captive ball lane contains only one captive ball. Yellow spring bumpers score 200 points when not lit. When lit and hit by the ball-in-play, these bumpers launch one ball in the left captive ball lane. The first launched ball lands in the top kick-out hole and remains there. Each additional launched captive ball in that lane causes balls already in the holes to progressively advance one step downward. Each ball released from the bottom kick-out hole scores 1000 points. The pairs of red spring bumpers at bottom of playfield are lit alternatively. The rollover between a lit pair scores 1000 points and one captive ball will be launched in the left captive ball lane. All balls already in the holes in this lane are then released to return to the captive ball shooter. Because each released ball scores 1000 points, depending on amount of balls in the holes 1000 to 4000 points can be scored. The blue bumpers in the middle of playfield score 200 points. When these bumpers are lit, the rollover between them launches the right side captive ball lane to score 3200 points. The kick-out hole at bottom of playfield always launches the ball in the right captive ball lane. If the player reaches a high score set by the operator, the yellow plastic beehive lamp at left side of lower apron will illuminate to indicate all targets and rollovers now score one replay each. All bumpers light during this feature. Sound: 1 bell, (no knocker)