Air Force

Air Force, manufactured by Bally in 1941, is a flipperless, one-ball electro-mechanical pinball machine built around a military aviation theme — one of the earlier pinball machines to take on a wartime subject, arriving the same year the United States entered World War II. A Billboard magazine mention from August 1941 describes the game as new and a hit with distributors and operators, suggesting production began around mid-1941.

As a flipperless game, Air Force relies on 5-ball play and the shooter's aim rather than player-operated flippers, which had not yet been invented (flippers would not appear in pinball until 1947). Players work to direct the ball into scoring lanes and holes using the layout of the playfield and the timing of their shot, in keeping with the conventions of pre-flipper EM machines.

Little detailed information survives about Air Force's specific art or design team, but its military aviation theme and 1941 release date place it at an interesting moment in pinball history, just as America's involvement in World War II was beginning. Its era-appropriate imagery and status as an early Bally title make it a notable piece for collectors interested in wartime pinball.