Flying High

Flying High, manufactured by Western Equipment & Supply Company of Chicago in July 1936, is an early electro-mechanical (EM) machine from a distinctive category of the era: the one-ball payout game. Rather than the multi-ball amusement format of later pinball, Flying High gave the player a single ball for 10 cents, with the machine handling payouts automatically - a gambling-style format that flourished in the mid-1930s.

The game carries a hunting theme, an interesting choice among the racing and sports themes common to payout machines of the day. It was advertised at 50 inches long by 24 inches wide, came equipped with a Stancor Univerter transformer (with batteries optional), and a ticket-dispensing model was available at extra cost.

Specific design details and gameplay mechanisms are not well documented, and no designer is credited. Still, as a product of Western Equipment & Supply's short 1934-1938 existence, Flying High is an intriguing piece for collectors and historians tracing the payout-game side of pinball's early electro-mechanical development.