Mattel strikes again with a great toy made for the younger set but still a lot of fun for us old guys! But more on that later.
Although this is a Mickey Mouse Super Stunt Plane toy, it also features Goofy. Goofy is well known for his flying prowess. Or lack thereof. He has his own flying school in California and a fun ride in Florida called Goofy’s Barnstormer:
During World War I, the United States manufactured a significant number of Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes to train its military aviators, and almost every U.S. airman learned to fly using the plane. After the war the U.S. federal government sold off the surplus aircraft. This allowed many servicemen who already knew how to fly them to purchase their own planes and go into business as stunt pilots. And a whole new industry was born!
Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks devised to impress and startle people with their skill and the sturdiness of the planes. Aviation was a new technology, and many didn’t trust it. Crashing into barns and performing feats of daring-do probably didn’t do much to change that!
Sometimes, a man would hang from the bottom of the plane, like Goofy is doing here, or perhaps a woman would walk on the wing while the plane was in flight. For the more adventurous in the crowd, you could pay to go up in the highly suspect craft yourself!
This toy is perhaps fashioned after this time in aviation history. Please enjoy the video below to see the toy in action as it flies around my back yard. I’m the old guy having fun:
There are two settings of play for this toy. First you have Free Flight, where you can just move the plane through the air as you please, and Mickey and Goofy will chime in with encouragement as you go. Second is the Flight School mode, where Mickey will give you instructions on how low or high to fly and which way to turn. Both of your co-pilots give lots of commentary on how you are doing.
The on/off switch and battery compartment (housing 3 ‘AAA’ batteries) are on the bottom of the toy, while the mode switch for play is on the left side of the nose of the plane. Push the exhaust pipes up for Free Flight and down for Flight School. To begin your flight, you turn on the switch, spin the propellor, and start running around like an idiot waving the toy in the air while your neighbors look on in confusion.
Mickey not only gives the student flyer verbal directions but there are also lights on both wings (see image above). These light up to indicate the direction you must turn the plane as you fly.
Again, this was made by Mattel. They released it in the year 2000. It was made in China.
“COME FLY THE GOOFY SKIES WITH US!”
