Alberta Inventors and Inventions

The Jaycopter was also built as a midway ride. The idea for this came after traffic would stop along Highway 14 in eastern Alberta, where th

e Jacobs' tested the Jaycopter, and people asked for rides. Peter's company, the Jaycopter Corporation, made a 16-seat model for use at the New York World’s Fair of 1964-65. There, the Jaycopter hosted famous passengers including John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy. Three eight-seat models were also produced, and were set up at midways throughout North America in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and San Diego, California.

Ted Jacobs also designed a miniature, version called the Baby Jay, building 23 for the New York World’s Fair. He then designed an even smaller version, called the Mini-Copter, of which 250 were manufactured as an arcade game. The only existing Mini-Copter can now be found at the Aviation Museum, in Edmonton.