Also known as AB
1996 · Capcom
Airborne
Known for Injector, Pilot's Seat, Tower ramp and Reverse scoop ramps. Black night band across the top third, pale cream inverted city skyline hanging downward from the black band, orange-to-crimson sunset sky with a white sun glow on the horizon, dark blue silhouette of dense rooftops and towers across the lower middle and receding blue-toned town on the right horizon.
- Year
- 1996
- Maker
- Capcom
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Dot matrix
- Players
- 4
Known for
- Toy
Injector
- Lock
Pilot's Seat
- Ramp
Tower ramp
- Ramp
Reverse scoop ramps
- Multiball
Dogfight Mayhem
- Wizard mode
World Frenzy
- Goal
Airshow
- Mode
Night Flying
On the playfield
Toy 1
- Injector
Ramps 2
- Tower ramp
- Reverse scoop ramps
Orbit 1
- Tower orbit
Holes 3
- Left saucer saucer
- Left jet entrance entrance
- Right jet entrance entrance
Lock 1
- Pilot's Seat
Bumper 1
- Star bumpers
Drop targets 2
- SHOW targets
- AIR targets
Targets 4
- Green standup target
- Left yellow standup targets
- Right yellow standup targets
- Blue Angels formation
Lanes 2
- JET lanes
- Spinner lane
Display 1
- Information grid
On the backglass
Who and what
- other Fighter pilot seen from behind, only the head and left hand visible: large rounded flight helmet with orange, red and black concentric striping and a dark visor ridge, no face visible
- other Red-gloved left hand gripping a control stick at lower left
- vehicle Dark blue cockpit interior with instrument panel, dials and gunsight glass, ringed by a thick black circular gunsight hoop
- vehicle Yellow-outlined delta wing sweeping in from the bottom left corner, black-bordered
- vehicle Matching yellow-outlined delta wing sweeping in from the bottom right corner
- vehicle Two dark blue jet silhouettes flying left-to-right in the upper left sky
Setting
- Black night band across the top third
- Pale cream inverted city skyline hanging downward from the black band
- Orange-to-crimson sunset sky with a white sun glow on the horizon
- Dark blue silhouette of dense rooftops and towers across the lower middle
- Receding blue-toned town on the right horizon
Text on it
- AIRBORNE
- CAPCOM
How it plays
-
Modes 1
- Night Flying
-
Multiballs 1
- Dogfight Mayhem
-
Goals 4
- Airshow
- Fly-Bys
- Airborne Mystery
- Mach Speed
-
Awards 4
- Copilot
- Jet Refueling
- Targeting Capabilities
- Engine Upgrade
-
Wizard modes 1
- World Frenzy
Made by
- Design
- Claude Fernandez
- Art
- Hugh Van Zanten
- Software
- Dan Markham
- Software
- Jeff Marshall
- Sound & Music
- Chris Granner
The cast
- Countries
Reference
Linked terms
- Tower ramp also called Tower also called left ramp
- Reverse scoop ramps also called left reverse scoop also called right reverse scoop
- SHOW targets also called SHOW
- AIR targets also called AIR
- Blue Angels formation also called Formation Awards
- Spinner lane also called Mach Spinner
- Fly-Bys also called Fly-By also called Fly-By King
- Airborne Mystery also called AIRBORNE also called Mystery
- Mach Speed also called Mach 3
- Countries also called Spain
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- black
- blue
- red
- gold
Fingerprint: Enormous eagle head in white and blue screaming from red-orange-blue striped CAPCOM roundel. Blue female pilot in helmet and scarf sprawled between two gold flippers. Three round pop bumper caps glowing in horizontal line, dense chrome wireform ramps, red-lit glass ramp structure. Red and amber lighting throughout.
A large painted eagle head in white and blue, screaming forward out of a red, orange and blue striped roundel that carries the yellow CAPCOM lettering — the CAPCOM logo itself is the biggest single graphic on the lower playfield. A deep-blue painted female pilot figure in a helmet and scarf is sprawled between the two gold flippers at the very bottom. Three big round pop-bumper caps glow in a horizontal line across the upper middle, and the whole top half is a tangle of chrome-plated wireform ramps and a raised red-lit glass ramp. Orange triangular instruction cards with black arrows flank the playfield at both bottom corners.
Setting
- Black playfield background with printed dark blue steel-panel and rivet texture
- Painted sky-and-cloud and aircraft-silhouette artwork across the middle deck
- Chrome wireform ramp and elevated deck structure filling the upper half
- Orange and blue printed card holders on the wooden side rails
Symbols
- Eagle head emblem
- Red-yellow-blue speed stripe roundel
- Round 2x/3x/5x multiplier discs
- Coloured circular inserts
- Black arrowheads on the injector instruction cards
- Qr code on the price card
- Round star-seal approval decal
Notable shapes
- Symmetric wedge-shaped lower playfield narrowing to the two flippers
- Large circular capcom logo disc on the lower left
- Raised glass ramp box in the upper centre
- Curved chrome habitrail along the right edge
- Two orange triangular instruction cards with black arrows at the lower corners
Art motifs
- Metal panel and rivet texture
- Blue-and-white speed chevrons
- Airbrushed cloud and sky gradients
- Chrome ramp wireforms
- Red backbox lighting wash
Themes
- Aviation
- Aerobatic stunt flying
- Aircraft
- Military jet
- Pilot
- Eagle emblem
- Score multipliers
Title on it
- Airborne
Text on it
- CAPCOM
- AIRBORNE
- PLAY BETTER
- PER PLAY
- BALLS PER GAME
- ANGELS STARK NOVELTY
- FLIPPER BUTTONS TO ACTIVATE
- INJECTOR
- INFO
- BALL
- NEITHER
- FLIPPER
- BUTTON FOR
- NO. 00043 A
- 2X
- 3X
- 5X
- Airshows
- Stunts
- Shoot for the blinking lights.
- Pilot Rank
- Advance by completing stunts. Reach the top rank of Ace
- Skill Shot
- Sink 2 balls in center jet
- 3 Ball Max Score
- Sink 3 balls in center jet
- Night Flying Mode
- Extra Ball
- American Novelty
- Payment only if allowed by local law
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Large painted female pilot figure between the flippers at the bottom centre, deep blue helmet and blue flight suit, long scarf, arms raised, seen from above |
| Animal | Stylised white-and-blue eagle head with yellow hooked beak, open mouth, painted on the capcom roundel logo at the lower left of the apron area |
| Vehicle | Printed jet fighter noses and aircraft silhouettes on the middle-deck art, plus a small aircraft graphic either side of the airborne title on the outcard |
| Creature | Orange cartoon bird/beaked figure on a round medallion at the upper left of the playfield |
A full-length view of a black playfield seen from above through the glass, tinted by red, blue and amber backbox lighting. The lower third is a symmetric wedge carrying a large painted blue-and-white eagle/jet-nose motif and a big round logo disc reading CAPCOM in yellow, with red, orange and blue speed stripes trailing rightwards. Two gold-coloured metal flippers sit far apart at the bottom with a blue-dressed female figure painted between them, flanked by two slingshots. A row of circular bonus multipliers marked 2X, 3X and 5X runs above the flippers, and a band of brightly coloured round inserts (red, blue, green, yellow) crosses the middle. The upper half is crowded with raised chrome-plated wire ramps, a curved metal rail on the right, three round pop-bumper caps lit in blue and pink, and stacked decks and tunnels under a big red-lit glass ramp. Card holders on the cabinet rails carry an orange triangular injector instruction card, a blue price card with a QR code, and an orange rules card headed AIRBORNE.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Translite
- orange
- deep blue
- black
- yellow
Fingerprint: AIRBORNE and CAPCOM — giant 3-D extruded orange-yellow letters on black band with white top and cyan shadow, inverted cream city skyline dripping down like stalactites, fighter pilot seen from behind in striped helmet inside black gunsight ring, eight-jet diagonal formation climbing right, hot-air balloon, saturated orange sunset sky with dark blue rooftops
The single most memorable element is the giant extruded 3-D AIRBORNE logo — orange/yellow block letters with a white top edge and a fat cyan-blue side shadow — stranded on a black band at the very top, with smaller white CAPCOM tucked underneath. Second, the whole scene is framed by a pale cream inverted city skyline hanging down from the black band like an upside-down city dripping into the sky. Third, the pilot's orange-and-black striped helmet is seen from directly behind, centred inside a black circular gunsight ring. Fourth, the saturated orange sunset sky makes the dark blue rooftop silhouette and the eight-jet diagonal formation on the right read as flat cut-out shapes.
Setting
- Black night band across the top third
- Pale cream inverted city skyline hanging downward from the black band
- Orange-to-crimson sunset sky with a white sun glow on the horizon
- Dark blue silhouette of dense rooftops and towers across the lower middle
- Receding blue-toned town on the right horizon
Symbols
- Circular gunsight hoop
- Black trapezoidal gunsight reticle
- White contrails and vapour trails
- Inverted city skyline
- Hot-air balloon
- Cockpit instrument panel
Lettering
- Huge extruded 3-d block capitals with orange-to-yellow gradient faces, white top highlight, thick cyan-blue side extrusion; smaller plain white sans-serif capitals beneath
Themes
- Aviation
- Fighter pilot
- Sunset
- City skyline
- Air combat
- First-person dogfight
Title on it
- Airborne
Text on it
- AIRBORNE
- CAPCOM
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Fighter pilot seen from behind, only the head and left hand visible: large rounded flight helmet with orange, red and black concentric striping and a dark visor ridge, no face visible |
| Other | Red-gloved left hand gripping a control stick at lower left |
| Vehicle | Dark blue cockpit interior with instrument panel, dials and gunsight glass, ringed by a thick black circular gunsight hoop |
| Vehicle | Yellow-outlined delta wing sweeping in from the bottom left corner, black-bordered |
| Vehicle | Matching yellow-outlined delta wing sweeping in from the bottom right corner |
| Vehicle | Two dark blue jet silhouettes flying left-to-right in the upper left sky |
| Vehicle | Formation of eight small dark blue fighter jets climbing diagonally in a loose echelon at mid-right |
| Vehicle | Small x-shaped aircraft silhouette high at top right |
| Vehicle | Orange-and-cream striped hot-air balloon or blimp at mid right |
| Other | Large black trapezoidal gunsight reticle block occupying the bottom centre foreground |
A vertically oriented backlit translite in a painted, airbrush-styled bomber-art composition. The top third is near-black, carrying a huge chunky 3-D block word AIRBORNE in orange-to-yellow gradient faces with a white top highlight and a thick cyan-blue extruded shadow, with smaller white CAPCOM centred directly beneath it. From the black band a pale, blocky inverted city skyline hangs downward like stalactites, its cream silhouettes dripping into the scene. The middle and lower two thirds are a blazing orange-to-red sunset sky with a white sun glow on the horizon and a dark blue silhouette of dense rooftops. The view is from behind a fighter pilot: a large orange-and-black striped flight helmet fills the centre, seated behind a dark instrument panel and framed by a black circular gunsight ring, with a red-gloved left hand on the controls at lower left. Yellow-outlined delta wings sweep in from both bottom corners. Around the cockpit: two dark jet silhouettes upper left, a hot-air balloon at right, a formation of eight small dark fighter jets climbing diagonally at mid-right, a small crossed-wing aircraft at top right, and two white contrails sweeping across the sky.