Tom Swift and His Flying Lab by Victor Appleton II Read Free Book Online

danger!
    Realizing that all aspects of work would have to be sped up, the two went their separate ways to their individual projects. As Tom neared the underground hangar, he met Chow.
    "Jumping sunspots!" Tom exclaimed as the good-natured cook approached, wearing a purple and orange plaid shirt.
    "You like it, eh?" Chow asked.
    "It’s enough to start a stampede."
    "Well, I dunno, boss. Steers cain’t see color, kin they?" Chow replied, scratching his almost-bald head.
    During the next two days, father and son applied themselves rigorously to a demanding and accelerated schedule of work. After a conference call between Harlan Ames and Mr. Swift at one end and Harold Tennyson in Washington D.C. at the other, Señor Rigoledo was informed that the project for the Montaguaya government was "go."
    "On behalf of my country, my people, and the Hemispak organization, I humbly thank you," he said. "I shall depart for Cristobal at once."
    The next morning at breakfast Mr. Swift said he was eager to start for his office to work with Tom and the Enterprises electronics team on the new super-Geiger counter. He asked Tom if he was ready to go.
    "I promised Uncle Jake," Tom replied, "that I’d give the Pigeon Special a good workout this morning. He’s about ready to announce the new commuter plane to the public and wants me to see whether I can set it down in somebody’s driveway. I don’t really have the time, but it shouldn’t take long."
    Bud Barclay had breakfasted with the Swifts, as he often did. In most ways, Bud was like a member of the family, and Mr. and Mrs. Swift treated him like their second son. Now Bud spoke up.
    "Listen, Tom, you’re needed to help your Dad. I know all about that new miniplane Swift Construction’s come up with. Let me put it through its paces," he urged. "I’ve been ground-bound way too long."
    "Oh, Bud, no one loves to fly more than you do," observed Mrs. Swift. "I think you must have been born a mile in the air."
    Sandy, who was an excellent pilot, asked if she might fly with Bud, saying that she hoped some day to demonstrate the plane herself to prospective customers.
    "Sure. Go along," Tom said. Bud gave him a look of gratitude. "You can take the Pigeon up and do a few stunts. Bud’ll bring her down."
    Twenty minutes later Bud and Sandy were within the gates of the old Swift Construction Company. Founded by Barton Swift and his famous son, the large facility was now a testing and development center for Swift consumer products, including aircraft. Jake Aturian, a trusted friend of Mr. Swift, was in charge.
    Mechanics rolled out the tiny propeller-driven two-seater, which had stubby wings that curved upward over the top of the fuselage and joined together, forming a flattened hoop. Adapting some unconventional design principles, the Pigeon Special line boasted the ability to take off and land safely in remarkably short and narrow spaces. Ordinary runways would not be required.
    Sandy took it up in a long, graceful arc. "You’re doing real well, San," Bud complimented her, after she had skillfully executed a series of S-turns without air-skidding . "Try some simple stunts. But you’d better get more altitude first," he warned her. "Never do acrobatics with a ship too close to the ground!"
    Sandy immediately eased back on the stick, and the small plane quickly rose another thousand feet.
    "Here goes a loop." Then, mimicking her brother’s voice, she said, "You fly straight and level as you start, then dive a little to pick up speed, and give it some left rudder. As you climb into the loop you add throttle, and at the top of the loop you ease the throttle back."
    Bud grinned as the Pigeon whipped up and over in a creditable loop.
    "Now you’re ready to try a barrel roll," he said, half teasing.
    Sandy puckered her lip, then said, "Budworth, a barrel roll is just a simple turn. Except that you keep the ship turning until it’s upside down and back again. And since I’ll talk myself out of it if