10 votes
Have you seen me?
1: Tom Swift and his Flying Lab (1954)
Fan rating: 10 votes
10 votes
 | Synopsis: The Flying Lab is a giant, supersonic, nuclear-powered aircraft, three levels of high technology and virtually every type of laboratory known to science. A small South American country wants to develop a source of uranium ore, but it is on land controlled by a group of dangerous rebels who want to sell it countries equally as dangerous. Can Tom locate the ore in time, and can he keep ahead of the spies out to stop him? This book sets, among other things, the premise that the Swifts never achieve their goals with the use of force, and never carry weapons. Exotic Locations: Andes mountains |
My Favorite Part
"HOW SOON will the Flying Lab be ready for the test hop, Tom?"
"In about two weeks, Dad. I can hardly wait to take her up."
Mr. Swift looked admiringly at the eighteen-yearold inventor. Tom Jr. resembled his father and had the same deep-set eyes, but he was slightly taller and more slender. The youth and his distinguished parent, both widely known for their scientific achievements, were headed for their experimental station, Swift Enterprises. There the Flying Lab had been built in a mammoth underground hangar.
"The atomic-powered engines should give us a speed of better than a thousand miles an hour, and the jet lifters-"
Tom was cut short by an uncanny whistling roar. An object hurtling from the sky just missed them, its turbulent backwash sprawling them on the ground, as it disappeared over the wall of Swift Enterprises. A split second later there was a tremendous thud and the earth shook.
"A bomb!" Tom shouted, jumping up.
Or a meteor!" his father exclaimed.
This is the opening of the book, and therefore of the series. It might be my favorite because I've read it so often.
The object is, in fact, a meteor, but an artificial one, inscribed with mathematical symbols and directed intentionally to the Swifts. It's senders, aliens whom they at first suspect might be from Mars, become friends, and recur throughout the series.
Inventions and Discoveries
| Amulet | A miniature device, worn in the form of a bracelet, issued to employees of Swift Enterprises. It prevents them from flagging an alarm on the radarscope that protects the facility from intruders. Similar to the Neutralizer Coils. |
| Audiogyrex | A device used aboard the Flying Lab to prevent the "elevator sensation" on rapid ascents and descents. |
| Damonscope | A device to detect radioactive ore deep underground through the fluorescence the radiation induces in surrounding matter. Named after Mr. Damon, one of the Swifts' old friends who passed away. |
| Electronic Key | A remote-control key that identifies the bearer as a Swift employee and opens any of several coded doors at their facilities. This is one invention that actually exists today. |
| Flying Lab | A three-deck supersonic aircraft with complete laboratory facilities on the middle deck. It is atomic powered, and boasts a series of jet lifters for vertical take-off and landing. Named Sky Queen, the Flying Lab is the one invention that shows up in probably all subsequent books. |
| Kangaroo Cub | A miniature delta-wing jet aircraft. |
| Mangalloy | A high-termperature alloy Tom developed for the jet lifters of the Flying Lab. |
| Pencils | No, Tom didn't invent pencils, but these are very special pencils, actually other devices in disguise. The green one is a radio communicator, the red one a soldering iron, and the blue one an infrared snooperscope. These clever gadgets got Tom and Bud out of a serious fix on several occasions. |
| Pigeon Special | A small airplane, one of the Swifts' more successful products, frequently demonstrated to customers by Sandy. |
| Radio Homing Beam | A transmitter that sends a special signal that Swift Enterprizes can track. (Yes, we really have those today.) |
| Skeeter | A miniature 4-seat helicopter. |
| Super Geiger Counter | An ultra-sensitive Geiger counter intended to detect radioactive ore from great distances. This was one of the Swifts' few failures, which failure led to the development of the Damonscope. |
| Swift Spectroscope | A novel spectroscope that relies on a form of radiation that the Swifts discovered was emitted by all matter. |
| Swiftonium | A new transuranium element discovered in the mountains of South America. Used to power some of Tom's inventions. |
| Tomasite | A lightweight, transparent plastic that is more effective than lead at shielding radiation. It also absorbs radio waves, making a vehicle coated with it invisible to radar. Some of Tom Jr.'s inventions, such as the Flying Lab and Jetmarine would be impossible without it. |
Notes
 |
Cottage Industries printed up this miniature version of Tom Swift and his Flying Lab. Yes, it really has
printed pages, but I don't think it's the real text. It doesn't matter, because it's too small to read, anyway. No illustrations.
That's our son Tylor holding it. It's the only time I let one of the kids touch it.
If you're dying to add one to your collection (and who wouldn't!) they're available from TJ's Treasures. |
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Steve Della Maggiora
March 11th, 2006
I just read this:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/stories/s1581469.htm
and my first thought was, someone just invented Tom Swift's Spectroscope!
I grew up with these books also, and constantly find myself amazed at how reality is slowly catching up to where Tom was 50 years ago.
Chuck Miller
November 7th, 2004
These were my favorite books when I was growing up.
Why hasn't anyone in Hollywood made any of these great books into movies?
These could be great kids fare.
CM
Contents of this site, unless otherwise specified, ©2002 - 2012, Duane A. Couchot-Vore
This page last updated 03 Sep 2007.
Database last updated 27 Nov 2011
This page last updated 03 Sep 2007.
Database last updated 27 Nov 2011