“Looks as if you’ll have to use your new plane,” Bud told Tom.
He was referring to another of Tom’s amazing new inventions, which he had brought along for an emergency of this kind. The plane was part jet plane and part dirigible. After the dirigible’s bag was filled with helium, so the plane could float without power, the bag could then be slowly deflated to bring the ship gently to earth.
4 ELECTRONIC RETROSCOPE
Bud Barclay had nicknamed the craft a “parachute plane” or “paraplane.”
Tom hoped to perfect it to a point where disastrous air crashes would become a thing of the past. His first test model was stowed in the cargo hold.
“You’re right, Bud.” Tom spoke over the microphone to Slim Davis. “Report to the flight corn-par tmentl”
Cutting the main engines, Tom fed power to the jet lifters to hold the ship steady in its present position. Slim, a Swift test pilot, entered the compartment a moment later.
“What’s up, skipper? We almost there?”
“The village should be somewhere below, but we’ll have to use the paraplane for a landing,” Tom explained. “Bud and I will get it ready. Take over.”
“An7 I’m comin’ along,” Chow declared.
As Slim eased into the pilot’s seat, Tom, Bud, and Chow hurried out through the passageway and down a ladder into the cargo hold. The sleek little paraplane, its wings folded neatly into the fuselage, stood with its nose aimed toward the cargo hatch.
“How we goin’ to float down in this contraption?” Chow eyed the strange-looking craft uneasily. “I thought it was s’posed to have some kind o’ balloon or gas bag or somethin’.”