''Tom Swift and His Sky Racer, or, The Speediest Flight on Record'', is Volume 9 in the original

Tom Swift Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes. The character was ...

novel series published by

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

Plot summary

A $10,000 prize lures Tom into competing at a local aviation meet at Eagle Park. Tom is determined to build the fastest plane around, but his plans mysteriously disappear, which means Tom must redesign his new airplane from the beginning. A side-plot through the story is Mr. Swift's failing health.

Inventions & Innovation

Tom's Sky Racer, known as the ''Humming-Bird'', is a two-seater monoplane, like his previous

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

the ''Butterfly''. However, the Sky Racer, is smaller and faster — making it ideal for air racing. It uses a single gasoline,

air-cooled engine Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

, which can attain air speeds of well over 100 mph with a minimum thrust of 1000 lbs at 2000rpm. Tom also invented an automated stabilizing unit which allowed the Sky Racer to handle adverse weather conditions without loss of control. The Sky Racer's design was compared to that of the

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most fam ...

and the

Antoinette VII The Antoinette VII was an early French aircraft, flown in 1909. History The VII was a further development of the Antoinette IV, with increased engine power and using a wing warping system implemented by Levavasseur for the Antoinette V in plac ...

, however its wings were patterned after that of the

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

, rather than standard rectangular wings.

External links

* 1911 American novels Tom Swift American young adult novels Aviation novels {{1910s-ya-novel-stub