Tom Swift and His Sky Racer, or, the Quickest Flight on Record

Tom Swift Sr. #9

by Victor Appleton

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Adventure

82 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Victor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its successors, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...

The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the ninth book in the original Tom Swift series of scientific adventures intended for boys. It was produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and was published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1911. The author was Howard Garis, a very famous and prolific writer of juvenile fiction of the time, though all of the Tom Swift books appeared under the house pseudonym Victor Appleton. There's an unfortunate racist element in the original series of the books in the person of Eradicate Sampson, a Black employee of the Swifts, who is portrayed in a stereotypically childish manner. The intent was to show him in a positive light as a loyal if amusing part of the group, but remember this was 1911, and his dialog is difficult to read now. In this one, Tom develops a racing monoplane he calls the Humming-Bird, which he proposes to fly at the astonishing speed of one hundred miles per hour and enters a contest for a ten-thousand-dollar prize. Tom's rival and nemesis, Andy Foger, also enters the contest, and Tom suspects he's stolen some secret design plans which have gone missing. (Andy is always up to no good, causing trouble, and sabotaging and attacking Tom in almost every book. In this one, he fire-bombs the Swift workshop. I always wondered why Tom never calls the police and has him put away. Or why he doesn't make the Andy problem go away with a disintegrator ray or something. It sure would have saved a lot of time and money and effort.) Another complication is that Tom's father, Barton, also an inventor, lapses back and forth from bad health to worse, and it's expected that he may not survive. Also on hand are Mr. Damon, eccentric gentlemen and constant companion, Mrs. Barton the housekeeper, his best pal Ned Newton, and Miss Mary Nestor, without whom we would never have gotten the Tom Swift, Jr. series (1954-'71, comprised of 33 novels by Victor Appleton, Jr., of course.) In many of the early Swift novels, Tom is more adventurer than inventor, but in this one he profits handsomely from innovative skills. The contrast of new technology (remember it was 1911) to the status quo is striking, too. At one point, they need to summon a doctor (They made house calls! There was no need to transport an ill person!) to treat the elder Swift, so they tell Eradicate to go get him on his mule, Boomerang. Then they remember that they have one of those newfangled telephone things, and that will be speedier yet. They put some "aromatic ammonia" in Mr. Swift's mouth to help treat his heart attack. (Shades of the early days of Covid treatment ideas the government gave us!) And even if both parties didn't have a 'phone, Tom owns a fleet of race cars, which would probably be faster than poor old Eradicate and Boomerang. I read my Dad's collection of Tom Swift he'd saved from his childhood when I was quite young (I remember thinking the name of one of the characters in this one was quite amusing; a young machinist is named Frank Forker), and I've recently been enjoying revisiting them via Librivox. This one is read by a variety of people doing different chapters, most of whom are quite good. (Though sometimes Mr. Damon is "day-mon" and sometimes he's "dam-min," and sometimes Andy is Foger and sometimes he's Folger.) Anyway, all's well that ends well and (Spoilers! Spoilers!), Tom wins the race, his plane sets the speed record, Mr. Swift recovers, the plans are found not to have been stolen after all, merely misplaced, and Mr. Damon happily blesses everything in sight, as is his wont, as Tom begins to plan his next great achievement, the electric rifle.

[Nikky3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Swift and his Sky Racer! In this exciting story or hero will enter an air race to win 10,000$. But who has stole the plans for his new craft!?!?! And can our hero win? Not only the big race agenst Andy (the town bully) but can he win the bigest race of his life? The race of love and family?!?!?

[Ari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tom Swift is one of the most famous series of early 20th century youth novels. This one, at least, has aged very badly. It's mildly interesting from a history-of-popular-culture point of view, but it's not a good book.

All the characters are very flat. Most are grotesquely exaggerated. The depiction of the Swift family's black gardener is especially painful to read. The gadgetry is described in no detail.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This ninth novel in the series was originally published in 1911 and is sadly the least enjoyable book I've read. There is an utter lack of science in these books, which goes against all previous installments which informs (teaches) young readers how Tom is accomplishing such wild things.

Tom is invited to take place in a flying competition with the fastest plane winning ten thousand dollars. Tom is eager to enlist, but his father becomes ill--it's revealed he has a heart ailment. What kind is never identified, but it's one that could kill him. During construction of his new plane, which is vaguely described as mimicking a hummingbird, though the wings don't vibrate like the tiny bird, someone steals the plans. Naturally assumption falls upon nasty neighbor Andy Folger and there follows a drawn out back and forth with both boys spying on one another.

Cutting to the chase, father's condition worsens just as the race approaches, and Tom has to decide upon staying with his father or participating in the race.

The only science of mention is clever bomb dropped on the shed where his plane is stored. That's only one chapter of interest. The rest of the book is melodramatic.

I expect better, Mr. Appleton! I'll continue to read this series occasionally.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book Tom Swift and His Sky Racer, published in 1911, the focus is back on inventions and their use in “saving the day” and competition. There are no searches for diamonds or gold or other valuable items. In the first chapter, Tom is invited to participate in a race of aeroplanes because it is thought that the competition would not be complete without an entry from a Swift. Also, his growing reputation would add prestige to the tournament. After consideration, he agrees to compete. Note that the $10,000 prize in 1911 would be a little more than $263,000 today. The story is about the sky racer he invents and his adventures with it. Once again, Andy Foger appears as Tom’s rival and may or may not have done some dastardly deeds. Another thread in the book involves Tom’s father’s declining health. It is a good story with many obstacles presented and overcome. I consider it to be one of the better books in the Tom Swift series.

Some reviewers complain that this Tom Swift book and other Tom Swift books “do not age well.” They should remember two things. First, these books were published in the early 1900s for young boys. They should be read with that understanding. Two, the past should be viewed in context. Consider two swimmers — Johnny Weismuller and Katie Ledecky. Here are four paragraphs from The Friedel Chronicles written on August 13, 2016. They are part of the coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, during which Katie Ledecky was 19 years old.

“Everybody knows Johnny Weissmuller. He played Edgar Rice Burroughs’s ape man Tarzan in twelve motion pictures, creating a legend. Can anyone forget his jungle call and monosyllabic language?

“But did you know that Weissmuller was the greatest swimmer of the first half of the 20th Century? He won five Olympic gold medals and fifty-two U.S. National Championships, and set sixty-seven world records. He was never beaten in official competition in his entire career.

“Weissmuller was the first man to swim the 100-meter freestyle under one minute, and in 1924 set a world record of 57.4 seconds, which stood for ten years. In 1927 he swam the 200-meter freestyle in 2 min 08.0 sec, a record that would last eight years. In 400 meters his 1923 record was 4 minutes and 57.0 seconds, his 800 meter World Record time we will tell you in a minute. For now all we want to say is that Weissmuller was a swimming legend who completely dominated the field in the 1920s. He had no challengers.

“So what was Weissmuller’s 800-meter World Record, set on July 27, 1927? Ten minutes and 22.2 seconds. Which means that our Katie Ledecky, had she been competing at the time, would have had to wait for two full minutes for the fastest man in the world to finish in second place — actually two minutes and 17.51 seconds. Enough time to hear the US National Anthem in full.”

In other swimming distances, I believe that other female swimmers of today also have better times than Weismuller had when he swam competitively. Katie Ledecky’s achievements today should not cause any tarnish on Johnny Weismuller’s achievements in his day. Both should be admired in the context of their time. I read the Tom Swift books in the same spirit.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the last book, I speculated that the authors crashed a previous airship to try and get Tom Swift into something a little less unlikely than the last monstrosity of an airplane. Well this one is just as odd in its own unworkable way. The main problem of the book is that it goes back to the Tom invents something but we don't tell you much about it formula.
In addition, the subplot is completely maudlin and contrived. The whole thing is a poorly written bore. Fortunately, the next book in the series seems to have Tom hit the road. Here's hoping for a better romp, next time as the series needs desperately to improve from this entry!

[Steve Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good classical story

Tom Swift is very resourceful in this story. He builds a very fast airplane and wins a big prize while he is worried about his father's health. I liked this book.

[Keller Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun adventure story and easy mindless read. I should have read more as a kid, I would have loved these books. As an adult I can make up on what I missed now and have a greater appreciation.

[Agnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book itself is beautiful.

Published in 1911 there's quite a bit of cringey racism.

Other than that (!) a dumbed down adventure for early 1900s boys.

[Rhonda Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is not as good as some of the others. Tom does a lot of jumping to conclusions and things seem more trite than in the rest of the series. The science, as always, is fun. I like the ideas they had for the future of scientific achievement. I am also amused by the things they got wrong.

[Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom is actually a bit of a jerk. Way too full of himself and figuring other specific characters are to blame for everything. Those other characters are jerks too, but still... I think most everyone would actually not like him very much.

They'd just pretend to, because his family is wealthy.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1911, this book is a member of the series of books about the original Tom Swift. That series was the start of a set of series starring a teen inventor called Tom Swift. The second series featured Tom Swift junior, with more modern adventures. To present day readers accustomed to more sophisticated technologies, the inventions in the original series seem rather quaint.
Yet, like all of the Tom Swift books, they planted a seed in in the minds of many adolescent boys, some of which were hopelessly bitten by the science and technology bug and went on to build later technologies. For this reason, these books had a magnifying effect on society.
This book features a plane that is designed to go at the incredible speed of over 100 miles-per-hour. Given that modern autos are capable of exceeding that speed, it is necessary to adopt a mindset of time and technology past. If you can do this, then you can enjoy this book. It is also possible to see a bit of the later Hardy Boys genre in this book, specifically when Tom gets knocked unconscious, a regular feature of the Hardy adventures. I very much enjoyed the look back to the time when incredible speeds were nothing like what they are now.

[David Hibberd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Tom Swift Sr. books as a child and again when I got my Kindle in 2010. They are an easy read and enjoyable. It is interesting to see how writing has changed since these books were written.

[Cindy DeLong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books. A great escape from the problems of the current era.

[Tiffany Tinkham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good old classic young readers book about a young inventor that invents this awesome inventions and then goes on these wild and crazy adventures, sometimes getting into trouble in the process.