(108) Magic Island - A Test Flight

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode 108 — Magic Island: A Test Flight (June 14, 2026)

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Episode Overview

This episode features an action-packed and scientifically imaginative chapter from Magic Island, a beloved radio drama from the golden age of radio. The story centers around Captain Bradford and Jerry Hall as they embark on a pivotal test flight in a remarkable rocket plane—one that doubles as a submarine—within the depths of the secret undersea city of Euclidea. Their goal is to uncover the plane’s weaknesses as part of a grander plan to escape Euclidea and thwart its world-threatening activities. Accompanied by Cheops, the Euclidean master builder, and Thales, their electrical expert, the group faces both technological marvels and mounting tension as they test the boundaries of aviation and loyalty.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Preparations for the Test Flight

• Setting: 400 feet beneath the ocean surface in the underwater city of Euclidea, the group gathers in the rocket ship chamber awaiting the arrival of Thales (00:30).
• Roles and Pride: Cheops, proud of Euclidea’s scientific prowess, expresses skepticism that Captain Bradford, "a mere engineer," could discover flaws in the rocket plane that the local experts missed.
  • Quote:
    • Cheops (01:44): "How can you, a mere engineer in your world, hope to discover what we of Euclidea's great scientific fountainhead have overlooked?"
• Tension between characters: Jerry defends Captain Bradford’s intelligence, causing minor friction with Cheops, who finds Jerry "annoying" but not angering (02:03).

2. Safety and Mission Constraints

• Flight Limits: Thales reveals strict test parameters: never exceed 100 miles from Euclidea, nor ascend above 50,000 feet; these restrictions are designed to limit escape possibilities (02:32).
• Capabilities and Weaknesses: Captain Bradford notes the limited payload capacity, while Cheops counters with the plane’s massive cruising range (03:39).
  • Quote:
    • Jerry Hall (03:53): "You don't have to carry very much when you can travel a thousand miles an hour for 10,000 miles."

3. The Launch Sequence: From Submarine to Surface

• Lock Mechanism Explained: The group boards the plane, which transitions through a lock filled with water before surfacing—using air chambers for buoyancy and giant magnets to return the lock to position (04:55–05:49).
  • Quote:
    • Cheops (05:06): "The walls of this lock are air Chambers. These will carry us to the desired depth."
• Technological Marvel: The plane is equally capable under water (at 50–75 mph) and in the air, highlighting advanced multi-modal engineering (04:34).

4. Surveillance and Secrecy

• Stealth Features: Before surfacing, Thales uses prism reflectors to check a 100-mile radius for watchers. The surface is considered clear for takeoff (06:37).
• Magnetic Fog: After surfacing, the ship generates instant “magnetic fog” to shield itself from observation.
  • Quote:
    • Cheops (08:13): "We are surrounded by a ring of magnetic fog."
    • Captain Bradford (08:16): "This plane has created its own fog ring instantly."
• Safety Protocols: No detail is left to chance; the fog is dissolved only when airborne and safe from observers.

5. The Test Flight Takes Off

• Transition to Flight: The group readies the "air fins" (wings) and launches into the sky (09:00).
• Incredible Performance: Cheops touts speeds of up to 800 mph and climbs of 10,000 feet per minute—accomplished without noise or discomfort due to "universal joint" chairs and advanced engineering (09:11–09:41).
  • Quote:
    • Captain Bradford (09:18): "4,000ft of climb a minute and we can't even feel it."
• Technical Explanation: Cheops describes the silent propulsion system (compressed gas mixed with a secret "free agent" and hydrogen), which relies on controlled, continuous explosions. The craft is flying nearly at the speed of sound (10:17–11:00).
  • Quote:
    • Cheops (10:03): "But what I can't understand is how this compressed gas you use for fuel. We'll drive this huge metal contrivance upward at 15 degrees and forward at 800 miles an hour and do it all noiselessly."
    • Cheops (11:00): "The captain is correct. Our speed is almost identical with the speed at this temperature and this altitude."
• Awe and Wonder: Jerry and Captain Bradford marvel at the technology and the uniqueness of their experience.
  • Quote:
    • Captain Bradford (11:20): "More than that, Jerry. We're taking a trip we can remember for a long time."

6. Sudden Crisis: Detection of Another Aircraft

• Disturbance Detected: Thales interrupts with an urgent warning—there’s a disturbance on their "radiograph," possibly another flying machine at a higher altitude. Communications are established with Euclidea for guidance (11:24–12:12).
  • Quote:
    • Thales (11:24): "Silence. There is a disturbance on the radiograph."
    • Cheops (12:01): "That can mean but one thing. There is another flying machine of some type on our course and at greater altitude. We will remain at this course, come what may."
• Cliffhanger: The episode ends with a tense uncertainty, the crew maintaining their course in the face of the unknown.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Cheops’ skepticism: "How can you, a mere engineer in your world, hope to discover what we of Euclidea's great scientific fountainhead have overlooked?" (01:44)
• Jerry vs. Cheops: "Nothing this prattling young fool could say would make me angry. It merely annoys me." — Cheops (02:03)
• Explaining the plane’s capacity: "You don't have to carry very much when you can travel a thousand miles an hour for 10,000 miles." — Jerry Hall (03:53)
• On the lock system: "The walls of this lock are air Chambers. These will carry us to the desired depth." — Cheops (05:06)
• On stealth technology: "We are surrounded by a ring of magnetic fog." — Cheops (08:13)
• Impressive ascent: "4,000ft of climb a minute and we can't even feel it." — Captain Bradford (09:18)
• Technical marvel: "But what I can't understand is how this compressed gas you use for fuel. We'll drive this huge metal contrivance upward at 15 degrees and forward at 800 miles an hour and do it all noiselessly." — Captain Bradford (10:03)
• Danger approaches: "There is another flying machine of some type on our course and at greater altitude." — Cheops (12:01)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:30 – 01:44: Scene set; scientific egos clash
• 02:32 – 03:56: Test flight limitations and aircraft capabilities defined
• 04:12 – 05:49: Boarding, lock operation, and surfacing
• 06:37 – 07:19: Use of prism reflectors, security protocols, and the “magnetic fog”
• 09:00 – 11:20: Test flight’s astonishing performance and technical discussion
• 11:24 – 12:12: Unexpected contact indicated; new threat detected

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Tone and Language

The exchange is lively and occasionally tense, blending Jerry’s youthful enthusiasm (“Oh, boy, we’re flying!”), Bradford’s measured curiosity, and the Euclideans’ cold scientific pride. The playful ribbing is balanced with high-stakes scientific intrigue, maintaining an engaging, classic sci-fi adventure feel throughout.

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For listeners and old-time radio fans:
This episode is a prime showcase of Magic Island’s imaginative storytelling, blending technical jargon, suspenseful turns, and character interplay—the perfect example of why these golden age dramas captivated generations before television.

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Transcript

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[Narrator]

Captain Bradford and Jerry hall are about to begin the test flight which they hope will lay the foundation for their ultimate escape. Then, following the escape, Captain Bradford's formula will be used to gain possession of the magic island and force the Euclideans to give up their mad scheme of world terrorism. Down in the strange underwater city of Euclidea, 400ft below the surface of the ocean, Jerry and the captain are standing in the immense rocket ship chamber, examining one of the thousand mile an hour planes, which is also a submarine. Cheops, the master builder of Euclidia, explains something of the weird plane's action as they wait for Thales, the Euclidean electrical expert. Thales will accompany them on their first ride in the rocket ship.

[Jerry Hall]

I sure wish that fella Thales would hurry up and get here. I'd like to take a ride in this thing.

[Captain Bradford]

Are you going along, Cheops?

[Cheops]

Naturally. As the master builder of Euclidea, my place is with this rocket plane while it is being tested. Thales is responsible for the electrical impulses used, G47 for the mechanics of the hole, and mine is the responsibility for the construction of the plane.

[Jerry Hall]

Well, the captain's going to try and find out what's wrong with these things.

[Captain Bradford]

Well, not exactly that, Jerry. G47 merely asked me to make some test runs in these ships and see if I could discover any weakness in them.

[Cheops]

All of which is most ridiculous if the Euclideans can find no flaw in their work. How can you, a mere engineer in your world, hope to discover what we of Euclidea's great scientific fountainhead have overlooked?

[Jerry Hall]

Oh, you think Tex isn't as smart as you are, huh?

[Captain Bradford]

Steady, Jerry.

[Cheops]

Have no fear, Captain. Nothing this prattling young fool could say would make me angry. It merely annoys me.

[Jerry Hall]

Okay, I'll keep still.

[Captain Bradford]

Might be just as well.

[Jerry Hall]

All right, I won't say anything more about it, but I can go right on thinking that captain's smarter than you are.

[Thales]

You will confine yourself to thinking at once. Is the rocket plane prepared?

[Captain Bradford]

How do you do, Thales?

[Cheops]

The Plane is prepared for 500 miles. 1/2 hour of flying.

[Thales]

So G47 puts little trust in our dear captain.

[Cheops]

Obviously, the orders are to remain within 100 miles of Euclidea, conducting our experiments while circling at altitudes not to exceed 50,000ft.

[Thales]

Excellent. That will make it rather difficult for you to attempt any trickery, Captain.

[Captain Bradford]

Decidedly so. Hmm. We're not to exceed 50,000ft in altitude.

[Cheops]

Correct.

[Captain Bradford]

But we could exceed that. I mean, these planes will fly at altitudes greater than 50,000ft.

[Thales]

Naturally, these rocket planes cannot attain their maximum speed. Until they reach the rarefied atmosphere above 50,000ft.

[Cheops]

Golly, whiskers, what did you say?

[Jerry Hall]

Oh, nothing.

[Thales]

That is probably true.

[Captain Bradford]

Well, gentlemen, if you've amused yourselves sufficiently at our expense, I suggest we get along with this cruise.

[Cheops]

Agreed. Thales, will you enter your compartment?

[Thales]

I will. Bradford and hall will sit behind me in the gas chamber. You Chaops will occupy the stern section.

[Captain Bradford]

I want to see everything that goes on. Can I watch it all from here?

[Cheops]

Easily.

[Thales]

Though these interiors give the impression of considerable size. Most of that is used for fuel storage and instruments.

[Captain Bradford]

Well, I'd say there was a big weakness there. You can't carry much of a payload in one of these things.

[Thales]

That is indeed worthy of consideration. But perhaps you forget the cruising radius.

[Jerry Hall]

Yeah. You don't have to carry very much when you can travel a thousand miles an hour for 10,000 miles.

[Captain Bradford]

That's true enough, son. Well, are we all set?

[Thales]

I am ready.

[Cheops]

Ready? Yep.

[Thales]

You may all relax in your compartments. There is no appreciable sensation involved.

[Jerry Hall]

What's going on now?

[Cheops]

We are now moving down an incline into the lock.

[Captain Bradford]

Must be plenty of pressure on that

[Narrator]

lock at this depth.

[Cheops]

As we enter the lock, it will be closed about us and raised to within five fathoms of the surface. At that point, the pressures within the lock and without will be equalized. And our rocket plane will slip out into the water.

[Captain Bradford]

The rocket plane acts as well as a submarine as it does as an airship.

[Thales]

Yes, though at moderate speeds.

[Jerry Hall]

Something slow. Like 50 or 75 miles an hour. Underwater, huh?

[Thales]

Precisely.

[Captain Bradford]

That's plenty fast for us.

[Cheops]

The lock is now being filled with water. In a few seconds, we will be on our way to the surface.

[Jerry Hall]

Is it all right if I ask a question?

[Thales]

Anything within reason will be answered.

[Jerry Hall]

Well, this is a mighty good question, I think. How does this lock get up to the surface with us?

[Captain Bradford]

You just beat me to it, Jerry. I was going to ask that.

[Cheops]

The process is quite obvious. The lock is now full. The walls of this lock are air Chambers. These will carry us to the desired depth.

[Captain Bradford]

But how does it work? After we get up there, I will

[Thales]

open this visibility slide. You may then see the operator in the lock.

[Jerry Hall]

Gee, look, Tex, there's a fellow in the corner of the lock with a lot of instruments and gadgets around him. Yep, we're going up.

[Captain Bradford]

I suppose it's all very simple to you, but I don't understand half I see around here. How does the lock get back down here again after we leave it?

[Cheops]

That is very simple, Captain Bradford. The air chambers are flooded and the lock sinks slowly.

[Captain Bradford]

How do you control the return to the landing ramp we've just left?

[Thales]

The giant Euclidean magnets will pull the lock back into position. And these locks may be used at any of the ramps as their only contact with the ramp is electrical.

[Jerry Hall]

Boy, this is sure something, isn't it, Tex?

[Captain Bradford]

It sure is, Jerry. What would the folks back home think of this one?

[Cheops]

We will now leave the lock. In a few seconds, we will proceed under our own power.

[Jerry Hall]

Well, let's not waste much time using this thing as a submarine. I want to see how it works as an airship.

[Captain Bradford]

I'm a little impatient for that myself, kid.

[Thales]

We are now free of the lock.

[Jerry Hall]

Gee, can we go up to the surface now?

[Cheops]

One moment. It is necessary to observe the surface of the water for a considerable distance.

[Captain Bradford]

Might be a good idea to make sure no one is watching us at that.

[Thales]

I am now using the prism reflectors. The surface is clear of all shipping within a radius of 100 miles.

[Jerry Hall]

You can see 100 miles in all directions with that thing?

[Thales]

Naturally not.

[Captain Bradford]

Then how does it work?

[Cheops]

On the principle of the electric eye, this instrument transmits a constant beam in all directions. It has an effective range of 100 miles. If the beam is not interrupted. There is no magnetic or metallic body within that range.

[Jerry Hall]

Hey, but how about Euclidea? We're not more than a few hundred feet from that place. It's got magnets all over it.

[Thales]

This beam is refracted along the surface of the water only. We would receive no impulses from a depth of more than three fathoms.

[Captain Bradford]

How about a submarine?

[Thales]

The speed of submarines from your world is so ridiculously low and their clumsy shape so easily identified that the main control room on Euclidia would have notified us when such a vessel was within 200 miles.

[Cheops]

Are you prepared to rise to the surface?

[Thales]

I am prepared.

[Cheops]

Proceed.

[Jerry Hall]

Gee, now what's happened?

[Thales]

We are now lying on the surface of the water.

[Captain Bradford]

Did you close that visibility slide? I can't see a Thing?

[Cheops]

Did you think we would burst out of the water for a chance observer to see?

[Jerry Hall]

I thought you said we were safe.

[Thales]

Nothing is left to chance on Euclidia.

[Captain Bradford]

Well, I still can't figure it out. What is the fact that I can't see anything got to do with our safety?

[Cheops]

We are surrounded by a ring of magnetic fog.

[Captain Bradford]

This plane has created its own fog ring instantly.

[Cheops]

Precisely.

[Jerry Hall]

I'll say it was Precisely.

[Thales]

Are you ready for the air fins?

[Cheops]

Ready.

[Jerry Hall]

Are the wings going out now?

[Thales]

They are. You will be able to see them once we are in the air and there is no further need of the fog ring.

[Cheops]

The fins are in place.

[Thales]

Very well. I will dissolve the fog ring.

[Jerry Hall]

Gtex. Look. The fog's gone.

[Captain Bradford]

Yes, Jerry, it didn't take long.

[Cheops]

We are ready for a test flight. I will make such explanations as may be required. Thales, you will navigate.

[Thales]

Right. We rise.

[Jerry Hall]

Oh, boy, we're flying.

[Captain Bradford]

What's our speed? Cheops?

[Cheops]

We are flying at the rate of 500 miles an hour and gaining altitude at the rate of 4,000ft per minute.

[Captain Bradford]

4,000ft of climb a minute and we can't even feel it.

[Jerry Hall]

Well, these chairs of ours are on universal joints. Just like they were in the regular submarines.

[Cheops]

Precisely. Now, if you will watch this instrument panel before me, you will note our progress as I increase our speed to 800 miles an hour and our rate of climb to 10,000ft per minute.

[Captain Bradford]

10,000ft a minute.

[Cheops]

Observe the instruments.

[Jerry Hall]

But hey, 10,000ft a minute. That's pretty near straight up.

[Captain Bradford]

It might be, Jerry, if our forward speed wasn't so terrific.

[Cheops]

Precisely. We progress forward 702,000ft while climbing only 10,000ft in 60 seconds. Therefore, our actual rate of climb is something less than 15 degrees.

[Captain Bradford]

Yes, it all sounds very simple when you figure it like that. But what I can't understand is how this compressed gas you use for fuel. We'll drive this huge metal contrivance upward at 15 degrees and forward at 800 miles an hour and do it all noiselessly.

[Cheops]

The gas is very simple. You are quite aware that hydrogen is inflammable and therefore, under proper conditions, also explosive.

[Captain Bradford]

Sure, we know that.

[Cheops]

We merely admit the air through tubes in the nose of the plane. This is properly mixed with a free agent, which I must decline to reveal to you. And as the gas is released through tubes in the stern, it mixes with natural hydrogen in the air, causing a series of explosions.

[Jerry Hall]

But, golly, we can't hear these explosions.

[Captain Bradford]

Well, I'm not enough of a lightning calculator to have it all figured out in my head. But it seems to me that we must be traveling at approximately the speed of sound.

[Jerry Hall]

You mean we're going as fast as sound travels?

[Cheops]

The captain is correct. Our speed is almost identical with the speed at this temperature and this altitude. However, even if we could remain stationary during the discharge of the gas, you would not be conscious of it as the explosions are continuous and do not disturb the air within this plane.

[Jerry Hall]

Boy, this is sure some airship.

[Captain Bradford]

More than that, Jerry. We're taking a trip we can remember for a long time.

[Thales]

Silence.

[Jerry Hall]

What's the matter?

[Thales]

Silence. There is a disturbance on the radiograph.

[Cheops]

I will establish communications with euclidia. Straighter plane X1 reporting. Straighter plane X1 to Euclidea. There is a disturbance on our radiograph. Instructions. Waiting for instructions.

[Captain Bradford]

What's this liable to mean?

[Cheops]

It might mean a number of things, though. In all probability our course has been crossed by another Euclidean craft.

[Thales]

The beam to Euclidea is clear.

[Cheops]

Precisely. That course signal is steady. But this instrument continues to register disturbance. That can mean but one thing. There is another flying machine of some type on our course and at greater altitude. We will remain at this course, come what may.

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