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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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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.
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.
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.