Power Dive

Bradley Farrell, a top test pilot for McMasters Aviation Corp., breaks his leg when a new plane crashes due to being too heavy. His younger brother Douglas, an aeronautical engineering graduate, arrives, and Brad insists flying is too risky for him. Brad arranges for Doug to be hired as a design engineer. Doug meets Carol Blake, who is seeking Brad's interest in her father's plastic plane design. Doug pretends to be Brad to impress Carol, but the truth comes out at a local pilots' nightclub. Brad takes Carol flying to impress her, but she only wants him to meet her father. Carol eventually brings her blind father, Professor Blake, to the nightclub, and Brad becomes interested in Blake's designs. That evening, Brad's friend Johnny Coles dies test flying his own plastic plane, leaving behind a family. Despite Johnny's death, Brad convinces McMasters to build Blake's plane, with Doug leading the project. Tensions rise when Doug sees Carol kiss Brad for a newspaper photo and misunderstands. Brad sets a new speed record and proposes to Carol, but she loves Doug. Doug, unaware of Carol's feelings, fights with Brad and quits, but Professor Blake convinces him to return. The plastic plane is completed, and Army officials attend the test flight. Brad resents the test equipment and Doug's presence as a co-pilot. During the flight, Doug passes out during a 9-G dive, and Brad manually lands the plane despite severe injuries. The brothers reconcile, Doug and Carol marry, and Brad takes a desk job as vice-president of McMasters Aviation.