In this second adventure of the new series, young inventor Tom Swift is approached by the airline industry. They have a big problem... well, two problems. First, as people build closer and closer to airports, noise complaints continue to grow. And, rather than tell people to stop moving next to busy airports, several state governments have demanded that additional steps be taken to reduce noise. But, about every possible step has already been instituted. They need Tom's help.The other problem is the soaring price of fuel. So, is there any way Tom can also make jet engines more efficient? Again, just about everything has been done toward that.Design after design and test after test prove insufficient to meet one or the other requirement, and definitely not both of them together. Finally a chance encounter by his sister and girlfriend with a stranger brings a light to the end of Tom's tunnel, and he is off.Through all this Tom and Swift Enterprises have been the victims of industrial espionage. It all comes to a head when, one the very even of Tom's public announcement of a solution, his designs are unveiled by a rival manufacturer.
About the Author: Victor Appleton II (and his predecessor, Victor Appleton) is the blanket pen name for a group of authors-for-hire who wrote all the Tom Swift novels starting back in 1910. The V.A. II for this Tom Swift Invention Series is a single author who grew up entranced by the world of Tom Swift Jr. He is now quite a long way from being a young reader, but still still remembers the thrill of reading about the famous teen inventor who could do anything from rocketing into space, building robots, communicating with aliens, and creating a road that could float in the air. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest-the author, not Tom!-where his time is divided between writing and being a lazy retired guy. While he hopes that both old and new readers will enjoy the stories, he offers a word of caution: The innocence and naiveté of the original Tom Jr, along with some of the lesser characters, do not appear in these books. Some have been replaced by "stronger" individuals. There are a few people with similar names but this series is not just an add-on to the 1954-1971 books. It takes place in the near future to today that sees our hero more involved in issues concerning all of mankind rather than just building stuff. They are still meant to be enjoyed by readers as young as 8-9 who possess good reading skills, and can be enjoyed by people the author's own age bracket, that being below, at or above the 60-year mark. A total of at least 20 books are planned with the first 12 written as of December 2013.