STAR-RAKER

The Star-Raker is a new supersonic airliner which fulfills the dream of a singleminded Scotchman, Sir Iain, as now- near the end of its testing phase- it is assured a government contract. However, on one of its runs, a pilot blacks out, on a second trial a pilot dies, and on a third flight the cancer-resisting properties of some plasma are ruined. With the evidence that both pilots have been cancer casualties, the question remains whether high altitude flying is carcinogenic, and, while Sir Iain is determined to protect his plane, Fiona, his daughter, engaged in cancer research, wants no further victims- certainly not Keith Hamilton, also a test pilot. It is Fiona who spots the trouble zone and, to substantiate her findings, jeopardizes her own life, but eventually is able to prove her case- and herself- to her father.... A sounding of new spheres is effectively popularized; along with the several liens on the reader's sympathy, it offers some instant excitement.