The aircraft boys of Lakeport: or, Rivals of the clouds

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"The aircraft boys of Lakeport" by Edward Stratemeyer is a juvenile adventure novel written in the early 20th century. It follows Lakeport boys Joe and Harry Westmore, Fred Rush, Link Darrow, and Bart Mason as they plunge into early aviation—rescuing an injured airman, inheriting his biplane, and facing jealous rivals while learning to fly.

The opening of the novel finds the boys on an auto outing when a biplane, piloted by elderly Andrew A. Akers, sputters overhead, drops a locked black tin box, and then crashes into treetops near Owl Lake. The boys retrieve the box, discover Akers injured, spirit him to hunter Joel Runnell’s home after he refuses doctors and pointedly avoids Thomas Mason’s lodge, and receive a signed paper granting them the stranded biplane. Their rivals Si Voup and Ike Boardman briefly snatch the machine, but Joe’s firm stand forces its return; the boys test the motor, haul the parts to town, and face local chatter about whether they’ll dare to fly. Spurred by the talk and with cautious parental consent, they arrange lessons over the lake with Mr. Corsen’s chauffeur, James Slosson, who begins ground instruction and attempts the first trial.