Joe Strong and His Wings of Steel

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Joe Strong has built more than an act: he has built a dream of flight. To his old circus friends, he unveils his secret "wings of steel," a bat-like machine powered by motors and storage batteries, hoping to create a brand-new kind of aerial spectacle that can outshine even an aeroplane. Bold, inventive, and always chasing the next impossible feat, Joe is determined to prove that his machine can lift him safely and open the door to public flights and new earnings. But ambition comes with strain. A disputed inheritance from England threatens the money he needs, while the circus itself struggles for audiences on a poor route. As Joe works on his Bat and grows closer to Helen Morton, a skilled bareback rider with dreams of her own, their mutual concern deepens into romance and shared worry over the dangers they both face. When a runaway balloon carries terrified passengers into the sky, Joe's invention becomes more than a stunt. He launches after it in a tense rescue that tests his courage, ingenuity, and nerve, turning him into the circus's newest sensation and a true hero of the air.