Destination 60,000

After Ed Buckley, head of the Buckley Aircraft Corp., shows his former wartime flying companion, Jeff Connors, a model of a new jet aircraft, "The Dream," which he has designed and built, Jeff asks to be the one to test it. Ed is pleased to hire him, as Jeff saved his life during the war and is a longtime friend of his wife Ruth, and godfather to their son "Skip." Jeff undergoes a physical examination and begins a course conducted by pilot Mickey Hill to refamiliarize him with jets. When there is a need to test a new fuel mixture at an altitude of sixty thousand feet, Mickey volunteers to fly the test. However, because Mickey's wife Grace is pregnant, Ed is reluctant to assign him and gives the job to Jeff, who will cut the rockets off for ten seconds, then attempt to reignite them. The test begins when "The Dream" is released from underneath a B-29 and soars to the required altitude. As instructed, Jeff switches off the rockets, counts to ten, then switches on the ignition, but nothing happens. Ed, on the ground, radioes him to eject but Jeff thinks he can make it back to the field. However, the plane explodes and Jeff is forcibly ejected, but lands safely after the automatic parachute deploys. Later, Ed asks Jeff if he remembers trying the ignition switch a second time and fears that an accumulation of gases during the switch-off may have caused the explosion. As Jeff blacked out after failing to obey Ed's order, he cannot remember if he tried to reignite a second time. Ed places Jeff on a thirty-day suspension, but Jeff quits. Over the next several weeks, Ed and his partner, Dan Maddox, build another prototype that Mickey is assigned to test at high altitude. Mickey follows the same procedure and again the rockets fail to reignite and he blacks out as the plane hurtles to earth. Fortunately, Mickey's arm hits the seat ejector switch and he ejects at a thousand feet above the ground, but is badly injured when he lands. Jeff returns to visit Mickey in the hospital, and their conversation makes it clear to Grace that Mickey will recover. Jeff then apologizes to Ed, begins the thirty-day suspension and resumes a romance with Mary Ellen, Ed's secretary. From the wreckage of Mickey's plane, Dan has discovered that the ignition switch failed after the ten-second count and, despite the fact that their bankers are becoming worried about the stability of the company, he and Ed build yet another prototype. Ed decides to test a theory that a power dive before reignition might help, even though the dive will add considerable danger to the procedure. After Grace gives birth to a boy, Mickey returns and wants to fly the test, but his doctor advises Ed that Mickey should never fly again. Meanwhile, Jeff and Mary Ellen become engaged. Later, after Ed decides that he will fly the plane himself, Jeff reminds him of his obligations to wife and son, but Ed is adamant. Jeff finally agrees but insists on following Ed in another plane. The test begins as a B-29 again drops "The Dream" and Ed climbs from forty to sixty thousand feet, where he switches off the rockets, goes into a dive, counts to ten and successfully reignites. However, Ed then blacks out and Jeff radioes a May Day call, alerting him, as in their wartime days, with the words "Bandits at two o'clock." Ed revives and pulls out of the dive. The test is a success and after both Ed and and Jeff land safely, they return to Ruth and Mary Ellen.