Tom Swift and His Air Glider: Seeking the Platinum Treasure

The book opens with Tom trying with mixed success to get someone to go along with him and try out an airplane that he had recently been working on. After getting off to a good start and proving that his concept worked, the plane's engine died and Tom had to volplane back to earth. Upon checking for a problem, Tom found that his platinum-tipped spark plugs, due to the extremely bad quality platinum, had crystallized. Platinum, it seems, was becoming an ever-rarer commodity, and it was nearly...