Dive Bomber

Lt. “Swede” Larson, Louis Jean Heydt blacks out during a high-speed dive and crashes while a bombing squadron trains from a carrier off Hawaii. At the Honolulu base hospital, Joe Blake, Fred MacMurray is concerned that Larson may not pull through. Doug Lee, Errol Flynn, a U.S. Navy doctor, convinces his senior surgeon, Moroni Olsen, to operate, but the pilot dies on the operating table. After Blake blames Lee for rushing the procedure, the doctor decides to become a naval flight surgeon and winds up training at the U.S. Naval Air Station in San Diego under a cadre of instructors, including Blake. A subplot introduces Linda Fisher, Alexis Smith, a divorcee who becomes a love interest for the two rivals.

As Lee completes his flight training, he is posted as assistant to the senior flight surgeon, Lance Rogers, Ralph Bellamy. Together, they embark on experimental research aimed at solving the problem of pilot blackout during extreme altitude and high-speed maneuvers.

Although Lee earns his naval aviator status, Blake resents his judgment and grounds an old friend, Tim Griffin, Regis Toomey, who suffers from chronic fatigue. Griffin resigns from the Navy and joins the Royal Air Force in Canada, and he later dies when he misjudges his approach during an attempted landing. Blake eventually accepts that Lee is trying to help pilots survive dangerous, high-altitude flying, and he volunteers as a guinea pig for aerial experiments. The first test flight of a pressurized cabin nearly ends in disaster when the aircraft ices up and Blake passes out, forcing Lee to take over.

After ground testing of a pressure suit developed jointly by Lee and Blake, Blake is told he did not pass his most recent flight physical and will be grounded. Without permission, Blake proceeds with the aerial testing of the new suit. Tragically, the oxygen regulator fails, Blake loses consciousness, and he fatally crashes. His notes are salvaged from the wreckage, and mass production of the suit soon begins. In the final scene, Blake’s sacrifice is acknowledged while Lance Rogers and Doug Lee are honored for their pioneering work in protecting pilots flying at high altitude.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:06