And You Will Find Love

Barbara was surprised he would admit he was dealing with Adolph Hitler who had just started a Nazi air force, the Luftwaffe. She had read that his armies had just marched into the Rhineland in defiance of international non-aggression treaties.

Did Chet think she didn't read the newspapers? How could she put it, to put him down?

"I was so glad when our Jesse Owens won more gold medals than the Nazi athletes at the Olympics in Berlin last August," she said casually. "Didn't Herr Hitler leave the stadium, rather than congratulate a black man? And I may not know much about foreign politics and business, but wouldn't doing business with Hitler put you on the wrong side over there? Or over here, too? Didn't he write a book saying he plans to take over all of Europe and then, tomorrow, the world?

Gail and Paul looked glad she was telling Chet off.

Chet stood his ground, however. "Don't be naive, Barbara. Business is business. You sell people what they want, and don't ask what they're going to do with it. As for taking sides, I'm on the side of business. And no business is better than war business. Anyway, I came back to see you again."

Barbara definitely did not like being called naive. But she didn't say anything further because she didn't want to talk to him any longer.

Olafson could see that Barbara and Armstrong were not exactly hitting it off. He thought he should explain his association with the young entrepreneur.

"I'm going to buy a couple of Bee Gees, and Armstrong Enterprises has a hand in building them. Some new modifications, anyway. I want to introduce some barnstorming here. Air shows can bring in more visitors and maybe prime the pump for giving more flying lessons."

Barbara, who devoured every item in the newspapers about flying and sat spellbound at newsreels that had anything to do with flying, knew about Bee Gees. They frightened her.

Made by and named for the Granville Brothers of Springfield, Massachusetts, Bee Gees were small and fast, but had a bad reputation for being unstable and crashing. They definitely needed some modifications. Fliers called them killers, and many lost their lives racing them.

While Chet, Red Olafson, and Paul went into the office to talk business, Barbara and Gail talked about Bee Gees and other things.

Barbara had read about Bee Gees being flown at several air shows including one of the biggest -- the annual Bendix Transcontinental Air Race in New Jersey where some of America's best women pilots gave the men strong competition each year for the top prizes.