The story begins with strange lights and sounds, including blaring trumpet music, reported in the skies all over the world. Then black flags with gold suns mysteriously appear atop tall historic landmarks such as the
Statue of Liberty in New York, the
Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and the
Eiffel Tower in Paris. These events are all the work of the mysterious Robur (the
specific epithet for the English oak (
Quercus robur) and figuratively taken to mean "strength"), a brilliant inventor who intrudes on a meeting of a flight-enthusiasts' club called the Weldon Institute in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Members of the Weldon Institute are all firm believers that mankind shall master the skies using
"lighter than air" craft, and that
"heavier than air" craft such as
airplanes and
helicopters would be unfeasible. The institute has been constructing a giant
dirigible called the
Go-ahead. During a heated discussion over where to place its propeller (
in front to pull it, or
behind to push it), Robur appears at the meeting and is admitted to speak. He chastises the group for being balloon-boosters when "heavier than air" flying apparatuses are the future. When asked if Robur himself has "made conquest of the air", he states that he has, leading to him accepting the title "Robur the Conqueror". During his short time at the Weldon Institute, Robur so incites the members that they chase him outside. Just as they are about to attack him, Robur appears to vanish into the mob, but he has actually been borne away by a flying machine. Later that night Robur kidnaps the Weldon Institute's
president, Uncle Prudent; his
secretary, Phil Evans; and
valet, Frycollin. He takes them on board his ship, a huge, battery-powered "" called the
Albatross, which has many vertical
airscrews to provide
lift, and two horizontal airscrews in a
push-pull configuration to drive the vessel forward. It bears the same black flag with golden sun that has been sighted on many landmarks, and a crewmen playing a trumpet accounts for the music in the sky. To demonstrate the vessel's superiority, Robur takes his captives around the world in the course of three weeks. Prudent and Evans are angry at Robur for kidnapping them and unwilling to admit that the
Albatross is a fantastic vessel, or that their notions of "lighter than air" superiority are wrong. They demand that Robur release them, but he is aloof and always says that they shall remain as long as he desires it. Fearing they will be held captive forever, the two formulate plans both to escape and to destroy the
Albatross. After the horizontal propellers are damaged in a storm, the
Albatross anchors over the
Chatham Islands for repairs. While the crew is busy at work, Prudent and Evans light a fuze and make their escape. They try to bring Frycollin with them but cannot find him, only later discovering that he had already escaped without them. The
Albatross explodes and its wreckage, along with Robur and his crew, plunges towards the ocean. Meanwhile, the three escapees are safe on a small but inhabited island and are later rescued by a ship; they then make a long journey back to Philadelphia. The Weldon Institute members return, and rather than describe their adventures or admit that Robur had created a flying machine greater than their expectations of the
Go-ahead, they simply conclude the argument the group was having during their last meeting. Rather than have only one propeller to their dirigible, they decide to have
one propeller in front and another behind, similar to Robur's design. Seven months after their return the
Go-ahead is completed and making its maiden voyage with the president, secretary, and an aeronaut. The speed and maneuverability of the dirigible impress a huge crowd, but are trivial compared to Robur's
Albatross. Suddenly, out of the sky there appears the
Albatross. It is revealed that when the
Albatross exploded, enough of it was intact so that at least some of the propellers
operated and slowed its descent, saving the crew. The crew used the remains of the
Albatross as a raft until they were rescued by a ship. Later, Robur and the crew made it back to his secret X Island, where the original
Albatross had been built. Robur has built a new
Albatross and now intends to exact revenge by showing that it is superior to the Weldon Institute's
Go-ahead. The entirety of the final scene is described from the crowd's point of view. The
Albatross begins circling the
Go-ahead; the
Go-ahead drops
ballast and rises to fourteen thousand feet. The
Albatross follows, still a circling menace. The
Go-ahead is at the mercy of the
Albatross because the
Albatross is both faster and more maneuverable. Finally, the
Go-ahead exceeds her
pressure-height limit, whereupon her gas bags rupture. Losing her buoyant gases, the
Go-ahead drops out of the sky like a rapidly descending kite. The
Albatross stays alongside of the
Go-ahead as she falls, signalling the pilot and passengers of the
Go-ahead to come on board the
Albatross. They refuse, but then the crew of the
Albatross seizes them and brings them aboard. Having demonstrated his rule over the skies, Robur returns the three men to the ground. In a short speech, Robur says that nations are not yet fit for union. He cautions the crowd that it is
evolution, not revolution, that they should be seeking. He leaves with the promise that he will one day return to reveal his secrets of flight. The people of Philadelphia subject Prudent and Evans to unrelenting ridicule for the rest of their lives. == Influences ==