[1] Cattle rancher King usually captured criminals and spies and found lost hikers, though he did so with the use of his airplane, the Songbird.

The radio show began in 1946 and was based on a story by Roy Winsor, the brainchild of Robert Morris Burtt and Wilfred Gibbs Moore, who also created Captain Midnight.

Several actors played the part of Sky, including Earl Nightingale, John Reed King, and Roy Engel.

Listeners were advised to get their own for only 15 cents and the inner seal from a jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter, which was produced by the sponsor, Derby Foods.

The Signalscope included a glow-in-the-dark signaling device, whistle, magnifying glass, and Sky King's private code.

[6] The premiums were innovative, such as the Sky King Spy-Detecto Writer, which had a decoder (cipher disk), magnifying glass, measuring scale, and printing mechanism in a single package slightly over two inches long.

[7] Other regular characters included Sky's nephew Clipper, played by Ron Hagerthy, and Mitch the sheriff, portrayed by Ewing Mitchell.

Mitch, a competent and intelligent law enforcement officer, depended on his friend Sky's flying skills to solve the harder cases.

[8] Many of the story lines would feature the supporting cast repeatedly finding themselves in near-death situations and the hero rescuing them with seconds to spare.

Plot lines were often simplistic, but Grant was able to bring a casual, natural treatment of technical details, leading to a level of believability not found in other TV series involving aviation or life in the Western United States.

The antagonists usually had fairly logical motivations as opposed to seemingly random evil as common in many action dramas of the time.

The short credit roll which followed was equally dramatic, with the Songbird swooping at the camera across El Mirage Lake, California, then pulling up into a steep climb as it departed.

The end title featured a musical theme, with the credits superimposed over an air-to-air shot of the Songbird, cruising at altitude for several moments, then banking away to the left.

The musical score was largely the work of composer Herschel Burke Gilbert[13] Nabisco sold the series complete with all rights to Kirby Grant in 1959.

In later years, Grant considered bringing back the series and even a "Sky King" theme park, but nothing ever happened on either of these projects.

Fergusson got the job after the motion picture pilot already selected was deemed unqualified to land the airplane at some of the off-airport sites required.

[2] The budget issue also forced the frequent reuse of aircraft stock footage, sometimes "flopped" (i.e., reversing the flight position) in post-production, to show airplanes banking in the opposite direction.