Hot Air Aces (1949)

Despite the title the vehicles here are airplanes not balloons Bluto and Popeye are racing around the world Blutos got a sort of rocket plane and Popeyes got a sad old prop model that has to be handstarted He gets off to a bad start as Bluto spins the prop getting Popeye tangled up in it This knocks him out Olive puts him into his plane and gives him a push and Popeye wakes up in the nick of time Bluto stops off at the Eiffel Tower to woo a maiden Popeye with help from a lightning bolt passes him Bluto catches up again and removes Popeyes engine The plane crashes into the ocean but fortunately theres a case of spinach and a giant magnet nearby so Popeye rebuilds the plane using spinach cans to replace the missing pistons and wins the race as his spinach exhaust fries Blutos plane