02245cam a22003493u 4500 77176 UtSlPG 20260610134804.0 m cr n 260607r20251929utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG en iso639-1 PR McSwiney, R. J. In mid-air Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Produced from the Second January number, 1930, of The Popular Magazine. Release date is 2025-11-04 Roger Frank and Sue Clark In mid-air by R. J. McSwiney is a wartime aviation short story written in the early 20th century. It centers on a bomber pilot in World War I whose mission goes awry when his armed bomb fails to release properly, forcing him to choose between certain death and a final act of purposeful sacrifice. During a raid, pilot Charley Reid’s single heavy bomb detaches at the nose but stays hooked at the rear, hanging vertically and armed, battering his old biplane and making landing impossible. After futile attempts to shake it free and a fruitless exchange of messages with his airfield, he resolves to die usefully by crashing into a German headquarters chateau. Diving toward the target, the swinging bomb catches on roadside telephone wires, is torn off the hook, and slams into the chateau’s facade, detonating as Reid’s jolted plane clears the roof. He dodges ground fire, recrosses the lines, and lands, where mechanics lift his limp body from the cockpit, a peaceful smile on his face—his peril turned into an unintended but decisive strike. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: New York: Street & Smith Corporation, 1929 Short stories Air pilots, Military -- Fiction World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations -- Fiction Produced from the Second January number, 1930, of The Popular Magazine. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77176 117897 117897