In mid-air: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
In mid-air: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
In mid-air is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for McSwiney, R. J..
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
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.
Book and edition facts
- Title: In mid-air
- Author credits: McSwiney, R. J.
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Air pilots, Military -- Fiction
- Short stories
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations -- Fiction
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Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
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