Project Gutenberg 2025-08-02 Public domain in the USA. 1423 March, Ivan Too old to fly $aNew York, NY :$bStreet & Smith Corporation, $c1929. Produced from The Popular Magazine, November 7, 1929. Roger Frank and Sue Clark Too old to fly by Ivan March is a pulp war aviation short story written in the late 1920s. It centers on an aging Marine machine gunner who yearns to fly and ultimately proves himself in World War I aerial combat. Sergeant Horatio “Dad” Galladay, a battle-worn Marine and master machine gunner, is sidelined to teach recruits but longs to get airborne. He persuades ace pilot Buck Weaver to take him on a brief hop over the lines, despite the worries of Buck’s sweetheart, Ruth Childers. Over Nieuport they are ambushed by Fokkers; Galladay freezes at first, then rallies as Weaver is badly wounded, cutting down three enemy planes with the rear Lewis guns. When Weaver passes out and the De Havilland falls into a spin, Galladay snaps in the rear controls, steadies the shredded aircraft, and brings it back over Allied lines. In the hospital afterward, Weaver survives and he and Ruth become fully engaged, while Galladay—himself wounded—faces acclaim for his valor. The tale closes with the old sergeant’s fierce, boyish joy at finally flying and his eagerness to return to the fight. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20250801072804march 1929 US Reading ease score: 83.6 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Short stories World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations, American -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Adventure 60606 2025-08-02T12:00:08.817490 text/html 37243 2025-08-02T10:29:08 text/html 457019 2025-08-02T12:00:21.051453 application/epub+zip 455809 2025-08-02T12:00:15.422491 application/epub+zip 310434 2025-08-02T12:00:11.094529 application/epub+zip 1107725 2025-08-02T12:00:26.118428 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1101540 2025-08-02T12:00:20.611452 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 54071 2025-08-02T12:00:08.594492 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 34362 2025-08-02T10:29:08 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 3686 2025-08-02T12:00:26.242391 application/rdf+xml 25880 2025-08-02T12:00:15.000442 image/jpeg 4393 2025-08-02T12:00:14.833459 image/jpeg 416877 2025-08-02T12:00:08.832521 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog