3.2 Two Stories about Flying Part II The Black Aeroplane
THE moon was coming up in the east, behind me, and stars were shining in the clear sky above me. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was happy to be alone high up above the sleeping countryside. I was flying my old Dakota aeroplane over France back to England. I was dreaming of my holiday and looking forward to being with my family. I looked at my watch: one thirty in the morning.
‘I should call Paris Control soon,’ I thought. As I looked down past the nose of the aeroplane, I saw the lights of a big city in front of me. I switched on the radio and said, “Paris Control, Dakota DS 088 here. Can you hear me? I’m on my way to England. Over.”
The voice from the radio answered me immediately: “DS 088, I can hear you. You ought to turn twelve degrees west now, DS 088. Over.”
I checked the map and the compass, switched over to my second and last fuel tank, and turned the Dakota twelve degrees west towards England.
‘I’ll be in time for breakfast,’ I thought. A good big English breakfast! Everything was going well — it was an easy flight.
Paris was about 150 kilometres behind me when I saw the clouds. Storm clouds. They were huge. They looked like black mountains standing in front of me across the sky. I knew I could not fly up and over them, and I did not have enough fuel to fly around them to the north or south.
“I ought to go back to Paris,” I thought, but I wanted to get home. I wanted that breakfast.
‘I’ll take the risk,’ I thought, and flew that old Dakota straight into the storm.
Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black. It was impossible to see anything outside the aeroplane. The old aeroplane jumped and twisted in the air. I looked at the compass. I couldn’t believe my eyes: the compass was turning round and round and round. It was dead. It would not work! The other instruments were suddenly dead, too. I tried the radio.
“Paris Control? Paris Control? Can you hear me?”
There was no answer. The radio was dead too. I had no radio, no compass, and I could not see where I was. I was lost in the storm. Then, in the black clouds quite near me, I saw another aeroplane. It had no lights on its wings, but I could see it flying next to me through the storm. I could see the pilot’s face — turned towards me. I was very glad to see another person. He lifted one hand and waved.
“Follow me,” he was saying. “Follow me.”
‘He knows that I am lost,’ I thought. ‘He’s trying to help me.’
He turned his aeroplane slowly to the north, in front of my Dakota, so that it would be easier for me to follow him. I was very happy to go behind the strange aeroplane like an obedient child.
After half an hour the strange black aeroplane was still there in front of me in the clouds. Now there was only enough fuel in the old Dakota’s last tank to fly for five or ten minutes more. I was starting to feel frightened again. But then he started to go down and I followed through the storm.
Suddenly I came out of the clouds and saw two long straight lines of lights in front of me. It was a runway! An airport! I was safe! I turned to look for my friend in the black aeroplane, but the sky was empty. There was nothing there. The black aeroplane was gone. I could not see it anywhere.
I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota near the control tower. I went and asked a woman in the control centre where I was and who the other pilot was. I wanted to say ‘Thank you’.
She looked at me very strangely, and then laughed.
“Another aeroplane? Up there in this storm? No other aeroplanes were flying tonight. Yours was the only one I could see on the radar.”
So who helped me to arrive there safely without a compass or a radio, and without any more fuel in my tanks? Who was the pilot on the strange black aeroplane, flying in the storm, without lights?
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Thinking about the text
1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Answer: The risk is flying the aeroplane into a big storm. The narrator takes the risk because he wants to get home quickly and have breakfast with his family, even though he knows it’s dangerous.
2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Answer: As the narrator flew into the storm, everything became dark. He couldn’t see anything, and the aeroplane started jumping and twisting in the air. His compass and radio stopped working, and he got lost in the storm.
3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?
Answer: The narrator says this because he was relieved and happy to be safe after the dangerous flight through the storm. He wasn’t upset about leaving the old aeroplane after such a scary experience.
4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
Answer: The woman looked at the narrator strangely because he asked about another aeroplane in the storm, but according to her, there was no other aeroplane flying that night. His was the only one she could see on the radar.
5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Answer: It seems like a mystery. The black aeroplane that helped the narrator might have been a guardian or something supernatural because there was no record of any other aeroplane flying in the storm. It’s possible that the narrator was helped by someone or something that couldn’t be explained easily.
Thinking about Language
Thinking about Language
I. Study the sentences given below.
(a) They looked like black mountains.
(b) Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black.
(c) In the black clouds near me, I saw another aeroplane.
(d) The strange black aeroplane was there.
The word ‘black’ in sentences (a) and (c) refers to the very darkest colour. But in (b) and (d) (here) it means without light/with no light.
‘Black’ has a variety of meanings in different contexts. For example:
(a) ‘I prefer black tea’ means ‘I prefer tea without milk’.
(b) ‘With increasing pollution the future of the world is black’ means ‘With increasing pollution the future of the world is very depressing/without hope’.
Now, try to guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below. Check the meanings in the dictionary and find out whether you have guessed right.
1. Go and have a bath; your hands and face are absolutely black. ________________
Answer: Meaning - Your hands and face are very dirty.
2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green. ________________
Answer: Meaning - The taxi driver gave Ratan an angry or displeased look.
3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity. ________________
Answer: Meaning - One of the worst or most evil crimes in human history.
4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy. ________________
Answer: Meaning - A type of comedy that makes fun of serious or dark subjects like death or suffering.
5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black. ________________
Answer: Meaning - Selling goods illegally or in an unethical manner, often for higher prices.
6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue. ________________
Answer: Meaning - Beaten badly, causing bruises and injuries that turn the skin dark or blue.
II. Look at these sentences taken from the lesson you have just read:
(a) I was flying my old Dakota aeroplane.
(b) The young seagull had been afraid to fly with them.
In the first sentence the author was controlling an aircraft in the air. Another example is: Children are flying kites. In the second sentence the seagull was afraid to move through the air, using its wings.
Match the phrases given under Column A with their meanings given under Column B:
A |
B |
1. Fly a flag |
– Move quickly/suddenly |
2. Fly into rage |
– Be successful |
3. Fly along |
– Display a flag on a long pole |
4. Fly high |
– Escape from a place |
5. Fly the coop |
– Become suddenly very angry |
Answer:
• Fly a flag – Display a flag on a long pole
• Fly into rage – Become suddenly very angry
• Fly along – Move quickly/suddenly
• Fly high – Be successful
• Fly the coop – Escape from a place
III. We know that the word ‘fly’ (of birds/insects) means to move through air using wings. Tick the words which have the same or nearly the same meaning.
swoop |
flit |
paddle |
flutter |
ascend |
float |
ride |
skim |
sink |
dart |
hover |
glide |
descend |
soar |
shoot |
spring |
stay |
fall |
sail |
flap |
Answer:
• swoop
• flit
• flutter
• ascend
• float
• skim
• dart
• hover
• glide
• soar
• sail
• flap
Writing
Have you ever been alone or away from home during a thunderstorm? Narrate your experience in a paragraph.
Answer: Yes, I was once alone at home during a thunderstorm. The sky grew dark quickly, and the loud rumbling of thunder made the windows shake. I could see flashes of lightning lighting up the entire sky. At first, I felt a bit scared because the wind was howling and the rain was pouring heavily, making loud tapping sounds on the roof. The power went out, and everything became quiet except for the storm outside. I lit a candle and sat by the window, watching the storm from inside. Though it was frightening at first, I eventually felt calm as I realized I was safe indoors, and the storm passed after a while.
WHAT WE HAVE DONE
Provided two stories about flying — one about a bird, another about a human being in a plane.
Answer:
Story 1: The Bird's Flight
A young seagull stood on the edge of a high cliff, watching his family soar gracefully through the sky. He had never flown before and was too scared to try. Every day, his parents would bring food and encourage him to take the leap, but he hesitated. One day, his family flew away, leaving him alone. Hungry and desperate, the young seagull had no choice. With trembling wings, he jumped off the cliff. At first, he plummeted toward the ocean, but soon his wings caught the wind, and he began to soar. He felt the thrill of flying for the first time, gliding smoothly through the air like the rest of his family. He realized that flying wasn’t so scary after all—it was freeing and wonderful.
Story 2: The Pilot's Flight
A pilot was flying his old Dakota plane on a calm, clear night, heading back to England. The sky was beautiful, filled with stars, and the moon was rising behind him. Everything seemed perfect. However, as he flew further, he encountered a fierce storm. Dark clouds surrounded him, and he lost control of his plane. The instruments failed, and the radio stopped working. In the middle of the storm, the pilot saw another plane, which guided him safely out of the clouds. As soon as he reached the runway, he looked for the mysterious plane that had helped him, but it was nowhere to be found. To this day, he wonders who or what helped him during that terrifying flight.
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