Two Stories About Flying-The Black Aeroplane
Summary
This is a mysterious story. The narrator was flying his Dakota aeroplane. Suddenly he wascaught in a big cloud. His compass, radio and other instruments failed. There was not much
fuel in the plane. Suddenly he saw a black aeroplane near him. The pilot of the black
aeroplane guided the narrator and he was able to land his plane safely. But he was greatly
surprised when the woman at the control centre told him that there had been no other
plane except the narrator’s Dakota on the sky that night.
Comprehension Questions
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. Describe the sky when ‘Dakota’ took off from Paris.When ‘Dakota’ took off from Paris, the sky was clear and there was no cloud in the
sky. The moon was coming up in the east and the stars were shining in the clear
sky.
2. Why did the pilot think of going back to Paris?
The pilot came across huge storm clouds that seemed to him like black mountains.
He could neither go above them nor go around them due to lack of fuel. That was
when he thought of going back to Paris.
3. What did the narrator see in the sky on his way to England?
The narrator was going from France to England. He was flying his Dakota
aeroplane. When he had gone 150 kilometres from France, he saw huge storm
clouds which looked like black mountains standing in front of him across the sky.
4. Recount the experience of the pilot of the Dakota inside the black clouds.
The pilot found that everything was black inside the clouds. It was impossible to
see anything outside the aeroplane. The old aeroplane rolled and jumped in the air.
The compass and other instruments stopped working. Suddenly his radio also went
dead.
5. Why did the narrator follow the pilot of another aeroplane?
The narrator followed another aeroplane because he had lost the way in the storm
and was unable to see anything. The pilot of another aeroplane was helping him to
get out of the storm and land safely.
6. How did the black aeroplane rescue the narrator?
The pilot of the black aeroplane waved his hand. He gestured the narrator to
follow him. The narrator followed him for half an hour. Suddenly, his plane was out
of the clouds. He could see the lights of the runway and landed his aeroplane. In
this way, the black aeroplane rescued the narrator.
7. Was the narrator able to meet the pilot of the black aeroplane?
No, the narrator was not able to meet the pilot of the black aeroplane. When he
was going to land his plane, he looked behind him. But the black plane was not
there. The sky was empty. The woman at the control centre told him that no other
planes were flying on that stormy night.
8. Why did the narrator want to meet the pilot of another black aeroplane?
The narrator wanted to meet the pilot of another black aeroplane to thank him as
he had saved the life of the narrator by helping him come out safely from the
storm.
Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:
1. How was the narrator rescued?The narrator flew his aeroplane into the storm. As he entered the clouds,
everything suddenly went black. He found that his compass had ceased to work.
He tried to contact the Paris Control for directions. But even his radio had also
stopped working. Suddenly, the narrator saw a black aeroplane near him. Its pilot
waved to the narrator to follow him. He followed the black aeroplane for half an
hour. He was worried because the fuel in his plane could last only five or ten
minutes. Just then the black aeroplane started to go down and the narrator
followed it. Suddenly the narrator was out of the clouds. He could see the lights of
the runway of the airport. The narrator landed his Dakota aeroplane. In this way,
he was rescued.
Questions from the text book.
Thinking about the Text
1. I’ll take the risk‛. What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?The risk was that of going through the storm in the narrator’s old Dakota
aeroplane. He flew through them as he did not have enough fuel to fly around
them, and he couldn’t fly over them. Also, he wanted to get back home in time
for a big English breakfast.
2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
As the narrator entered the storm, his plane started jumping and twisting. He
could not see anything outside the plane as it was black. When he looked at
compass and other instruments they had stopped functioning. It was a terrible
experience for him. The fuel tank was almost empty and he could not fly more
than ten minutes. Then he saw another black aeroplane by his side its pilot
signalled him to follow. It was a surprise for the narrator as the other black
plane was having no light. He followed him without any choice and landed
safely on the runway.
3. Why does the narrator say, ‚I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old
Dakota...‛?
After landing, the narrator was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota
because he had a horrific and fearsome experience flying that plane. He was
happy that he had landed the plane safely. That is why he was not sorry to walk
away. Instead, he wanted to know where he was and who the other pilot was.
4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
The woman in the control centre looked at the narrator strangely because the
narrator asked her about the black aeroplane. She had not seen any other
aeroplane except the narrator’s in the sky during the storm. Even the radar
showed only the narrator’s plane that night in the sky.
5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Probably, the narrator motivated himself to reach his
destination as there was no other plane except his on the radar. In his fear, he
might have been hallucinating.
Thinking about Language
I. Guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below. Check themeanings in the dictionary and find out whether you have guessed right.
1. Go and have a bath, your hands and face are absolutely black___ .
The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentence is that the face and hands are dark
because of dust and dirt.
2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light
was green____.
Here, ‘black’ refers to an angry look.
3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity____.‚
Here, ‘blackest’ refers to the darkest and cruelest crime against humanity.
4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy____.
Here, ‘black’ refers to dark and gloomy comedy.
5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create flase scarcity and then sell
these in black____.
The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentence is that the shopkeepers sell the
described goods ‘at a higher price’ or ‘sell illegally’.
6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue____.
Here, ‘black’ means that the criminal suffered excessive beating at the hands of
the villagers.
II. Match the phrases given under Column A with their meanings given under Column B:
A B1. Fly a flag - (c) Display a flag on a long pole
2. Fly into rage - (e) Become suddenly very angry
3. Fly along - (a) Move quickly/suddenly
4. Fly high - (b) Be successful
5. Fly the coop - (d) Escape from a place
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Q1 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
(a) I was happy to be alone high up above the sleeping countryside. I was flying myold 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
thirty in the morning. ‘I should call the Paris Control soon.’
i. How was the weather when the narrator started his flight?
When ‘Dakota’ took off from Paris, the sky was clear and there was no cloud
in the sky. The moon was coming up in the east and the stars were shining in
the clear sky.
ii. What made the narrator happy?
The thought of his holiday and meeting his family and eating an English
breakfast made the narrator happy.
iii. Why did the narrator think of calling the Paris Control?
The narrator thought of calling the Paris Control to understand where he was
and to get further directions to reach the destination.
iv. Find the word from the passage which means ‘land outside towns and cities’.
countryside
(b) 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.
i. How long did the narrator follow the black aeroplane?
The narrator followed the black aeroplane for half an hour.
ii. Why did the narrator start feeling frightened again?
The narrator started feeling frightened again because there was only enough
fuel in the old Dakota’s last tank to fly for five or ten minutes more.
iii. Why was the narrator surprised to see the runway?
The narrator was surprised to suddenly see the runway on coming out of the
dark clouds because he had lost the hope of landing safely.
iv. Give the antonym of the word ‘safe’ from the passage.
unsafe/ dangerous
Q2 Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each.
(a) What happened when the author turned the aeroplane twelve degrees westtowards England?
When the author turned his aeroplane twelve degrees west towards England,
he saw huge storm clouds that looked like black mountains standing in front
of him across the sky.
(b) Which two options did the pilot of the Dakota plane have when he encountered
the storm clouds on his way? What did he decide to do? Why?
The two options the pilot of the Dakota plane had were, to either go back to
Paris or to go through the storm clouds. He decided to go through the storm
clouds because he wanted to reach home and spend the holiday with his
family.
(c) Explain the statement: ‘I was very happy to go behind the strange aeroplane like an obedient child.
The pilot came across huge storm clouds. He could neither go above them
nor go around them due to lack of fuel. Then, he saw a black plane without
lights on wings, flying near his plane. Its pilot waved and signalled him
to follow him. The author did not have much choice but to follow him
obediently.
(d) Why couldn’t the woman in the control room help the pilot of Dakota?
When the pilot of the Dakota plane asked the woman in the control centre
about the black aeroplane and its pilot, she could not help him because she
had seen no other plane flying that night on the radar.
Q3 Answer the following questions in in 100 -120 words.
(a) Describe the flight of the Dakota aeroplane until it landed safely at the airport.The narrator flew the old Dakota plane from Paris and was heading towards
England. It was an easy flight as the sky was clear and there wasn’t a single
cloud. When the aeroplane reached 150 km away from Paris, there were huge
black storm clouds. The narrator took the risk and flew straight into the
storm because he wanted to join his family for breakfast. His aeroplane
jumped and twisted and his instruments stopped working. He lacked fuel and
could not contact Paris control room. Suddenly he saw a black aeroplane. Its
pilot guided and brought him back safely out of the storm clouds. He then
saw the runway and landed at the airport.
(b) Why did the narrator go to the control centre on his safe landing? What values are reflected from his action?
The narrator was caught in the storm. He had lost his contact with the control
room and his instruments had also stopped working. He was lost in the storm
when suddenly he saw another aeroplane flying next to his without lights on
its wings. Its pilot guided the narrator and helped him land safely. After his
safe landing, the narrator went to the control centre to find out where he was
and who the other pilot was. He wanted to thank the pilot for saving his life.
This shows that the narrator didn’t forget how he had been rescued from the
dangerous situation and was grateful for the stranger’s kindness towards
him.
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