Two Stories about Flying - 2 Summary Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 3

Key Points of the Story

• Here are two stories that tell us about courage and tireless effort. In the first story, “His First Flight” by Liam O’Flaherty, a seagull conquers his flight possible and he learns to fly.
•  In the second story, the writer Fredrick Forsyth gives an account of his own experience. He was flying an old Dakota airplane over France to England. Suddenly he was surrounded by black clouds and storm.
• It was almost a miracle that he was able to land his plane safely. More than a miracle is the story of his courage and tireless efforts. We learn from these stories that courage and hard work are necessary for any success.

Detailed Summary

I. His First Flight

The young seagull was alone on his ledge while his siblings had already flown away. He was too scared to join them. Even though he tried to flap his wings and run to the edge, the vast sea below terrified him, making him believe his wings wouldn’t be strong enough to support him. Despite his family’s encouragement and threats, he remained frozen in fear.

The day before, he had watched his family flying and fishing, feeling envious and frustrated. His parents had flown around teaching his siblings to hunt and dive, and their success only made him feel more inadequate. His mother had even taunted him, and he was left alone, hungry, and increasingly desperate.

As the sun rose and the heat grew intense, he tried to ignore his hunger by pretending to sleep. When he saw his mother carrying a piece of fish, he begged for it, and she flew closer with it. But just as he reached out, she stopped, holding the fish just out of his reach. Driven by hunger, he made a sudden lunge and fell off the ledge. For a moment, terror gripped him, but then he felt his wings spread out and the wind rushing against him. To his surprise, he wasn’t falling but soaring through the air. He flapped his wings and began to fly, no longer afraid. As he joined his family, who were cheering and flying around him, he forgot his earlier fears and began to enjoy his newfound skill.

Soon, he found himself flying over the sea and saw his family waiting on the green water below. He landed on it, realizing he was floating. Exhausted but elated, he was greeted by his family with praise and food. He had successfully made his first flight and was now part of the flock, no longer a frightened but a confident flyer.

II. Black Aeroplane

The narrator was flying his old Dakota aircraft from France to England on a serene night, with a clear sky and stars above. At one-thirty in the morning, he prepared to contact Paris Control to update his position. As he approached a large city, he followed instructions to turn twelve degrees west towards England. With the anticipation of a hearty English breakfast awaiting him, the flight seemed routine until he encountered a massive storm with towering clouds ahead.

Unable to fly over the storm or divert around it due to fuel constraints, he decided to risk flying straight into the storm. Once inside, visibility was zero, and the plane was tossed violently. The compass and other instruments failed, leaving him disoriented and unable to communicate with Paris Control. In the midst of the chaos, he spotted another plane through the storm, which had no lights and appeared to be guiding him. The other pilot signaled for him to follow, and despite his fear, he trailed behind the mysterious aircraft.

After what felt like a tense half-hour, the storm began to clear, revealing a runway with lights in the distance. He managed to land safely, relieved to have made it. When he sought information about the other pilot at the control tower, he was informed that there had been no other planes flying that night. The tower only detected his aircraft on the radar. The strange black plane and its pilot, who had guided him through the storm, remained an unsolved mystery, leaving him to ponder who or what had helped him reach safety.

Theme/ Message 

• The story is about a seagull who is still learning how to fly, despite the fact that his younger siblings have already learned how to fly and they do so fearlessly.
• The theme of “His first flight” is about self-confidence and courage. It teaches about the importance of facing one’s fears bravely and boldly and one should always inculcate the spirit of never give up attitude to attain success.

Message
He is afraid of flying. However, once he comes out of his nest, his fear is gone. He gains confidence and succeeds in his efforts of flying . So the message is success comes to those who overcome all fears and move ahead. 

Difficult Words

• Seagull- a bird that lives near the sea and has short legs, long wings, and white and grey feathers
• Ledge- a narrow horizontal shelf projecting from a wall (or here) a cliff
• Brink- the extreme edge of land before a steep slope or a body or water
• Expanse- a wide continuous area of something
• Flapped- (of a bird) move (its wings) up and down when flying or preparing to fly
• Muster- gather
• Plunge- jump or dive
• Shrilly- with a high pitched and piercing voice or sound
• Upbraiding- scold
• Herring- a soft-finned sea fish
• Devour- eat quickly
• Cackle- laugh in a loud, harsh way
• Cowardice- lack of bravery
• Ascending the sky- the act of rising up through the air
• Preening-to tidy and clean its feathers
• Hump- a rounded raised mass of earth or land
• Scrapped- discard
• Derisively- in a manner expressing contempt or ridicule.
• Plaintively- sad
• Uttered- make a sound with one’s voice
• Halted- stopped
• Monstrous- horrible
• Seized- grab
• Headlong- with the head foremost
• Soaring- flying or rising high in the air
• Swooped- (especially of a bird) move rapidly downwards through the air
• Curvetting- perform a series of jumps on the hind legs
• Shrieking- making a high-pitched piercing cry or sound
• Shrilly- loudly and forcefully
• Ridges- a long, narrow hilltop, mountain range, or watershed
• Cawed- utter a caw
• Beckoning- gesture
• Compass- instrument for telling direction
• Runway- a strip of hard ground along which aircraft take off and land
• Frightened- terrified
• Followed- chased
• Obedient- one who obeys
• Glad- happy
• Radar- a system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of aircraft, ships, and other objects, by sending out pulses of radio waves which are reflected off the object back to the source
• Strangely- in a strange manner