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

Key Points of Story I: His First Flight (by Liam O’Flaherty)

• A young seagull is afraid to fly despite his siblings already having flown.
• His parents scold and threaten to let him starve unless he flies.
• He watches his family fly and feed on fish, growing increasingly hungry and desperate.
• His mother uses food to trick him — she flies close with fish but doesn’t feed him.
• Driven by hunger, he dives toward the food — and inadvertently begins flying.
• At first terrified, he soon feels the thrill of flying and begins to enjoy it.
• He successfully lands on the sea and is praised by his family.
• Theme: Conquering fear through necessity and instinct.

Detailed Summary of His First Flight

The story “His First Flight” is written by Liam O’Flaherty and is based on a young seagull who was afraid to take his first flight because he feared that his wings wouldn’t support him while flying. All his siblings took the plunge to fly fearlessly in the open air despite having shorter wings than him. On the contrary, the young bird could not muster up courage to take the plunge due to distrust on his wings. Whenever he tried to come forward towards the brink of the ledge while attempting to fly, he became afraid and went back. His parents constantly upbraided and threatened him that unless he flew away he would have to starve alone on the ledge, but all their efforts went in vain. He would just watch his parents teaching his siblings how to skim the waves and dive for fish. 

One fine day, the whole family flew to a big plateau and taunted the young seagull for his cowardice. As the sun rays blazed on his ledge, he could feel the heat and was starving since the previous nightfall. The young bird begged his mother to bring him some food. He uttered a joyful scream when his mother quickly picked a piece of fish and flew across to him. He leaned out eagerly and jumped at the fish exasperated by hunger. Suddenly he fell outward in the open space and a monstrous terror seized him as he could feel that he was falling downward. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards and he was able to fly fearlessly. Finally, the young seagull took his first flight and soared higher and skimmed through the waves and dived along with his siblings. 

Key Points of Story II: The Black Aeroplane (by Frederick Forsyth)

• A pilot is flying his Dakota airplane from France to England at night.
• Everything seems fine until he encounters massive storm clouds.
• He decides to fly into the storm despite low fuel and loss of navigation tools.
• Inside the storm, all instruments fail, and he gets completely lost.
• Suddenly, a mysterious black airplane appears and guides him out of the storm.
• The pilot safely lands but cannot find the black plane or its pilot.
• At the control tower, he is told no other plane was in the sky that night.
• Theme: Mysterious help in moments of crisis; possible supernatural intervention or hallucination.

Detailed Summary of Black Aeroplane

“Black Aeroplane” is a mysterious story written by Fredrik Forsyth that revolves around a pilot. The narrator of the story is a pilot who wanted to be with his family and enjoy a wholesome breakfast with them in England. He had to fly from France to England to spend time with his family. The plane was Dakota DS-088 and was flying at night. After the journey of 150 Km, suddenly the pilot came across the storm clouds that looked like black mountains. It was just in front of him and he was in a confusion whether he should return back or should face the storm. However, he flew through the clouds and soon realized that everything around him had turned completely black. Nothing was visible to him outside the aeroplane. He noticed that the cloud was looking so dangerous, but finally he entered the clouds and found that the compass and the radio had stopped working. He was completely helpless. Suddenly he noticed that a black aeroplane was flying just beside his aeroplane. It had no lights on its wings. The pilot of that aeroplane waved his hands and signalled him to follow. 

He began to follow him just like an obedient child. After sometime he noticed that the fuel in the second tank was left only for the Journey for 5 to 10 minutes. He began to feel frightened but was following the other aeroplane continuously. Suddenly he noticed that he was out of the storm and the runway of an airport was being seen. After watching that he got relaxed and landed his aeroplane. He was trying to find out the other pilot and the black aeroplane, but couldn’t see them. After landing his aeroplane, he went to the woman who was sitting in the control center and asked her about the black aeroplane. He wanted to thank him for saving his life. But the woman in the control center told him that there was no other airplane in the night sky other than his aeroplane. Then surprisingly, he began to think continuously about the incident and finally couldn’t reach to any conclusion whether the black aeroplane was his imagination or did any other miracle occur?

Message from the Story

• The stories "His First Flight" and "The Black Aeroplane" both convey a powerful message about courage, self-belief, and the importance of taking the first step despite fear or uncertainty. 
• In the first story, the young seagull overcomes his fear of flying only when driven by hunger, showing that growth often begins with discomfort and is achieved through action. 
• In the second story, the pilot, lost in a dangerous storm, is mysteriously guided to safety by an unknown plane, suggesting that help can come when least expected and that faith and instinct play a vital role in survival. Together, the stories highlight that facing fear and trusting oneself or unseen forces can lead to discovery, growth, and success.
  

Glossary