Chapter 3 — Two Stories about Flying

Chapter 3, "Two Stories about Flying", contains two stories: "His First Flight" about a young seagull conquering his fear to fly for the first time, and "The Black Aeroplane" about a pilot lost in a storm who is mysteriously guided to safety by an unexplained aircraft.

The seagull is terrified by the vast expanse of sea stretched far below his cliff ledge. He feels certain his wings will not support him and believes it is such a long way down—miles down. Even though his siblings with shorter wings have already flown away, he cannot find the courage to take that plunge.

After the seagull has been abandoned on the ledge for 24 hours without food, his mother tempts him by flying toward him with a piece of fish. Just as she comes within reach, she halts and holds the fish inches from his beak. Maddened by hunger, the seagull dives at the fish and plunges into space, discovering he can actually fly.

The story explores courage emerging from necessity. The seagull overcomes his paralyzing fear through a combination of hunger, his mother's clever manipulation, and ultimately the realization that his body is capable of flight. The theme echoes human development—facing fears when survival demands it.

The pilot is flying his Dakota aeroplane from France to England when he encounters massive storm clouds he cannot fly over or around. He enters the storm, but his compass dies, his radio fails, and all instruments go dead. Lost in pitch-black clouds with almost no fuel remaining, he is mysteriously guided to safety by a black aeroplane piloted by a stranger.

The black aeroplane has no lights on its wings, yet the pilot can see it and the other pilot's face turned toward him through the storm. The mysterious pilot waves and signals "Follow me", guiding the Dakota pilot for half an hour until the pilot safely reaches a runway and lands. However, when the pilot asks the control tower about the other aircraft, he is told: "No other aeroplanes were flying tonight. Yours was the only one I could see on the radar."

The text never reveals the pilot's identity. The control centre confirms no other aircraft were airborne, suggesting the aeroplane was either supernatural, a hallucination born of desperation, or something unexplainable. The story ends as an open mystery, leaving readers to speculate about the phantom pilot's true nature.

The word 'black' carries multiple meanings. It literally describes the colour of the aeroplane and the darkness of the storm clouds. More significantly, it symbolizes danger, the unknown, despair, and the pilot's loss of control. The text itself notes that 'black' can mean 'without light' or convey hopelessness (e.g., "the future is black" means depressing/without hope).

The seagull's greatest fear was the "vast green sea beneath him". When he finally lands on the water and his feet sink into it, he screams in fright, exhausted from hunger and the effort of flying. But he floats safely, and his family surrounds him, praising his achievement with food offerings. His terror transforms into triumph once his body does what he feared it could never do.

Both stories explore triumph over fear and desperation. In the seagull's tale, hunger forces courage. In the pilot's tale, survival instinct and the mysterious guidance pull him through. Both protagonists face moments of terror—the seagull plunging into space, the pilot losing all instruments—yet both reach safety, discovering resources (wings, navigation) they did not know they possessed or trusted.

Yes, the NCERT Class 10 English PDF is free. You can download it from CBSE PrepMaster's website at no cost—no sign-up or registration required. The chapter "Two Stories about Flying" and all other chapters are included in the free digital textbook.