CBSE Class 10 English First Flight - Two Stories About Flying Summary & Notes

Summary of Two Stories About Flying

Chapter 3 of Class 10 English textbook, ‘First Flight’, consists of a prose – Two Stories About Flying, which has two stories – “I – His First Flight” and “II – Black Aeroplane”. Here, we bring you a summary of the prose in the form of CBSE English Notes. CBSE Class 10 students can refer to the prose summary of Two Stories About Flying here. In the first story – His First Flight, the author beautifully narrates how a bird overcomes his fear and takes his first flight. In the other story, Black Aeroplane, the author describes how a young pilot, while flying an aeroplane, has a narrow escape from death with the help of a mysterious black aeroplane. Students can also refer to CBSE Class 10 English Prose Notes – Two Stories About Flying for their exam preparation.

Students can also go through CBSE Essays to improve their writing section of the English paper.

CBSE Class 10 English Two Stories About Flying Summary

Two Stories About Flying comprises two stories – “I – His First Flight” and “II – Black Aeroplane”.

Two Stories about Flying Part 1: His First Flight Summary

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 smaller wings than him. However, the young bird could not muster up the courage to take the plunge as he did not trust in 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 had been 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.

Two Stories about Flying Part 2: Black Aeroplane Summary

“Black Aeroplane” is a mysterious story written by Fredrik Forsyth that revolves around a pilot. The narrator of the story is a pilot who wants 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. Once he crossed Paris, he came across storm clouds that looked like black mountains. 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 as he lost control of it.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was another aeroplane with no lights on its wings. The pilot of that aeroplane waved his hands and signalled him to follow. He blindly followed the other pilot since the radio signals of his plane were not reachable, and even the fuel tank was low. Soon he passed through the dark clouds and landed safely on the runway with the help of the other pilot. Upon landing, he inquired at the reception about who was the other pilot who helped him in such a critical situation as he wanted to thank him for saving his life. But the woman in the control centre told him that there was no other aeroplane in the night sky other than his aeroplane.

Conclusion of Two Stories About Flying

In the chapter – Two Stories About Flying, there are two stories that teach us that inner strength and determination are necessary to overcome fear. Having the courage to face tough situations helps us to overcome complex situations in our lives. We hope this CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Prose Summary of Two Stories About Flying must have helped students to get a brief idea about the chapter. Meanwhile, you can view BYJU’S website for more such interesting updates on CBSE and CBSE study material and access sample papers and question papers of different years for your Board exams preparation.