Two Stories about Flying

Why was the young seagull afraid to make his first flight?

The sea stretched miles down below his ledge, and he had convinced himself his wings would never hold him up. Each time he ran to the brink and flapped them the drop looked so desperate that he turned back to his hole under the ledge.

What shows that the seagull's failure to fly was fear rather than a real inability?

His little sister's wings were far shorter than his own and she had flown the day before, as had both his brothers. Nothing about his body held him back — he simply could not muster the courage to take the plunge.

Why did the seagull's parents scold, threaten and taunt him instead of helping him down?

Flight is the one skill he had to perform himself; carrying him would teach him nothing. They called shrilly and threatened to let him starve on his ledge, and the whole family taunted him with his cowardice, because only necessity would push him off the edge.

How did the mother seagull finally get her son to fly?

She flew across with a piece of fish and then halted in mid-air, wings motionless, holding it almost within reach of his beak. Maddened by a day's hunger he dived at the food and fell outwards into space — and his wings opened.

'The sight of the food maddened him'

The moment the seagull watches his mother tear at a fish while he has not eaten since the previous nightfall. It marks the point at which hunger grows stronger than fear, which is what finally makes flight possible.

What did the seagull feel in the moment after he fell from the ledge?

A monstrous terror seized him, his heart stood still and he could hear nothing — but it lasted only a minute. Then he felt his wings spread, the wind pressing against his breast and under his stomach, and he found he was soaring rather than falling.

The seagull's change of mind once airborne

Within moments he completely forgot that he had ever been unable to fly, and began diving, soaring and curving with his family. The fear that had held him for twenty-four hours vanishes the instant it is tested.

Why did the seagull scream with fright when he first came down on the sea?

Seeing his family standing on the green surface, he took it for solid flooring and dropped his legs to stand on it. His legs sank, and he was too tired and hungry to rise again — until his belly touched the water and he found he floated.

What does the seagull's first flight suggest about fear?

The fear was entirely in the anticipation. He had the wings and the strength throughout; what he lacked was the willingness to try, and once hunger forced the attempt the difficulty simply dissolved.

The old Dakota

The narrator's ageing aeroplane, flown from France back to England at one-thirty in the morning. It carries only two fuel tanks, and he has already switched to the second and last one before he meets the storm — which is what makes the detour impossible.

What risk does the narrator take, and why does he take it?

He flies an old aeroplane straight into a storm rather than turn back to Paris. He knows he ought to go back, but he is thinking of his family, his holiday and a big English breakfast, and lets that impatience override his judgement.

Why could the narrator not simply avoid the storm clouds?

They rose like black mountains right across the sky, too high to climb over, and he was already on his last fuel tank, so there was not enough left to go round them to the north or the south. Turning back to Paris was the only safe option.

What went wrong once the narrator flew into the clouds?

Everything outside went black and the old aeroplane jumped and twisted. The compass spun uselessly and died, the other instruments failed with it, and the radio brought no answer from Paris Control — leaving him blind, unguided and lost.

The black aeroplane

The aircraft that appears beside the Dakota inside the storm, carrying no lights on its wings. Its pilot turns his face to the narrator, waves him on and leads him to a runway — then vanishes, and the control centre insists no such plane was flying.

Why did the narrator follow the strange aeroplane without hesitation?

He had no compass, no radio and no way of seeing where he was, so the waving pilot was his only chance. The other plane even turned slowly and took position ahead of him to make following easier, and he went behind it like an obedient child.

'Like an obedient child'

How the narrator describes himself following the black aeroplane. The phrase reverses his earlier confidence: the pilot who overruled his own better judgement now surrenders all decisions to a stranger he cannot identify.

How did the narrator finally reach safety?

With fuel for only five or ten minutes left, the black aeroplane began to descend and he followed it down through the storm. He came out of the clouds to see two long straight lines of lights — a runway — and landed.

Why did the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely and laugh?

He asked who the other pilot was so that he could thank him. She told him no other aeroplanes had flown that night and his was the only one she had seen on the radar, so the plane he had followed for half an hour had never existed on her screen.

Why does the narrator say he was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota?

The aeroplane had nearly killed him. Its compass, instruments and radio had all failed in the storm and its tanks were almost dry, so leaving it standing by the control tower was a relief rather than a parting.

Why does 'The Black Aeroplane' end with questions rather than an explanation?

The narrator cannot account for his own survival — no compass, no radio, no fuel and no plane on the radar. Leaving the questions open lets the rescue stand as something inexplicable, and hands the explanation to the reader.

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