Black Aeroplane Summary, Explanation, Word meanings Class 10

Black aeroplane - Summary, explanation, word meanings - class 10 English

CBSE Class 10 English Chapter 3 Two Stories About Flying Part 2- “Black Aeroplane”, Line by Line Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from First Flight Book

Black Aeroplane – CBSE Class 10 English Chapter 3 Black Aeroplane Summary, Detailed explanation of the lesson along with meanings of difficult words. Also, the explanation is followed by a Summary of the lesson.

By Ruchika Gupta

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Class 10 English Chapter 3

Two Stories about Flying

Black Aeroplane by Frederick Forsyth

 

 

The Black Aeroplane Introduction

The lesson “Black Aeroplane” by Frederick Forsyth reflects on how one’s judgement gets distorted due to fantasizing and how it creates problems. In this chapter, the narrator is a pilot who is so eager to meet his family and have a good breakfast that he takes the wrong decision of facing the storm instead of doing the right thing. Miraculously, he somehow manages to escape with the help of a mysterious aeroplane.

Theme of the Lesson

Sometimes, it get tough for us to take decisions and doubt creates a lot of fear. We consider some helpful incidents to be miracles and mysteries. These incidents take us out of trouble and are nothing else but our mind’s courage and strength which takes the form of an external factor and takes us out of the doubtful situation. Such incident happens with the narrator, the pilot of the old Dakota plane who is flown out of the storm by a mysterious “Black Aeroplane”.

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The Black Aeroplane Summary

The story “Black Aeroplane” is about a pilot who feels happy and contended to fly over a city that is sleeping (at night time). He is flying from Paris to London. While taking his flight, he dreams about the long holiday with his family. He also fantasizes about the scrumptious breakfast he would have upon landing. As soon as he crosses Paris, he gets a look of the dark clouds that were a sign of the upcoming storm. The right decision would have been to turn back to Paris for the sake of safety. But he is overshadowed by his dreams and not wanting to delay them, risks the life of his passengers and heads straight into the storm. Everything gets dark, he is unable to see, all his direction instruments stopped functioning and he lost control of the plane. When all hope was lost, he saw another plane whose pilot was more than willing to rescue them. The author was panicking as there was very less amount of fuel left. The anonymous pilot guided them out of the storm and disappeared as soon as they saw light.  Upon landing, when he asks the lady in the control room about the other pilot, he is left in shock when she says that his was the only plane in the sky.

 

The Black Aeroplane Summary in Hindi

कहानी “ब्लैक एरोप्लेन” एक ऐसे पायलट के बारे में है जो खुश तबियत का है और रात के समय एक ऐसे शहर के ऊपर उड़ान भरने के लिए संघर्ष करता है जो सो रहा है ।

वह पेरिस से लंदन के लिए उड़ान भर रहा है। अपनी उड़ान के दौरान, वह अपने परिवार के साथ लंबी छुट्टी का सपना देखता है। वह उस शानदार नाश्ते के बारे में भी सोचता है जो उसे लंदन में उतरने पर मिलेगा।

वह जैसे ही पेरिस को पार करता है, उसे काले बादलों का नजारा दिखता है जो आने वाले तूफान का संकेत था। वह वापिस घूम जाने के विचार को ध्यान नहीं देता क्यूंकि वह अंग्रेजी नाश्ते की और आकर्षित होता है।

सुरक्षा के लिहाज से पेरिस वापस जाने का फैसला सही होता। लेकिन उसकी बुद्धि उसके सपनों से ढकी हुई है और वह लंदन पहुंचने में विलम्भ नहीं करना चाहता , अपने यात्रियों के जीवन को जोखिम में डालता है और सीधे तूफान में जाता है।

सब ओर अँधेरा हो जाता है, वह कुछ देख नहीं पाता , उसके सभी दिशा उपकरण काम करना बंद कर देते हैं और वह विमान से नियंत्रण खो देता है। लेखक घबरा रहा था क्योंकि बहुत कम मात्रा में ईंधन बचा था।

अचानक के एक कला जहाज़ उसके सामने आ जाता है। वह बादलों में घिरा हुआ है। अज्ञात पायलट ने उसे तूफान से बाहर निकाला और रनवे की लाइटों का प्रकाश दिखते ही गायब हो गया।

उतरने पर, जब वह नियंत्रण कक्ष में महिला से दूसरे पायलट के बारे में पूछता है, तो वह सदमे में रह जाता है जब वह कहती है कि आकाश में उसका एकमात्र विमान था।

 

The Black Aeroplane Explanation Video Explanation:

 

The Black Aeroplane Lesson Explanation

dakota aeroplane

Passage – The moon was coming up in the east, behind me, and stars were shining in the clear sky above me. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was happy to be alone high up above the sleeping countryside. I was flying my old Dakota aeroplane over France back to England. I was dreaming of my holiday and looking forward to being with my family. I looked at my watch: one thirty in the morning.

Explanation of the Above Passage – It was nighttime when the sky was clear and the stars could be seen twinkling. The pilot felt peace in being above a country that had fallen asleep while he was flying over France to England. It was half-past one in the morning and he was fantasizing about holidaying with his family.

Passage – ‘I should call Paris Control soon,’ I thought. As I looked down past the nose of the aeroplane, I saw the lights of a big city in front of me. I switched on the radio and said, “Paris Control, Dakota DS 088 here. Can you hear me? I’m on my way to England. Over.” The voice from the radio answered me immediately: “DS 088, I can hear you. You ought to turn twelve degrees west now, DS 088. Over.”

Explanation of the Above Passage – When the aeroplane was in France, the pilot thought of informing the Paris Control personnel about its presence and for instructions. At that time, lights from the Paris city were blaring at him. He informed the Control Agency to which they replied with further instruction on directions. The control room at Paris instructed him to turn 12 degrees towards the west.

aeroplane

Passage – I checked the map and the compass, switched over to my second and last fuel tank, and turned the Dakota twelve degrees west towards England. ‘I’ll be in time for breakfast,’ I thought. A good big English breakfast! Everything was going well — it was an easy flight.

Word Meaning:

Compass- instrument for telling direction

Explanation of the Above Passage – After receiving the instructions, the pilot geared up and followed them while putting the last fuel tank into operation. All this time, he was dreaming about his time with his family and then, he started thinking about having a satisfactory breakfast at the destination point. He was calm as everything was going as planned.

black mountains

Passage – Paris was about 150 kilometres behind me when I saw the clouds. Storm clouds. They were huge. They looked like black mountains standing in front of me across the sky. I knew I could not fly up and over them, and I did not have enough fuel to fly around them to the north or south. “I ought to go back to Paris,” I thought, but I wanted to get home. I wanted that breakfast. ‘I’ll take the risk,’ I thought, and flew that old Dakota straight into the storm.

Explanation of the Above Passage – Now, the plane had crossed Paris when he started seeing clouds in the sky. The presence of clouds made it unsafe to travel by air because there were chances of a storm. They were so huge and dark that the pilot compared them with “black mountains”. He knew he couldn’t pass them as it was impossible to go above them or escape them with the amount of fuel that was left in the last tank. The right decision would have been to fly back to Paris safely. But the pilot’s decision making was clouded by his wish to meet his family. He so desperately wanted to be with his family and have that English breakfast he had been dreaming of all day, that he took the risk of not going back. Thus, he headed the plane right into the storm.

Passage – Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black. It was impossible to see anything outside the aeroplane. The old aeroplane jumped and twisted in the air. I looked at the compass. I couldn’t believe my eyes: the compass was turning round and round and round. It was dead. It would not work! The other instruments were suddenly dead, too. I tried the radio.

Explanation of the Above Passage – It was so dark because of the storm that nothing was visible outside the plane. He started losing control of the aeroplane. The compass and other instruments had also stopped working because of the bad weather. He became helpless.

Passage – “Paris Control? Paris Control? Can you hear me?” There was no answer. The radio was dead too. I had no radio, no compass, and I could not see where I was. I was lost in the storm. Then, in the black clouds quite near me, I saw another aeroplane. It had no lights on its wings, but I could see it flying next to me through the storm. I could see the pilot’s face — turned towards me. I was very glad to see another person. He lifted one hand and waved. “Follow me,” he was saying. “Follow me.” ‘He knows that I am lost,’ I thought. ‘He’s trying to help me.’

Explanation of the Above Passage – He tried calling the Paris Control Agency who had helped him earlier but couldn’t connect because of the weather. In the midst of nowhere, when everything failed, he saw a ray of hope when he saw another aeroplane. He felt relieved when he saw another pilot’s face and willingness to help him escape the storm. He thought to himself that the other pilot is very kind as he knew that they were lost and was trying to help him.

Passage – He turned his aeroplane slowly to the north, in front of my Dakota, so that it would be easier for me to follow him. I was very happy to go behind the strange aeroplane like an obedient child. After half an hour the strange black aeroplane was still there in front of me in the clouds. Now there was only enough fuel in the old Dakota’s last tank to fly for five or ten minutes more. I was starting to feel frightened again. But then he started to go down and I followed through the storm. Suddenly I came out of the clouds and saw two long straight lines of lights in front of me. It was a runway! An airport! I was safe! I turned to look for my friend in the black aeroplane, but the sky was empty. There was nothing there. The black aeroplane was gone. I could not see it anywhere.

Important Videos Links

aeroplanes

Word Meaning:

Runway– a strip of hard ground along which aircraft take off and land

Frightened- terrified
Followed– chased
Obedient– one who obeys
Glad- happy

Explanation of the Above Passage – The other pilot took his plane ahead of the lost aeroplane to make it easier for them to follow while the author followed him like an “obedient child”. He was also panicking because there was very less amount of fuel left. It was only then that he started coming out of the storm and could see the runway to land his plane safely. When he turned to thank the other pilot, he realised that the plane that helped him, had disappeared as soon as he came out of the storm.

pilot

Passage – I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota near the control tower. I went and asked a woman in the control centre where I was and who the other pilot was. I wanted to say ‘Thank you’. She looked at me very strangely, and then laughed. “Another aeroplane? Up there in this storm? No other aeroplanes were flying tonight. Yours was the only one I could see on the radar.” So who helped me to arrive there safely without a compass or a radio, and without any more fuel in my tanks? Who was the pilot on the strange black aeroplane, flying in the storm, without lights?

Word Meaning:

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

Explanation of the Above Passage – The author did not know where he had landed but was not afraid of leaving his plane unattended. He headed straight into the control room to ask about the other pilot. To his utmost surprise, the lady informed him that there was no other plane in the sky except his because of the bad weather. He is left astonished with a lot of questions unanswered in his mind.

 

 


Important Questions Videos Links

Class 10 English Chapter-wise Explanation, Summary, Questions Answers

A Letter to God Chapter 1
Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom Chapter 2
Two Stories About Flying Chapter 3
From the Diary of Anne Frank Chapter 4
Mijbil the Otter Chapter 6
Glimpses of India Part 1 – A Baker From Goa Chapter 5
Glimpses of India Part 2 – Coorg Chapter 5
Glimpses of India Part 3 – Tea From Assam Chapter 5
Madam Rides the Bus Chapter 7
The Sermon at Benares Chapter 8
The Proposal Chapter 9

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