1) A pilot was flying from Paris to London but encountered a heavy storm. 2) Lost in the storm clouds with his instruments non-functional and low on fuel, he saw another plane that guided him to safety. 3) Upon landing, the air traffic controller said no other planes were flying that night, leaving the pilot mystified as to who helped him in the strange black plane.

1. Two Stories
about Flying
A PowerPoint presentation by: Sharwan Kumar
Black Aeroplane

2. The Black Aeroplane
-Frederick Forsyth
2

3. Before we proceed:
3
oSince the earliest times, humans have dreamt of
conquering the skies. Here is a story about flying.
oA pilot is lost in storm clouds. Does he arrive safe?
Who helps him? Let’s read the story.

4. About the Writer:
• Black Aeroplane: Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth
(1938) is an English author and
occasional political commentator. He
is best known for thrillers such as
The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa
File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs
of War, The Fist of God, The Veteran,
Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.

5. Looking forward to = waiting eagerly
immediately = at once
compass = Instrument for telling direction
huge = big
risk = danger
twisted = shook
Instruments = machines
waved = shook
follow = come after
obedient = one who obeys the orders
Fuel = petrol, diesel etc
frightened = terrified
runway = the narrow strip the plane lands on or takes off
from
strangely = in a strange manner
arrive = reach

6. 2. 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.

7. 2. 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 the night time). He is
flying from Paris to London. While taking his
flight, he dreams about the long holiday with
his family.

8. 2. Black Aeroplane: Summary
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.

9. 2. Black Aeroplane: Summary
The right decision would have been to turn back to
Paris for the sake of safety. But he being
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.

10. 2. Black Aeroplane: Summary
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.

11. 2. Black Aeroplane: Summary
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.

12.  The sky was clear when the author was flying his old Dacota aeroplane
over France to England.
 He was dreaming of his holiday and looking forward to being with my
family and thought to take good English breakfast with his family.
 Everything was going well — it was an easy flight.
 Paris was about 150 kilometres behind him when he saw the huge,
black, mountain, storm clouds in front of him across the sky.
 Everything was suddenly black. The author could not see
 anything outside the aeroplane.
12
Story in Points

13.  The old aeroplane jumped and twisted in the air. The compass, radio and other
instruments suddenly stopped working.
 Then, in the black clouds quite near him, he saw
another aeroplane. It had no lights on its wings, but
he could see it flying next to him through the
storm.
 He turned his aeroplane slowly to the north, in
front of author’s Dakota, so that it would be easier
for the author to follow him.
13
Story in Points

14.  Suddenly the author came out of the clouds and saw two long straight
lines of lights in front of him.
 It was a runway! An airport! He was safe!
 The author turned to look for his friend in the black aeroplane, but the
sky was empty. The black aeroplane was gone. He could not see it
anywhere.
 He went and asked a woman in the control centre where he was and
who the other pilot was.
14
Story in Points

15.  She looked at the author very strangely, and then laughed. She
said, “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 the author to
arrive there safely without a
compass or a radio, and
without any more fuel in his
tanks?
 Who was the pilot on the
strange black aeroplane, flying
in the storm, without lights?
Ravikant (JNV Kanker) 15
Story in Points

16. 1. What was coming up in the east behind the pilot?
(A) the moon (B) the sun
(C) the stars (D) all of the above
2. Which plane was the author flying?
(A) Dakota (B) Boing-47
(C) Mig-29 (D) none of the above
3. Which country was the pilot flying over?
(A) England (B) France
(C) India (D) Italy
4. Which country did the pilot belong to?
(A) England (B) France
(C) India (D) Italy
Recapitulation

17. 5. What happened when the pilot had covered a distance of 150 kilometres
from Paris?
(A) he saw another plane (B) a strong wind began to
blow
(C) a heavy rain began to fall (D) there were storm clouds
all around
6. Inside the clouds how was everything?
(A) green (B) fresh
(C) black (D) all of the above
7. What happened as the plane entered the storm clouds?
(A) the aeroplane jumped and twisted in the air
(B) the compass was dead
(C) the other instruments were suddenly dead
(D) all of the above
Recapitulation

18. Recapitulation 8. When the author’s plane was caught in the storm who came to help him?
(A) another aeroplane (B) a helicopter
(C) a god (D) all of the above
9. How did the author follow the strange aeroplane?
(A) like a disciplined soldier (B) like an obedient boy
(C) like a mischievous boy (D) all of the above
10. What made the pilot frighten again while following the strange aeroplane?
(A) the density of the storm (B) the technical problem in
the engine
(C) the shortage of fuel (D) all of the above

19. https://www.animatedimages.org/img-
animated-aeroplane-image-0007-
95590.htm#linkit