NCERT First Flight · Prose · Liam O’Flaherty and Frederick Forsyth
This textbook unit joins two very different accounts of flight. In His First Flight, a young seagull overcomes fear when hunger and his family’s encouragement push him into the air. In The Black Aeroplane, a pilot lost in a storm is mysteriously guided to safety by another aircraft that cannot be found after landing.
This textbook unit joins two very different accounts of flight. In His First Flight, a young seagull overcomes fear when hunger and his family’s encouragement push him into the air. In The Black Aeroplane, a pilot lost in a storm is mysteriously guided to safety by another aircraft that cannot be found after landing.
Answer-writing tip: Begin with a direct response, support it with a relevant event or image, and finish by linking the detail to the question. Avoid retelling the entire text.
Make a two-column plot map. For each story, record the problem, turning point, resolution and one detail that creates mood. Then compare how realistic evidence differs from mystery.
This is an original study activity based on the text; use the prescribed book for the full work and exact exercise wording.
Newly written practice modeled on common extract, inference, theme and character question patterns; these are not copied past-paper questions.
How does the young seagull finally make his first flight?
His mother holds food just beyond his reach. Driven by hunger, he dives toward it, discovers that his wings support him and begins flying. The change comes through his own action, not simply through advice.
Why is the ending of The Black Aeroplane mysterious?
The narrator reaches safety, but the control-tower account says no other aircraft appeared on radar and no second pilot was reported. The unexplained guide leaves the reader uncertain whether the event was real, imagined or deliberately supernatural.
Compare the role of fear in the two stories.
The seagull’s fear is internal and is overcome through a first successful attempt. The pilot’s danger is external: poor visibility, low fuel and failing instruments. Both plots place a character under pressure, but one ends with personal growth and the other with mystery.
Prepared as supplementary revision for CBSE Class X English Language and Literature 2026–27. Consult the current CBSE syllabus and your prescribed NCERT edition for assessment details.