Two Stories About Flying Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 3 CBSE Notes (2025-26)

The chapter “Two Stories About Flying” from Class 10 English First Flight includes two main stories—"His First Flight" and "The Black Aeroplane"—as well as two poems, “How to Tell Wild Animals” and “The Ball Poem." Each part deals with the themes of fear, courage, learning, and the experience of loss or discovery. The chapter is designed to encourage empathy and the spirit of overcoming challenges.

“His First Flight” is centered on a young seagull who is afraid to fly, even though his siblings have already made their first attempt. He lacks confidence and is deeply worried that his wings will not support him over the vast, scary sea below. Despite his parents’ encouragement and even their threats to let him starve, he cannot summon the courage to leap from the ledge.

The seagull's parents, along with his siblings, attempt to motivate him by flying and perfecting their own flight skills. They even make food visible, knowing the sight will tempt him. Only the mother gives him direct incentive: she brings a piece of fish close but does not actually feed him. Starved and desperate, he ultimately dives after the fish and, to his surprise, finds himself flying. The fear is replaced by a sense of wonder and joy as he learns to flap and glide, eventually joining his family on the water. The first flight is celebrated as a rite of passage for the young bird.

The main lesson from the seagull’s story is that fear is natural when facing something new, but often, courage comes through necessity rather than pure willpower. The support and challenges from those around us also play a vital role in overcoming personal barriers. The story draws a parallel between animal instincts and human experiences, such as taking first steps or trying out new abilities.

• The young seagull’s fear is contrasted with the confidence of his siblings.
• Parental support includes both encouragement and tough love (threatening to starve him).
• Hunger becomes the final motivational push for the seagull’s first flight.
• The moment he takes flight, all earlier fears vanish, and he feels joy and pride.
• The family celebrates his success as he learns to fly and floats for the first time on water.

In "The Black Aeroplane," the narrator is a pilot flying a Dakota plane from France to England at night. The weather is clear until he suddenly encounters a dangerous storm. Despite warnings from air control and the risk of running out of fuel, he heads straight into the storm as he is determined to reach home for breakfast.

Once inside the storm, all communication and navigation instruments fail, and he is lost. At this crucial moment, a mysterious black aeroplane appears and leads him safely out of the storm, showing the way to a runway. When he lands and asks about the other pilot, he is told that no other planes were detected in the sky that night. The story remains a mystery as to who or what helped him, adding an element of suspense and wonder.

This narrative highlights the role of faith, instinct, and perhaps unseen help in difficult times. It shows the pilot taking a risk for personal reasons and eventually receiving help in a moment of crisis. The story allows students to reflect on mysterious experiences and the feeling of being guided in challenging situations.

• The pilot ignores the safer option of returning to Paris, instead risking his life for comfort and family.
• Once in the storm, he has no compass, radio, or visible signs, heightening the sense of fear and uncertainty.
• A mysterious airplane—a ‘black aeroplane’—helps him, but its origin remains unsolved at the end.
• This unresolved ending encourages interpretation around faith, guidance, and gratitude.

The chapter also offers activities on the meanings of words like ‘black’ in different contexts and phrases with ‘fly’. For instance:

Understanding such expressions helps to improve both comprehension and expression in English.

This poem by Carolyn Wells applies humor to the risky business of identifying wild animals. Using fun rhymes and surprising advice (like being eaten by a tiger as a way to recognize it), the poem pokes fun at the seriousness of animal identification. The poet uses playful language and intentional misspellings like ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ for comic effect.

The poem also introduces several animal-related idioms and encourages discussion on similar expressions in different languages. It highlights how poets use creative license with language to amuse readers.

• The poem is humorous and creative, making use of rhymes and ‘rules’ for identification that are not to be taken literally.
• Some language is intentionally incorrect for poetic effect.
• It encourages students to explore how language and humor work together.

“The Ball Poem” by John Berryman describes a young boy losing his ball, symbolizing the first significant loss of his life. The poem explores grief, realization, and the acquisition of personal responsibility. Although the ball can be replaced with money, the boy’s sadness is about more than the object—it’s about losing something meaningful and irreplaceable.

Through this loss, the boy begins to understand that life includes loss, change, and the need to move on. The poet chooses not to comfort the boy with money, emphasizing that loss is a stepping stone to maturity and resilience. The repeated lesson is that some experiences, like the first loss, teach deeper truths than can ever be replaced with material objects.

• Shaking grief: The overwhelming sadness that consumes the boy.
• Responsibility: The awareness of ownership and loss, and accepting the reality of possessions being lost.
• Epistemology of loss: The learning and understanding that comes from experiencing loss, a theme everyone faces many times.
• Money is “external”—some things cannot be fixed by buying replacements.

Throughout the chapter, there are comprehension and reflective questions at the end of each story or poem. These are designed to help students think about:

• Their own experiences with learning new skills, overcoming fears, and dealing with loss.
• Comparing their lives to the journeys and emotions of the story and poem characters.
• Exploring language through idioms, wordplay, and humor.
• Writing about personal experiences in simple yet expressive English.

These questions aim to deepen understanding and encourage creative participation, ensuring all-round revision and learning.

Class 10 English Chapter 3 Notes – Two Stories About Flying (His First Flight, The Black Aeroplane): Revision Key Points

With these CBSE Class 10 English Chapter 3 revision notes, you can easily review important details from “His First Flight,” “The Black Aeroplane,” and the poems included in your syllabus. Quick highlights and concise summaries help reinforce key storylines, vocabulary, and theme-based questions.

Ideal for last-minute study, these notes boost your confidence by clarifying plot events, crucial turns, and the main morals of each section. Referring to these easy-to-understand English notes ensures you cover all exam-relevant points and develop a strong grasp on the stories of courage, loss, and humor presented in this chapter.