Thinking about the Text
1. I'll take the risk. What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
2 Describe the narrator's experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm
3. Why does the narrator say, "I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota...?
4 What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Answers
Answer:
Answer: 1. The risk that the author here is talking about is him going straight into the storm knowing that he did not have enough fuel. He takes this risk because he wanted to reach France where he could spend time with his family and he wanted the English breakfast.
Answer: 2. As the pilot (Narrator) entered the storm, his plane started jumping and twisting. He could not see anything outside the plane as it was black. When he looked at the compass and other instruments they had stopped functioning due to the storm. It was a terrible and fearsome experience for him.
Answer: 3. After landing, the narrator was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota because he had a horrific and scary experience flying that plane. He was happy that he had landed the plane safely. That is why he was not sorry to walk away.
Answer: 4. The woman in the Control Centre looked at the narrator strangely because the narrator asked her about the black aeroplane but she saw no plane except the narrator's plane in the sky during the storm. Even the radar showed only the narrator's plane in the sky that night.
Answer: 5. He must be just hallucinating that there was someone to help him. The woman at the control center could see his plane only on the radar, and no other plane was flying in the sky at that time. Since the narrator was a good pilot, he helped himself to reach safely.
Explanation: