Flying blind

(adapted from a story by Sandy Guy and David Crofts, Reader’s Digest July 2001)

Nathan Ross was worried. Something wasn’t right. It was about eight, the wind was lashing the rain and Ross’s border collie was running around, barking furiously. Ross was standing in his yard in the raging thunderstorm, listening hard.

Ross had been interested in flying since he could remember and he made a hobby of tracking planes as they soared past. He listened again and could hear a small aircraft circling Tenterfield, flying past his house again and again. Suddenly the red and green lights of the Cessna broke through the cloud cover. Judging by the way the little aircraft was bucking in the sky he realised that something was seriously wrong. Either the pilot was lost or in trouble – or both.

Ross, who has a dectronics and communication business, owns an air–band portable radio, which looks like a cell phone and can be used to contact aircraft overhead. With this radio, he began to call the pilot. First he could hear only static, but then the radio came alive.

“This is Juliet Uniform Alpha – and no, I’m not OK, repeat, not OK. I’m not sure how much fuel I have left. I can barely see and I need help!”

“Don’t worry,” Ross reassured him, “We’ll organise something.” Ross did not feel as confident as he sounded, as he knew that Tenterfield’s airstrip was a grassy field with no runway lights or control tower. Getting the pilot down in the dark and rain on the airstrip surrounded by hills and mountains would be very tough.

Ross was concerned that it would be hours before the clouds would clear enough for the pilot to be able to see the airstrip. He knew there was a chance that he could crash into one of the hills surrounding the town. His best bet was to call Robert Wild, a local pilot who knew the airstrip well, and ask for his help.

Thirty minutes later, after having found flares, Wild spoke to Esmond Yasi, the pilot, and told him to follow the streetlights to the edge of town and then car lights on the main road out of town to the airfield.

“Tenterfield Ground, I’m at 700 feet and don’t know how much lower I can go.” The pilot’s frightened voice rang in Ross’s ears. “Stay calm, mate,” Ross said, noticing that the radiophone battery was running low.

“Forget about finishing lighting the flares,” Ross said to Wild, “The cloud cover is descending too fast and he must land now!” Blue and red police lights flashed in the dark. Townsfolk wishing to help sat in their cars, watching, with their headlights on.

From inside the cockpit, Yasi headed the plane for the airstrip. Suddenly he was momentarily blinded by a colossal flash of lightning and where Tenterfield’s lights had blinked just seconds before, there was total darkness. “It’s a blackout!” the voice from the ground told Yasi.

In desperation, Ross turned on the hazard lights of his car and roared his Mitsubishi through the wet streets of the town, heading for the airstrip, with the Cessna only 250 feet above him.

Flying nearly blind, Yasi did not realise that had come very close to crashing into Howard’s Hill as he flew above and behind Ross’s car. He saw the flashing lights of the police cars and the headlights of the other vehicles as he lowered the wing-flaps, readying the plane for landing.

His hands were shaking on the controls. He eased the controls back to keep the aircraft’s nose up. Car headlights whizzed past – and with a light thud, the rear wheels touched the ground. He had landed and was safe!

Well, what do you think of this story? Once again, you need to practise in order to read fluently. Let’s assess fluency this week.

more READING: own choice

Find a fairytale or fable of your choice, select 20 – 25 lines of the story (not the beginning) and practise it. Read it to your partner.

Assess yourself and your partner.

[LO 3.1.8]

FOREIGNERSPeople, countries, products

“In Rome, do as the ________ do”.

Complete the following:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Fill in the missing words:

Exercise 3

Think of some more!

LO 3

READING AND VIEWINGThe learner will be able to read and view for information and enjoyment, and to respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural and emotional values in texts.

We know this when the learner:

3.1 reads a variety of South African and international fiction and non-fiction for different purposes (e.g. peoms, book reviews, short novels, newsletters, reference books);

3.1.1 reads independently, selecting appropriate reading and comprehension strategies for the purpose;

3.1.3 scans for specific details;

3.1.5 uses previous knowledge or textual clues to determine meaning and make inferences;

3.1.7 makes story maps or notes key points to track comprehension;

3.1.8 reads aloud clearly, adjusting speed according to purpose and audience;

3.6 understands the vocabulary and discusses how writers have used language to achieve effects (similes, rhythm, onomatopoeia);

3.11 selects relevant reading material and applies reseach skills to find information in dictionaries, reference books and textbooks from community sources or electronic media (where available).

Exercise 1: Foreigners

Capetonians; Parisiennes; Russians; Zimbabweans; Poles; South Africans; Chinese; Namibians; Germans

Exercise 2: Missing words

(a) Australia

(b) Wales

(c) Switzerland

(d) Italian

(e) Japanese

(f) Norwegian

(g) English

(h) Holland

(i) Greece

(j) Spanish