Excitement bubbled in the air at Tarrytown Airport. It was the day of the Annual Air Show, where all the planes got an opportunity to show off their skills. Mr E.Z O'Malley, manager of Tarrytown Airport, welcomed the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am honoured to announce that the Air Show is once again upon us!"
The crowd cheered excitedly on hearing this.
"For our first act, please welcome our own skywriter plane, Snuffy!"
Snuffy the little skywriter took to the skies, and wrote out the word 'Welcome' and even framed it. It looked like a door mat in the sky.
Everyone cheered again.
Feeling confident due to the audience's positive reaction, Mr O' Malley announced that Herky was the next act, and he was to perform sky tricks. And what tricks! He flew up and down, zipped back and forth and loop de looped.
Meanwhile, in the hanger, Brenda Blue was looking over Old Oscar. He was not in top form. He had sprung an oil leak, his gears made horrible noises and his rudder did the opposite of what he wanted it to.
"I'm sorry Old Oscar, but I can't let you fly out today." Brenda told the old plane.
"Nonsense!" Scoffed Old Oscar. "I've never missed an air show, and I do not intend to miss this one!"
...
Outside, Herky was still performing. To finish off his act, he zipped round the control tower, and then he hurtled back the other way, almost as if he had been wound on a rubber band.
"Jay Jay, did you see what Herky just did?" She asked.
...
Back inside the hanger, Brenda Blue worked as hard as she could trying to fix the elderly plane, but still no luck.
"Don't give up, Brenda!" Called the plane. "I haven't!"
"I know you can get through it, and I know I can fix you!" She cried in response.
...
The next act of the air show was Tracy. She spun in a large circle, and then made plane cart wheels across the beautiful blue skies. She did them over and over, with perfect precision and timing. Then she swept over the cheering crowd.
Mr O' Malley knew that the next act would definitely be worth the wait. He announced that Big Jake and Jay Jay were to do a daredevil stunt together. Big Jake ascended into the sky rapidly, with Jay Jay on his back. Jay Jay clung tightly, as he had never been so high before! Big Jake kept on going, and then he suddenly executed a perfect swan dive before doing figure of eights in the sky. On his last up round, Jay Jay leaped off and the two flew apart before landing on the runway from opposite ends, just inches apart.
The crowd roared with approval and exhilaration one feels after witnessing something as exciting as that!
...
In the hanger, Old Oscar too felt great excitement, but for a different reason.
He was operating again! He could perform in the air show now!
"Remember, left is right and right is left." Brenda Blue warned, but the ancient plane didn't listen.
"Tell Mr O' Malley to announce me quick!" And he exited the hanger in a rickedey dignity. The crowd watched as Old Oscar clumsily made his way down the runway and took off in a shaky climb. He planned to do a loop and land on the ground in a dignified fashion.
But suddenly, he tried to flick his rudder one way...and it went the other way!
This sent the old plane into an excellent barrel roll, but he also began to panic, as he couldn't quite remember what Brenda Blue had told him before he left.
He dove downwards and closed his eyes to avoid the fact that the ground was rushing up to his face.
"Pull up, Oscar pull up!" Jay Jay screamed.
And that was exactly what the old plane did. Not only that, but it turned into a graceful loop de loop and he landed on the airfield like a graceful bird.
All the planes gathered round to see if he was okay.
And he was.
"Woo hoo! I haven't had that much fun in years!" He said happily.
I had no idea you could do that!" Jay Jay said admiringly.
Of course, Old Oscar hadn't been aware of it either, but he took the opportunity to teach Jay Jay an important life lesson...
"Well, it shows what determination can do for you if you show enough of it... though I'm not doing that dive again!" He added, and everyone laughed.