It had been a busy day for Herky the Helicopter. He had been busy performing tricks for a circus that had come to Tarrytown. He had had to do a lot of practice to get his routine just right, and now he just wanted to go to sleep, but he had to get back to his hangar for a good night's sleep. The little helicopter made his way towards the hanger, but he was so tired, it was hard to keep his eyes open.
He soon accidentally bumped into Tracey, who was in the middle of showing a new loop the loop trick to Snuffy and Savannah.
"Herky! Watch where you're going!" She huffed. She was cross as he had interrupted her demonstration, and she had to start all over again.
Next, he ended up flying into Savannah's coconut tree at the end of the runway. It didn't fall down, but a coconut fell out of the tree and nearly hit Herky. Luckily, it missed him as he decided to fly away again.
Jay Jay saw what was going on, and he was worried for his friend, lest he hurt himself in his sleep. So he decided to alert Mr E.Z O'Malley, the manager, of the unusual situation.
He found him saying goodbye to Brenda Blue, who was going home a bit earlier as her mother had the flu.
"Mr O' Malley, sir, may I talk to you, please?" He asked, a bit out of breath.
"Yes, that's fine, Jay Jay. What's wrong?"
"It's Herky, sir. He's flying into things he shouldn't be flying into."
"Hm, I see. I better take a look myself."
...
So Jay Jay brought Mr O' Malley with him and showed him what Herky was doing next- at first, he was flying slowly but straight- but then, he suddenly zig-zagged and bumped into Brenda's workshop door.
"Yes, I agree, Jay Jay. This is looking very serious indeed. We'd better catch him before he gets hurt." Mr. O Malley said, climbing into Jay-Jay's cockpit.
The little jet followed Herky around E.Z Airlines for quite a while, and every near mile he travelled, he felt his fuel tank clock closer to empty, and he was forced to slow down to conserve fuel. This, unfortunately, made trying to catch up with Herky really difficult- because he couldn't travel as fast, he wasn't able to keep track of where Herky was going all the time, and if he disappeared it would become very hard to find him again.
When Mr O' Malley discovered that Jay Jay's fuel tank was nearly empty, he knew they would have to stop.
"We'd better land now, Jay Jay, and give you more fuel right away before you crash."
"It's in Brenda's workshop sir." Jay Jay supplied.
This made Mr O'Malley groan. Brenda had gone home already, and he didn't have the keys with him- they were in his office.
"We'd better land anyway." He decided.
"But what about Herky sir?" The blue jet protested. "I can't just leave him like this!"
"Jay Jay, you know the rules- no flying with an empty or a near empty fuel tank," Mr O' Malley said sternly. "Especially with passengers on board."
"Yes sir," Agreed Jay Jay sadly, and he had no choice but to fly back down and land on the runway again. They needed another plan to catch Herky.
...
Then, they heard the sound of a plane coming into the airport. It was Big Jake, with a special delivery for the airport.
Herky was now back in plain sight, and they both watched as he headed straight for Big Jake.
"Herky, be careful," Big Jake said sternly. "I'm carrying fuel, and it's dangerous to bump someone with fuel."
Herky didn't respond, and flew on, still in a deep sleep. Big Jake headed for the runway, but when he saw Jay Jay, he quickly changed his plan of landing so it was still safe, but wouldn't hurt Jay Jay.
"Hello Jay Jay." He said when he landed. He sounded surprised to see him. "What are you doing in the middle of the runway?"
"Hello Big Jake." Jay Jay replied sadly. "I'm low on fuel, and I'm trying to catch Herky."
"He's sleep flying." Mr O' Malley added.
"I see," Answered Big Jake. "Well, lucky for you, Brenda ordered more fuel for us. I can spare some for you to fill up your tank."
"Thanks Big Jake!" Jay Jay replied enthusiastically. He felt much better that he could now catch Herky again.
"You're welcome, my friend," Smiled Big Jake. Once Jay Jay's tank had been refilled, he thanked his friend, and set off to try and catch Herky before he hurt himself.
"Good luck!" Big Jake called from below them.
"Thanks Big Jake!" They both chorused, and with that, they were on their way again!
...
After flying round for five minutes, they suddenly saw Herky, who was dipping down dangerously. "What if he's out of fuel, sir?" Jay Jay asked Mr. O' Malley nervously.
"Don't worry, Jay Jay, I can get another plane to help us. Let me think...I think that Snuffy can help us carry him."
Using Jay Jay's radio, he contacted Snuffy, and asked him to come and find them in the sky above the hangar so that he could help them bring Herky back down to the ground again.
"Come on, Jay Jay, we'd better hurry and catch him!" EZ O' Malley announced.
So Jay Jay flew after his helicopter friend, and managed to get a wing under Herky to support him, but he needed Snuffy to arrive before Herky ran out of fuel- or else there would be a nasty accident.
"Come on, Snuffy!" Jay Jay said to himself- and then he saw a familiar lime green skywriter flying up towards them. "Snuffy's here, sir!" He cheered.
"I'm here, Mr. O' Malley!" Snuffy exclaimed.
"Good- now put a wing under Herky. He needs the support." Mr O' Malley instructed.
"Okay, sir." So Snuffy gently placed a wing underneath Herky to help him balance.
"Now, to the hangar," Mr O' Malley said quietly, not wanting to wake Herky up from his deep sleep -after what they'd been through to catch him.
So the trio worked together to bring Herky down near the ground again and then they helped him back to his enormous hangar, where they both laid him down gently to sleep. He wasn't wearing his gum shield, but they decided to leave it, as he was so tired, he hadn't noticed he wasn't wearing it.
"Goodnight Herky." Jay Jay said. "Sleep well."
So the planes learned that sometimes, friends need help with things out of their control, and that they should always be ready to help, no matter what.