James Aldridge

The last inch

It’s good if, after twenty years as a pilot, you still enjoy flying at the age of forty; It’s good if you can still rejoice in how artistically you planted the car: you press the handle a little, raise a light cloud of dust and smoothly win the last inch above the ground. Especially when you land on snow: snow is an excellent bedding for the wheels, and good fit in the snow - it's as pleasant as walking barefoot on a fluffy carpet in a hotel.

But flying on the DS-3, when you lifted an old car into the air in any weather and flew over forests anywhere, was over. Working in Canada had sharpened him, and it was not surprising that he ended his flying life over the Red Sea desert, flying Fairchild for the oil export company Texegypto, which had oil exploration rights along the entire Egyptian coast. He flew the Fairchild over the desert until the plane was completely worn out. There were no landing sites. He parked his car wherever geologists and hydrologists wanted to go, that is, on sand, and on bushes, and on the rocky bottom of dry streams, and on the long white shallows of the Red Sea. The shallows were the worst: the smooth-looking surface of the sands was always strewn with large pieces of white coral, razor-sharp on the edges, and if not for the Fairchild's low center of gravity, it would have capsized more than once due to a puncture in the camera.

But all this was already in the past. The Texegypto company abandoned expensive attempts to find a large oil field that would provide the same profits that Aramco received in Saudi Arabia, and the Fairchild turned into a pathetic wreck and stood in one of the Egyptian hangars, covered with a thick layer of multi-colored dust, all dissected at the bottom narrow, long cuts, with disheveled cables, only the semblance of a motor and instruments suitable only for scrap.

It was all over: he turned forty-three, his wife left him home on Lynnen Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and lived as she liked: she rode the tram to Harvard Square, bought groceries in a store without salespeople, visited her old man in decent wooden house- in a word, she led a decent life, worthy of a decent woman. He promised to come to her in the spring, but he knew that he would not do this, just as he knew that he would not get a flying job in his years, especially the kind to which he was accustomed, he would not get it even in Canada. In those parts, supply exceeded demand even when it came to experienced people; Saskatchewan farmers taught themselves to fly their Piper Cabs and Austers. Amateur aviation deprived many old pilots of a piece of bread. They ended up being hired to serve mining departments or the government, but both jobs were too decent and respectable to suit him in his old age.

So he was left empty-handed, except for an indifferent wife who did not need him, and a ten-year-old son, born too late and, as Ben understood somewhere deep down, a stranger to both of them - a lonely, restless child who For ten years he understood that his mother was not interested in him, and his father was a stranger who did not know what to talk to him about, harsh and taciturn in those rare moments when they were together.

This moment was no better than the others. Ben took the boy with him on the Auster, which was swinging wildly at an altitude of 2 thousand feet above the Red Sea coast, and waited for the boy to get seasick.

If you puke,” Ben said, “put your head down low on the floor so you don’t get the whole car dirty.”

Fine. - The boy looked very unhappy.

Are you afraid?

The little Oster was mercilessly tossed from side to side in the hot air, but the frightened boy still did not get lost and, desperately sucking on a lollipop, looked at the instruments, the compass, and the jumping attitude indicator.

“A little,” the boy answered in a quiet and shy voice, unlike the rude voices of American children. - And these shocks won’t break the plane?

Ben didn't know how to calm his son down, he told the truth:

If you don't take care of your car, it will certainly break down.

And this... - the boy began, but he felt very sick and could not continue.

This one is fine,” the father said irritably. - Quite a good plane.

The boy lowered his head and cried quietly.

Ben regretted taking his son with him. All generous impulses in their family always ended in failure: they both lacked this feeling for a long time - a dry, whiny, provincial mother and a harsh, hot-tempered father. Ben once tried, during one of his rare bouts of generosity, to teach the boy how to fly an airplane, and although his son turned out to be very understanding and quickly learned the basic rules, every shout brought him to tears...

Do not Cry! - Ben now ordered him. - There is no need for you to cry! Raise your head, do you hear, Davy! Get up now!

But Davy sat with his head down, and Ben more and more regretted that he had taken him, and looked sadly at the huge barren desert of the Red Sea coast stretching under the wing of the plane - an unbroken strip of a thousand miles separating the softly blurred watercolors of the land from the faded green of the water . Everything was motionless and dead. The sun burned out all life here, and in the spring, over thousands of square miles, the winds lifted masses of sand into the air and carried the sand to the other side of the Indian Ocean, where it remained forever: the desert merged with the bottom of the sea.

Sit up straight, he told Davy, if you want to learn how to land.

He knew that his tone was harsh, and he always wondered why he couldn’t talk to the boy. Davy raised his head. He grabbed the control board and leaned forward. Ben moved the throttle, waited until the speed slowed down, and then pulled hard on the trim lever, which was very awkwardly located on these small English planes - at the top left, almost overhead. A sudden jolt shook the boy’s head down, but he immediately raised it and began to look over the lowered nose of the car at a narrow strip of white sand near the bay, similar to a cake thrown into this coastal wasteland. My father flew the plane straight there.

How do you know which way the wind blows? - asked the boy.

By the waves, by the cloud, by instinct! - Ben shouted to him.

But he himself no longer knew what he was guided by when he was flying the plane. Without thinking, he knew to within one foot where he would land the car. He had to be precise: the bare strip of sand did not give a single extra inch, and only a very small plane could land on it. From here it was a hundred miles to the nearest native village, and all around was a dead desert.

James Aldridge

THE LAST INCH

It’s good if, having flown thousands of miles in twenty years, you still enjoy flying at the age of forty; It’s good if you can still rejoice at how artistically you planted the car; You press the handle a little, raise a light cloud of dust and smoothly gain the last inch above the ground. Especially when landing on snow: dense snow is very comfortable to land on, and landing well in the snow is as pleasant as walking barefoot on a fluffy carpet in a hotel.

But flying on the DS-3, when you lifted an old car into the air in any weather and flew over forests anywhere, was over. His work in Canada had given him a good training, and it is not surprising that he ended his flying life over the deserts of the Red Sea, flying the Fairchild for the oil export company Texegypto, which had rights to explore for oil along the entire Egyptian coast. He flew the Fairchild over the desert until the plane was completely worn out. There were no landing sites. He parked the car wherever geologists and hydrologists wanted to get off - on sand, on bushes, on the rocky bottom of dry streams and on the long white shallows of the Red Sea. The shallows were the worst: the smooth-looking surface of the sands was always strewn with large pieces of white coral with razor-sharp edges, and if not for the low centering of the Fairchild, it would have capsized more than once due to a puncture in the camera.

But all that was in the past. The Texegypto company abandoned expensive attempts to find a large oil field that would provide the same profits that Aramco received in Saudi Arabia, and the Fairchild turned into a pathetic wreck and stood in one of the Egyptian hangars, covered with a thick layer of multi-colored dust, all cut up from below narrow, long cuts, with frayed cables, with some semblance of a motor and instruments fit only for a landfill.

It was all over: he turned forty-three, his wife left him at home on Lynnen Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and lived as she liked: she rode the tram to Harvard Square, bought groceries in a store without a salesperson, visited her old man in a decent wooden house - in a word, she led a decent life, worthy of a decent woman. He promised to come to her in the spring, but he knew that he would not do this, just as he knew that he would not get a flying job in his years, especially the kind he was used to, he would not get it even in Canada. In those parts, supply exceeded demand even when it came to experienced people; Saskatchewan farmers taught themselves to fly their Pipercabs and Austers. Amateur aviation deprived many old pilots of a piece of bread. They ended up being hired to serve mining departments or the government, but such work was too decent and respectable to suit him in his old age.

So he was left with nothing, except for an indifferent wife who did not need him, and a ten-year-old son, born too late and, as Ben understood in the depths of his soul, a stranger to both of them - a lonely, restless child who, at ten years old, felt that his mother is not interested in him, and his father is a stranger, harsh and taciturn, who does not know what to talk about with him in those rare moments when they were together.

Now it was no better than always. Ben took the boy with him on the Auster, which was swinging wildly two thousand feet above the Red Sea coast, and waited for the boy to get seasick.

If you feel sick,” Ben said, “get low to the floor so you don’t get the whole cabin dirty.”

Fine. - The boy looked very unhappy.

Are you afraid?

The little Oster was mercilessly tossed from side to side in the hot air, but the frightened boy still did not get lost and, fiercely sucking on a lollipop, looked at the instruments, the compass, and the jumping attitude indicator.

“A little,” the boy answered in a quiet and shy voice, unlike the rude voices of American children. - And these shocks won’t break the plane?

Ben did not know how to console his son, he told the truth:

If you don't take care of your car and check it all the time, it will definitely break down.

And this... - the boy began, but he felt very sick and could not continue.

This one is fine,” the father said irritably. - Quite a good plane.

The boy lowered his head and cried quietly.

Ben regretted taking his son with him. In their family, generous impulses always ended in failure: they were both like that - a dry, whiny, provincial mother and a harsh, hot-tempered father. During one of his rare bouts of generosity, Ben once tried to teach the boy how to fly an airplane, and although the son turned out to be very understanding and quickly learned the basic rules, every shout from his father brought him to tears...

Do not Cry! - Ben now ordered him. - There is no need for you to cry! Raise your head, do you hear, Davy! Get up now!

But Davy sat with his head down, and Ben more and more regretted that he had taken him with him, and looked sadly at the barren desert coast of the Red Sea stretching under the wing of the plane - an unbroken strip of a thousand miles, separating the softly washed-out colors of the land from the faded green of the water. Everything was motionless and dead. The sun burned out all life here, and in the spring, over thousands of square miles, the winds lifted masses of sand into the air and carried it to the other side of the Indian Ocean, where it remained forever at the bottom of the sea.

Sit up straight, he told Davy, if you want to learn how to land.

Ben knew his tone was harsh, and he always wondered why he couldn't talk to the boy. Davy raised his head. He grabbed the control board and leaned forward. Ben eased off the throttle and, waiting until the speed slowed down, pulled hard on the trim lever, which was very inconveniently located on these small English planes - at the top left, almost overhead. A sudden jolt shook the boy’s head down, but he immediately raised it and began to look over the lowered nose of the car at a narrow strip of white sand near the bay, similar to a cake thrown onto this deserted shore. My father flew the plane straight there.

How do you know which way the wind blows? - asked the boy.

By the waves, by the cloud, by instinct! - Ben shouted to him.

But he himself no longer knew what he was guided by when he was flying the plane. Without thinking, he knew to within one foot where he would land the car. He had to be precise: the bare strip of sand did not give a single extra inch, and only a very small plane could land on it. From here it was a hundred miles to the nearest native village, and all around was a dead desert.

James Aldridge

"The Last Inch"

Working in Canada on an old DC-3 plane gave Ben “good training”, thanks to which last years he flew a Fairchild over the Egyptian deserts, searching for oil for an oil export company. To drop off the geologists, Ben could land the plane anywhere: “on sand, on bushes, on the rocky bottoms of dry streams and on the long white sandbanks of the Red Sea,” each time “winning the last inch above the ground.”

But now this work is over: the company’s management has abandoned attempts to find a large oil field. Ben turned 43 years old. The wife, unable to bear life in the “foreign village of Arabia,” left for her native Massachusetts. Ben promised to come to her, but he understood that in his old age he would not be able to get hired as a pilot, and “decent and decent” work did not attract him.

Now Ben only has a ten-year-old son, Davy, whom his wife did not consider necessary to take with her. He was a withdrawn child, lonely and restless. His mother was not interested in him, and the boy was afraid of his father, harsh and taciturn. For Ben, his son was a stranger and an incomprehensible person with whom he did not even try to find a common language.

And now he regretted that he took his son with him: the rental plane “Oster” was shaking violently, and the boy was feeling sick. Taking Davy to the Red Sea was another of Ben's generous impulses, which rarely ended well. During one of these impulses, he tried to teach the boy to fly an airplane. Although Davy was a smart child, his father's harsh shouts eventually brought him to tears.

Ben was brought to the secluded shore of the Red Sea by a desire to make money: he had to film sharks. The television company paid well for a meter of film with such a film. Landing the plane on a long sandbar, Ben forced his son to watch and learn, although the boy was very sick. “It’s all about the last inch,” the pilot instructed.

The sandbank formed Shark Bay, so named because of its toothy inhabitants. After giving his son several sharp orders, Ben disappeared into the water. Davy sat on the shore until lunch, looking at the deserted sea and thinking what would happen to him if his father did not return.

The predators were not very active today. He had already shot several meters of film when a cat shark became interested in him. She swam too close, and Ben hurried to get ashore.

During lunch, he discovered that he only took beer with him - he again did not think about his son, who does not drink beer. The boy wondered if anyone knew about this trip. Ben said that this bay can only be reached by air; he did not understand that the boy was not afraid of uninvited guests, but of being left alone.

Ben hated and was afraid of sharks, but after lunch he dived again, this time with bait - a horse's leg. With the money received from the film, he hoped to send Davy to his mother. The predators gathered around the meat, but the cat shark rushed at the man...

Dripping with blood, Ben climbed out onto the sand. When Davy ran up to him, it turned out that the shark had almost torn off Ben's right arm and severely damaged his left. The legs were also all cut up and chewed. The pilot realized that his affairs were very bad, but Ben could not die: he had to fight for Davy’s sake.

Only now the father tried to find an approach to the boy in order to calm him down and prepare him for an independent flight. Constantly losing consciousness, Ben lay down on a towel and pushed off the sand with his feet while his son dragged him to the “oster.” So that his father could climb into the passenger seat, Davy piled stones and fragments of coral in front of the airplane door and dragged his father along this ramp. Meanwhile, a strong wind rose and it began to get dark. Ben sincerely regretted that he had not bothered to recognize this gloomy boy and now could not find the right words to cheer him up.

Following his father's instructions, Davy barely got the plane into the air. The boy remembered the map, knew how to use a compass and knew that he had to fly along the sea coast to the Suez Canal, and then turn towards Cairo. Ben was unconscious almost the entire way. He woke up when they were approaching the airfield. “Ben knew that the last inch was approaching and everything was in the boy’s hands.” With incredible effort, the father rose in his chair and helped his son get into the car. At the same time, they miraculously missed a huge four-engine plane.

To the surprise of Egyptian doctors, Ben survived, although he lost left hand along with the ability to fly airplanes. Now he had one concern - to find a way to his son's heart, to overcome the last inch separating them.

Ben worked in Canada on a DC-3, after which he switched to a Fairchild No. and flew over the Egyptian deserts. He was looking for oil to land geologists, because he was able to land a plane anywhere. But at the moment there was no work; the company searching for oil decided to abandon the search for a large oil field. Ben is already 43 years old, and his wife, tired of such a life in a “foreign village,” returned to Massachusetts. Ben told her he would be back soon, but he didn't want to.

His ten-year-old son Davy stayed with Ben; his wife did not want to take him with her. The boy was very withdrawn and lonely. His mother did not care for him, and he was afraid of his father, but Ben did not try to find a common language with him. Ben took Davy with him to the Red Sea, where he hoped to make money by filming sharks. During the flight, Davy got seasick, and when Ben landed the plane, he forced his son to watch how it was done, despite the fact that he felt bad. “It’s all about the last inch,” the pilot instructed.

Ben left Davy on the shore while he went into the water to film the sharks. The boy sat on the shore and wondered what he should do if his father did not return.

The sharks were not very active that day, and only one swam so close that Ben had to return to shore. Later, Ben realized that he only took the beer and didn’t think about the boy.

The boy asked his father if anyone knew that they were here, to which he received the answer that the only way to get here was by air. Ben did not understand that the boy was not afraid of guests, but of being left alone. And Ben dreamed that with the money he earned he would send the boy to his mother.

When Ben went to film sharks again, a cat shark attacked him. Bleeding, he climbed out onto the sand. Davy ran up to him and saw that the shark had torn off his father’s right arm and hooked his left one, and had also bitten his legs.

Davy pulled his father onto the plane and put him in the passenger seat. Ben, in turn, regretted that he was never able to get to know his son better and find a common language with him. Davy listened to his father's instructions and took the plane into the air. The boy knew the way home well and knew how to use a compass. Ben was unconscious all the way. He came to his senses when they were approaching the airfield. “Ben knew that the last inch was approaching and everything was in the boy’s hands.” Having difficulty getting up, the father helped his son land the plane.

J. Aldridge. “Father and Son” (Based on the story “The Last Inch”)

The figure of the English writer James Aldridge is interesting for his vigorous activity in the struggle for peace. He witnessed the battles in World War II war in Berlin, he is the author of combat reports, and after the war - works of political content. Along with these two themes, his works are also devoted to the affirmation of human moral fortitude.

So, journalist, writer, anti-fascist, peace fighter, author of front-line reports, works of political content, who affirmed the moral fortitude of man - this is the range of Aldridge’s activities.

The story “The Last Inch” is dedicated to the moral fortitude of a person. To study it, students can use the one prepared by the publishing house "Children's literature"The book "Father and Son". It is important that seventh graders understand why the author called his story “The Last Inch.” What did he mean by this name? Why was the bay called Shark Bay?

Students retell closely text Ben's meeting with the sharks, showing the speed with which the events unfolded that led the hero to the tragic conclusion of the planned operation. They will monitor how sharks behave:

“The sharks came immediately, smelling the smell of blood... They rushed straight to the piece of horse meat. A spotted cat walked in front, and behind her were two or three sharks of the same breed, but smaller. They didn't swim or even move their fins - they rushed forward like gray flowing rockets. Approaching the meat, the sharks turned slightly to the side, tearing off pieces as they went..."

How do father and son behave in extreme situations? What is interesting about the following thoughts from Ben and the author?

“...The only hope for salvation for both the boy and him is to force Davy to think for himself, to confidently do what he must do. We need to somehow instill this in the boy.”

“A ten-year-old child had to complete a task of inhuman difficulty. If he wants to survive..."

“...It was the same child, with the same face, which he had recently seen for the first time. But the point was not at all what Ben saw: it was important to find out whether the boy was able to see something in his father...”

“...They both need time. He, Ben, will now need all the life that the boy gave him.”

Schoolchildren answer questions in the textbook, make a plan for what they read, and try read by role, retell the text, while simultaneously comprehending important thoughts expressed by the author about the difficult problem of relationships between adults and children. At the same time, they improve the skills of expressive reading, coherent retelling, the ability to conduct a dialogue (for example, the dialogue between father and son on the plane, the dialogue between Ben and Davy before the father dives into the sea).

Let's think about why the author describes every second on the plane in such detail. What does this description achieve? What is interesting about the characters of Davy and Ben? Only if family relations brought father and son together during the flight and after it? Why did the situation in which the heroes found themselves help them understand each other? How can this be explained?

In the process of answering questions and retelling, students experience the extraordinary situation in which the heroes find themselves, and understand the moral burden of Aldridge’s work; the father saves the son, the son saves the father. Together they find each other, overcoming inhuman difficulties, emerging from extreme situations as winners.

Since the problem voiced in Aldridge’s work is close to teenagers, it makes sense to connect the discussion of the text with comprehension life situations, problems raised in stories, for example, about mutual understanding between adults and children. The children will remember similar cases from their lives, when some unusual situation helped to evaluate an action, most clearly demonstrated the best character traits (courage, boldness, delicacy, honesty, etc.), and contributed to the understanding of adults - relatives, acquaintances.

Talking about it orally or in writing is one of the creative tasks for teenagers. In addition, you can propose to create a film script based on Aldridge’s text “Father and Son”.

V. Ya. Korovina, Literature 7th grade. Methodological advice - M.: Education, 2003. - 162 p.: ill.

Library with textbooks and books for download free online, literature for 7th grade download, school literature curriculum, lesson plan plans

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J. Aldridge wrote “The Last Inch” in his characteristic style. The author believed that the main thing for the creator of the work is to reveal how a person is formed, to capture the moment when children turn into girls and boys. And he succeeded. In his narration, he not only captured the moment of the boy’s growing up, which coincided with a difficult test, but also showed how a twelve-year-old boy amazingly adopted the character of his father.

J. Aldridge, “The Last Inch.” Summary: first lesson

Twelve-year-old boy Davy landed in a small plane with his father, who was once a pilot, on a deserted Egyptian shore. Ben was left without a job, but since his wife was accustomed to a wealthy life, he had to pay for an apartment in Cairo and many other services, he was forced to settle on a profitable, but dangerous business - filming sharks underwater. While landing the plane, the father simultaneously gave his son the first lessons in this skill. He taught that when planting, the distance to the ground should be exactly six inches, no more and no less. In fact, Ben did not even imagine that this lesson would soon be very useful to his son.

J. Aldridge, “The Last Inch.” Summary: father's injury

Ben was preparing a movie camera and scuba gear for filming. He was concerned about whether the large eagle ray and cat shark could be captured. Ben took bait from horse meat and tied the meat to the coral reef. The sharks, of course, attacked her, and it was a successful shoot. And only now Ben noticed that he had stained his hands and chest with blood from the meat. But it was too late: a cat shark was swimming right at him. She grabbed his right hand and walked over his left. Miraculously, Ben managed to push the predator away with his feet and get out onto the sand. On the shore he lost consciousness.

J. Aldridge, “The Last Inch.” Summary: the steering wheel in the hands of a child

Ben came to his senses and asked the boy to rip his shirt and bandage his hands: the right one was dangling, and the left one looked like a piece of meat. My legs were also bleeding. The father's consciousness constantly fell into unconsciousness. He concentrated his remaining strength as best he could on saving Davy. The boy followed his father’s commands, not yet suspecting that he himself would have to take the helm. Ben asks his son to drag him to the plane on a towel, pile stones at the right door and pull him into the cabin. It was only then that suspicion crept into Davy’s soul: why didn’t his father sit on the pilot’s side. Ben told the boy that he would have to fly the plane himself only after they had both climbed into it. He gives his son instructions on how to lift the plane. Strong winds made their situation very difficult. The plane rocked and my father had to scream. The boy's eyes were wide open in horror, but the father's will and courage were transmitted to his son: he did not let go of the steering wheel.

J. Aldridge, “The Last Inch.” Summary: plane landing

By the time they reached the airstrip, it was almost dark. The landing spot was occupied, but they were lucky - the large plane took off immediately. Dodging him, Davy lost speed. It was very dangerous. The last inch separating death and life was approaching. At that moment, the father could not stand it and began to cry, losing his composure. But the boy managed to succeed. Ben calmed down and felt that he would live.

Brief summary: Aldridge, “The Last Inch.” Father's recovery

Thanks to physical strength, the will to live and the skill of Egyptian doctors, Ben began to recover. Davy came to check on his father, and he asked if it was great. The boy could only nod in response. In fact, he had not yet thought about it; the horror of his experience had still not left him. knew that when Davy grew up, he would be proud of his own actions and would feel more confident for the rest of his life.