Chapters 35 - 38 Summary

In chapter thirty-five, after only nine hours of instruction in the RAF, F.O. Woodham sends James up for his first solo flight. After all the tormenting tutelage from Woodham, Herriot fears that he will either crash the plane or that he will get lost. Initially terrified, James quickly discovers how prepared he really is to fly the biplane. His excitement does cause him to temporarily lose his bearings, but he uses all his recently developed navigation skills and finds his way back to the airfield. He lands the plane perfectly and even F.O. Woodham has nothing but congratulations for him.

Back in Darrowby, in chapter thirty-six, Mr. Blackburn's farm has advanced to the point of automated milking machines for with progress comes greater constraints on time. It is no longer cost effective to milk this many cows manually. Unfortunately...