On sunny days the
Black Forest of Duckburg swarms with picnic
parties. There are carnivals and games .... and
contests like pie eating ... and this day
there is a hang glider race about to start from
the top of Mount Demontooth. The purpose
of this race is to see which daring pilot can
land his flimsy glider nearest the center of a
circle in the valley below, where the belles of
Daisy's club are staging a pie social. The winner
will be crowned 'King Custard Cream the First' by
Queen Daisy, herself. Determined that he will be
the winner is Donald, whose glider is by no means
the best-looking craft in the contest. Don's
helper, Louie, foresees only doom and gloom for
among the rival pilots is Gladstone Gander with a
super glider that was given to him by a rich
widow, who liked his wavy hair. Even so, Donald
thinks he can fly so skillfully, that his cousin's
overweening luck won't be a factor. Louie advises
Don to be the last to jump off.
Gladstone jumps off. His glider is
favored by the most perfect updrafts. He soars
with the grace of a guIl. Maidens swoon with
ecstasy. Don turns green with envy. Louie advises
Donald to not even try to outdo
Gladstone's gymnastics. Louie hangs an emergency
kit on Don's seat bar and tells him to
open it and read the instructions at the first
sign of trouble. Donald jumps off with his glider.
He vows that he will use no unethical
assistance. The updrafts that helped Gladstone
are now downdrafts. Don is whipped down the face
of the cliff. His fanny gets 'sanded' to a pink
on the granite. He pushes clear only to be
flipped over and forced to fly upside down to the
great delight of Gladstone. Don's luck gets no
better fast. Louie, scrambling down the mountain
trail, sees Don's glider blown into a big hole in
the cliff face. 'Goodnight', he moans, 'Uncle
Donald's been blown into the terrible cave of the
vampire bats!'
But the bats aren't hungry. The
glider comes back out carried by so many angry
bats it looks like a giant black bat itself. The
bats 'throw' the glider clear and once more Don
is in precarious flight. Louie yells at him to
open that emergency kit. 'I won't! I
won't!' vows Donald, but he sees the bat
swarm turning to come at him like a black arrow.
He paws the kit open, as bats 'buzz' him like the
Red Baron buzzing a Spad.
Inside the kit is a reel of fine
fishline with a weight on the end. Card says to
drop weighted end to Huey and Dewey who are below
and who will tow Don by the fishline to where he
can't miss the target circle. Donald obeys. Huey
and Dewey come out of a grove and grab the weight
as it falls. Their first tug on the line saves
Don from a kamikaze dive by the bat swarm.
Now all seems well. Donald's glider
sails straight toward the target area with no
foul-ups by wind, beast, or bad luck. But
Gladstone is still to be reckoned with. He swoops
his glider near to taunt Donald. He sees the
almost invisible towline and deliberately strikes
it with his wing. The weight is snapped from Huey's
hands and goes sailing over a line of trees,
beyond which is a carnival fair. The weight
catches in the frame of a car on the whirling 'whip
cracker'.
Round and round goes Don's glider in
sudden yanks and yaws. He can't break or cut the
fishline. Gladstone soars past chiding Donald
about his predicament. Kids have to buy tickets
in order to stop the ride. Don's now so dizzy he
doesn't know East from North.
At the picnic the crowd awaits the
finish of the glider contest. So far no pilot has
landed in the target circle. Only Donald Duck and
Gladstone Gander still have chance to be 'King
Custard Cream the First'. The ladies have placed
a giant custard cream pie on the Queen's table
awaiting the crowning ceremony. Donald sights
down his glider's nose toward what appears to his
dizzy eyes to be the target circle. He cuts his
flaps and goes into a steep dive. The kids cover
their eyes and scream, 'Oh, no!'.
Up above Gladstone starts his dive. 'I
see the target circle! I can't miss! Queen Daisy,
get ready to crown me winner
- like I knew all along I would be!'.
Gladstone does win. His glider lands
exactly in the target center, but no queen is
there to greet him, no cheering crowd. He is
slighted. 'Where is everybody?', he asks
Huey and Dewey. They point to crowd in silhouette
stoning Donald over a hill in the distance.
'Crowning Unca Donald!',
they say. 'He mistook the giant custard cream
pie for the target circle!'.
They point to wrecked glider in
gooey pie mess. 'And he made a perfect
landing right in the middle!'.
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