Return to the Planet of the Apes

Screaming Wings (1x8)

Air date: Oct 11, 1975

Bill, Jeff, and Judy are heading for the humanoid settlement across the plain between the mountain ranges when they spot what look like humans far below. Bill calls to them, but Jeff quickly stops him -- the figures are dummy targets. Suddenly, to their amazement, a World War II-era Curtiss P-40 fighter plane appears in the sky. Piloted by a gorilla, the aircraft flies toward the dummies and drops a net on them. Apparently, the Ape army is testing the plane in preparation for war games. Bill concludes that with the plane, there will be no stopping Urko from capturing every human and that they must try to steal it. Later at the ape plane hangar, Urko congratulates Dr. Likis, the ape scientist who restored the flying machine, and wants the aircraft ready for an air demonstration for Dr. Zaius the following day. He then visits Zaius, and demands that Zaius give him complete authority. He backs up his demands with threats of using the plane to secure his power. Zaius, fearing human technology from the past, wants Urko to destroy the plane. Zira and Cornelius receive an invitation at their lab for a demonstration of a new "secret weapon." They see a flash and realize it is Bill signaling them. They all meet in the clearing where Bill tells the apes of Urko's aircraft and their plans to steal it. Cornelius gives them directions to Urko's fortress. Reaching it, the three cause a diversion with some barrels that lets them slip past the guards and find the plane's hangar. They discover that, using the old P-40 fighter as a guide, the apes are building an entire fleet. To make matters worse, humanoids are being herded as target practice in the next day's demonstration. Back at the lab, Cornelius is concerned that Urko, with his hunger for power, might resort to using his air force against apes to gain control of the government. Inside the hangar, Judy thinks that she could fly the P-40 away during the airshow as the plane might be very useful to the humans. The next day al