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1[[quoteright:350:[[Film/ChineseBox https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chinese_box.jpg]]]]
2
3Ah, love. Sometimes -- and in ''{{shojo}}'' series, very frequently -- it's one-sided. When a character encounters that certain special someone who's totally out of their reach, a conveniently timed airplane flies by, and the unrequited lover spends several seconds staring at the airplane as it flies off into the distance, forever out of reach. In fantasy or historical series where there are no airplanes, a bird appears instead.
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5Despite flying high in the upper troposphere, the AirplaneOfLove frequently draws a DramaticWind in its wake that affects people on the ground.
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7Not to be confused with the MileHighClub, for those of you who are of a different mind. Also not to be confused with the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Satellite of Love]].
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9See also TrainStationGoodbye. If the certain someone is ''on'' the plane, expect AirVoyance.
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11----
12!!Examples:
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14[[foldercontrol]]
15
16[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
17%% ''Manga/CheekyAngel''
18%% ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''
19* ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku''
20** In one instance it represents Kyoko accepting the death of her husband and deciding to remarry.
21** In episode 20 this seems to be combined with DisturbedDoves. Both Kozue and Kyoko are watching, so it isn't clear, but it had the symbolism and feel of Airplane Of Love.
22* ''Literature/LookingUpAtTheHalfMoon'' features a scene where the protagonist and his {{tsundere}} crush share a moment watching the AirplaneOfLove fly by in the distance.
23* ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'' subverts this: the AirplaneOfLove that Morinas sees when Neviril turns her down turns out to be an incoming enemy missile.
24* In the manga of ''Manga/LoveHina'', Keitaro and Naru have just begun to acknowledge their feelings for each other when Keitaro must leave for foreign study. He and Naru fall asleep while waiting for the plane, but Naru awakes alone in time to watch his plane depart.
25* In ''Manga/StrawberryOneHundredPercent'', when Manaka thinks that Nishino is breaking up with him, the Airplane of Love suddenly appears above his head. It disappears as she clarifies. Then he thinks they're breaking up again, and it's another Airplane over his head. This happens three times in a row, indicating busy skies over the city!
26* ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'' also has a ridiculous amount of airplanes going over the university building when romance is just out of somebody's grasp. Obviously they're under a flightpath or something... Let's not forget that the whole POINT of ''Genshiken'' is to mess with not only all of these tropes, but the people that like to follow them.
27* A temporary character in ''Manga/MonochromeFactor'' mentions that she wants to "ride the airplane of love".
28* In ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' it represents Mamimi's longing for [[TheGhost Tasku Sempai]], who has gone off to America to play Baseball, especially when she finds out he has an American girlfriend
29* A variation in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' because they are both clearly within reach of each other and believing ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe of each other, and AttractivenessIsolation on Hinagiku's side, Hinagiku manages to confess that she likes Hayate, only for him to be unable to hear because the train is rushing by.
30* ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' -- Inverted. When Ryuuji gives his "Tiger and Dragon" speech there are twin contrails in the sky, symbolizing his connection to Taiga. At the end of the series, when Ryuuji stands outside alone, the sky is empty, but he recalls the contrails as he [[spoiler: vows to return to Taiga's side some day.]]
31* Shows up in the finale of ''Anime/GunXSword'', though it's a flying mech rather than an airplane: [[spoiler: After Wendy lets Van go without confessing her love, she watches him fly off in Dan.]] Comes complete with violent wind and sparkles.
32* In episode 2 of ''Manga/TheGirlILikeForgotHerGlasses'', Komura promises to protect Mie if she keeps forgetting her glasses in the future. Mie's words of thanks echo in his head, and at the same time, an airplane happens to fly past the window behind him, symbolising his intensifying crush on her.
33* Played with quite a bit in episode 12 of ''Literature/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou''. Mashiro gets an airplane flyby and DramaticWind shot while puzzling over her feelings for Sorata. But it isn't the usual symbolism, because it happens right after Sorata attempted a RaceForYourLove to the airport, only to discover that Mashiro wasn't actually leaving. In the same scene, Rita's plane flies into the distance while Ryuunosuke, to his own confusion, stays behind and thinks about his {{Tsundere}}-ish feelings for her.
34* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'': In episode 20, Kaori calls Kousei via cellphone and cheerfully informs him that there is an airplane flying by on its night flight where she can see it [[spoiler:from hospital windows]]. Kousei realized he also can see the same plane and looking at the same sky as her made him realize his true feelings for her.
35[[/folder]]
36
37[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
38* Creator/MakotoShinkai has something of a liking for this:
39** ''Anime/ThePlacePromisedInOurEarlyDays'' has the Velaciela.
40** In ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'', a space probe is launched into deep space as one of the characters realizes that the object of their love is completely beyond their reach.
41** In ''Anime/TheGardenOfWords'', one of the ending scenes has Takao reflecting on his feelings for Yukari as he watches a distant plane.
42** In ''Anime/YourName'', after Taki and Miki's date ends, a plane can be seen passing overhead in the night sky.
43* ''Anime/TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime'': When [[spoiler:Chiaki]] disappears and returns to his era, leaving Makoto alone, a plane can be seen flying past in the distance.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
47* ''Film/ChineseBox'' has this trope near the end of the film with Vivian and John, just when John's disease takes its toll on his body.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
51* In ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', Apollo's relationship with Starbuck is metaphorically represented by this trope via Pigeon!Kara.
52* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', episode "[[Recap/CheersS1E21ShowdownPart1 Showdown, Part 1]]": Sam is trying to bury his distress about Diane leaving on a trip with Derek by going out with his babe of the week. As they are canoodling in the front of the bar, a plane whooshes overhead, and Sam looks up.
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Music]]
56* There is a [[CountryMusic country song]] by Gary Allan called "Watchin' Airplanes". And those songs never end happily!
57-->''I'm just sittin' out here watching airplanes\
58Take off and fly\
59Tryin' to figure out which one you might be on\
60And why you don't love me anymore''
61%%* The song "This Love" by Maroon 5.
62* "This is the Day" by Music/TheThe mentions this in the chorus:
63-->''You pull back the curtains, and the sun burns into your eyes\
64You watch a plane flying across a clear blue sky''
65%%* "Airplanes" (In the Night Sky) has shades of this.
66* ''Airport'', by the motors, had this to say in 1978:
67-->''Airport, you've got a smiling face,\
68You took the one I love so far away\
69Fly her away - fly her away(Airport).''
70* Music/BlackCountryNewRoad has a sophisticated play on this throughout their album ''Ants From Up There'', where the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde Concorde]]" is a recurring [[ArcWords lyric]] and [[ArcSymbol overall thematic symbol]] (up to having a song named after it, and a Concorde airliner featuring on the album art). It's often used as a metaphor at face value to describe the beauty of romance, but it subtextually alludes to the "Concorde fallacy" of [[SunkCostFallacy investing in a passionate endeavor that you know whose viability has long since expired]], in turn highlighting how virtually all instances of love and passion in the album go unreturned or rejected.
71[[/folder]]
72
73%%[[folder:Visual Novels]]
74%%* ''VisualNovel/YamiToBoushiToHonNoTabibito''
75%%[[/folder]]

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