Test Pilot

1. What is the difference between a squawk and a squit?

2. A pilot preflights his airplane after a clear night and just before sunrise. There is frost on the wings, but no ice or moisture on the ground. How is this possible?

3. From reader Bill Havener: During World War II, certain members of the U.S. Army Air Forces referred to certain other members as their “little friends.” Who were the “little friends,” and who referred to them in that manner?

4. True or false? The minimum safe altitude for an airplane over a congested area is 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet.

5. From reader Vince Scala: What is the world record for the highest altitude ever attained by an airplane powered by an air-breathing (turbine) engine, and what was the type of aircraft used?

6. A person can take dance instruction, martial arts instruction, or various other types of personalized instruction. Why, then, is it said that a student pilot takes dual instruction?

7. The FAA recently announced that there were ______ bird strikes at U.S. airports in 2014.

a. 1,003
b. 4,003
c. 8,003
d. 12,003

8. True or false? When a pressurized airplane is in cruise flight, the amount of air entering the cabin is greater than the amount of air leaving the aircraft.

Test Pilot Answers

1. A squawk is a transponder’sresponse to an interrogation. A squit is a burst of data automatically transmitted by ADS-B Out, approximately once per second. Each such squit (or burst) can contain numerous bits of information (aircraft identification, position, altitude, heading, track, turn rate, indicated airspeed, et cetera).

2. There are several possible reasons, but the most common is that metal wings lose (radiate) heat more rapidly than the ground and get colder.

3. Bomber pilots referred to their fighter escorts as their “little friends.”

4. False. The statement is not complete. The aircraft also must be high enough to permit an emergency landing in the event of power failure without endangering people or property on the surface.

5. Zoom climbing a Soviet MiG–25RB Foxbat flying under its own power, Alexander Fedotov achieved an absolute altitude record of 123,520 feet. That altitude could not be sustained in horizontal flight.

6. Early pilots were given instruction in airplanes that had only a single set of controls. When airplanes became available with dual controls, instruction in such airplanes became referred to as dual instruction.

7. (d) Bird strikes encountered by air carriers in 2014 caused approximately 118,000 hours of airline downtime and repair costs of $187 million.

8. False. If that were so, the cabin would inflate like a balloon until the pressure vessel (cabin) eventually ruptures. Partially open and modulating outflow valves allow excess air pressure to vent overboard.