1. From reader Jerry Griggs: Some primary flight controls serve dual purposes. For example, the ruddervators on a V-tail Bonanza serve as both elevators and rudders. Decelerons also serve dual purposes, but what are they?
2. Pilots know the general meaning of scud running, but what is the meteorological definition of scud?
3. From reader Richard Wilsher: What made the three Eagle Squadrons of World War II unique?
4. To dress a propeller is to
a. file the leading edges.
b. repaint the backs of the blades.
c. balance it.
d. prepare it for shipping.
5. Estimate within 10,000 the number of military aircraft manufactured by the United States for use during World War II.
6. True or false: Prior to being certified, a new lightplane design must be flown substantially faster than VNE, the never-exceed (redline) airspeed.
7. From reader John Schmidt: Trying to stay in business during the post-World War II slump, what aircraft manufacturer resorted to manufacturing coffins?
8. Why is a maximum-performance climbing turn combined with a 180-degree change in direction called a chandelle?
Test Pilot Answers
1. A deceleron is a two-part aileron that can be deflected conventionally as a single unit to provide roll control, or it can be split open to serve as an air brake. Decelerons were developed by Northrop for its F–89 Scorpion and also were used on the Fairchild Republic A–10 Thunderbolt II.
2. Technically, scud is either fractostratus or fractocumulus of bad weather. They usually consist of small, dark, ragged cloud fragments that hang beneath a layer of stratocumulus or nimbostratus.
3. Royal Air Force Squadrons 71, 121, and 133 consisted of 244 American pilots who joined the RAF to fight the Third Reich until the United States entered the war.
4. a. The purpose of such filing (or dressing) is to remove stress points (risers) and should be performed only be a certified mechanic.
5. Of the 294,000 aircraft built in the United States for the war, 21,583 were lost domestically during test flights, ferrying, training, et cetera, and 43,581 were lost en route to and during theater operations. Most surplus aircraft were destroyed for their aluminum, but some were sold to civilians. Airworthy P–51 Mustangs sold for less than $1,000.
6. True. A test pilot must determine that no adverse effects (such as flutter) occur at what is called the dive speed (VD). VNE may not be greater than 90 percent of VD.
7. What? You’ve never heard of a Ryan coffin? This was before Ryan Aeronautical purchased the manufacturing rights to the Navion from North American Aviation in 1948 and began producing airplanes once again.
8. Chandelle is taken from monter en chandelle, a French expression that means “climb on (or around) a candle,” and is similar to the American idiom, “turn on a dime.”
Barry Schiff
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