Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. Pan American World Airways used "Clipper" as its call sign when communicating with air traffic control. What airlines use the following call signs?
   1. Cactus
   2. Critter
   3. Speedbird
   4. Springbok (a gazelle)
   5. Waterski
2. Assume that Howard Hughes had asked his lead mechanic to change the spark plugs in the Hughes-Kaiser HK-1 Spruce Goose. How many plugs would the mechanic had to have changed?
3. How is it possible to turn a Cessna 172 while using a 90-degree bank angle without overstressing the airplane?
4. During World War II, British pilots occasionally dropped calling cards from their aircraft. Why was it dangerous to pick up one?
5. What is the difference between a radial engine and a "corn-cob" engine?
6. What did old-time barber shops have in common with some modern airplanes?
7. During World War II, what was the nickname of the military version of the venerable Beechcraft Model 18 "Twin Beech" (C-45)?
8. How did The Ninety-Nines get its name?
9. Several lightplanes are not permitted to fly above their operational ceilings, which are below their service and absolute ceilings. Why are they so limited?
10. What is the origin of the word fuselage?

MULTIPLE CHOICE

11. A pilot is about to embark on a high-altitude flight and plans to use a portable oxygen system that includes an aluminum oxygen tank. For the system to be used legally, it must have been pressure-tested within the previous
    1. 3 years.
    2. 5 years.
    3. 8 years.
    4. 10 years.
12. The static ports of an airplane become clogged with ice while at cruise altitude. During descent in continuing icing conditions, indicated airspeed is than it normally would be, and indicated altitude is than it normally would be.
    1. higher, higher
    2. lower, lower
    3. higher, lower
    4. lower, higher
13. Which of the following states still maintains more than a dozen airway beacons for providing navigational guidance to VFR pilots at night?
    1. California
    2. Idaho
    3. Montana
    4. Washington
14. Lightening holes in an airplane are related to
    1. lightning.
    2. St. Elmo's fire.
    3. static discharges.
    4. weight and balance.

ANSWERS

2. The Spruce Goose had eight Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major engines. Each had 28 cylinders and required 56 spark plugs. The 3,000-hp engines, therefore, had a total of 448 plugs.
3. Do not attempt to maintain altitude. Note, however, that banking in excess of 60 degrees would result in an unauthorized aerobatic maneuver.
4. English calling cards were small pieces of cardboard treated with yellow phosphorous that burst into flame upon drying.
5. A "corn-cob" engine is a radial engine with two or more banks of cylinders that — when uncowled — resembles a cob of corn.
6. Barber poles. On jet airplanes, these are maximum-airspeed pointers (variable redlines) built into airspeed indicators. They provide the maximum-allowable airspeed, which varies with altitude.
7. The Expeditor.
8. The organization of international women pilots was named for the 99 charter members. Amelia Earhart was elected as the first president.
9. An operational ceiling is a maximum-allowable altitude. It most often is imposed because of a structural, aerodynamic, or system limitation (such as an oxygen system incapable of providing satisfactory sustenance above a certain altitude).
10. Fuselage comes from the French word, fusele, which means "spindle-shaped."
11. (b) Steel tanks, however, need to be tested only every 10 years. In either case, the bottle is stamped with the date of the last test. Similar pressure tests are required of installed systems.
12. (a) Indicated airspeed is excessive because ram air pressure increases within the instrument during descent, while static air pressure does not. The altimeter continues to indicate cruise altitude, because the instrument does not sense a change in pressure.
13. (c) There are 19 such airway beacons in Montana.
14. (d) These holes are made in aircraft parts to lighten aircraft empty weight. Metal is removed in locations where the holes would not cause any decrease in structural integrity.