Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. From reader Lawrence V. Johnston: Why did pilots of a previous generation need to learn the mnemonic When Undertaking Very Hard Routes, Keep Directions By Good Methods?
2. The pilot of a Cessna T206 Stationair (N222LS) is transporting urgently needed lifesaving material (such as a human heart). What call sign should she use to indicate the need for expeditious handling by air traffic control?
3. In terms of lives lost, where did the world's worst air disaster occur?

TRUE OR FALSE

4. The first airplane used in airline service that had both supercharging and retractable landing gear was the Douglas DC-3.
5. HILLE and BILLI are consecutive intersections on Victor 69 east of Little Rock, Arkansas.
6. The world's first production business jet was the Learjet.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

7. A pilot flying a jet airplane at high altitude for long periods of time could be concerned about freezing
   1. fuel.
   2. hydraulic fluid.
   3. oil.
   4. none of the above
8. During World War II, which of the following insects was important to aerial warfare?
   1. hornet
   2. dragonfly
   3. spider
   4. beetle
9. The official U.S. national record for the most consecutive inside loops is
   1. 542.
   2. 1,003.
   3. 1,575.
   4. 2,368.
10. A pilot is in gliding flight at the optimum indicated glide speed and then enters a turn. To maintain a maximum-range glide during the turn, glide speed should
    1. be increased.
    2. be decreased.
    3. remain the same.
    4. cannot be determined
11. National Aviation Day is observed on
    1. February 4 (Lindbergh's birthday).
    2. April 16 (Wilbur Wright's birthday).
    3. August 19 (Orville Wright's birthday).
    4. December 17 (first flight anniversary).
12. In the television series Sky King, the hero, Schuyler (Sky) King, flew a
    1. Beechcraft Model 18 Twin Beech.
    2. Cessna T-50 "Bamboo Bomber."
    3. Cessna 310.
    4. Piper Apache.
    5. both (b) and (c)

BRAINTEASER

13. Explain how a sailplane pilot can maintain an approximately constant altitude for extended periods of time without the presence of vertical air currents.

ANSWERS

1. Rotating beacons were installed along airways at 10-mile intervals. Each flashed a letter in Morse code (in the sequence of the mnemonic) to help a pilot to determine his position along an airway at night. The sequence was repeated every 100 miles. A few such beacons are still in operation in Montana.
2. Lifeguard Two-Two-Two-Lima-Sierra.
3. Tenerife in the Canary Islands on March 27, 1977; 582 people were killed when two Boeing 747s (one taxiing and one taking off) collided on the runway.
4. False. The first such airplane was the single-engine Lockheed Orion.
5. True. This proves that the FAA does have a sense of humor.
6. False. A production model of the Lockheed 1329 JetStar first flew during the summer of 1960, which preceded the Learjet by more than three years.
7. (a) This is why pilots of the Boeing 747-100, for example, must maintain an indicated fuel temperature that is at least 3 degrees Celsius above the freezing point of the fuel being used.
8. (c) Spiders provided web filaments that were used for cross hairs on most sighting apparatus, including bomb sights.
9. (d) This incredible record was established by David Childs in a Bellanca Decathlon in 1986.
10. (a) Turning flight results in an increased load factor, which increases the effective weight of the airplane.
11. (c) This also is the birthday of Robert Powell, the reader who submitted this question.
12. (e) The T-50 was used in early episodes and the 310 in later ones.
13. The glider crosses a wind-shear line (see figure), resulting in an airspeed gain, which is converted to altitude. The pilot turns right to recross the shear line, resulting in another airspeed gain, and so forth. The albatross uses similar techniques of dynamic soaring to fly long distances over water.