Test Pilot

MIX 'N MATCH

Match these famous aviators with the most appropriate clues.

1. John Alcock
2. Bernt Balchen
3. Floyd Bennett
4. Louis Bleriot
5. Amelia Earhart
6. Harold Gatty
7. Charles Lindbergh
8. John Macready
9. Fred Noonan
10. Wiley Post
11. Jean-Franois Piltre de Rozier
12. Albert Read
13. Alberto Santos-Dumont
14. Wilbur Wright

1. First global flight
2. Misled Amelia?
3. First across Atlantic
4. First 360-degree turn
5. First man to fly
6. First airplane flight in Europe
7. First trans-Atlantic nonstop
8. First across English Channel
9. First flight over South Pole
10. Winnie Mae navigator
11. N-X-211
12. First flight over North Pole
13. First global solo
14. First trans-Atlantic passenger

GENERAL

15. Why does it appear to the casual observer (standing to the side and at some distance) that a departing Boeing 747 climbs at a slower airspeed than a smaller jet departing at the same speed and climb angle?
16. What is the difference between speed and velocity?
17. How is it possible for the pilot of an airplane to totally eliminate induced drag and wingtip vortices while in flight?
18. Why is the word pan-pan used during radio communications to indicate a condition of urgency?
19. Most pilots are aware of the hazard caused by a broken or disconnected P-lead (the magneto cannot be turned off). What is the meaning of the letter P?

MULTIPLE CHOICE

20. Which of the following does not belong?
    1. decreased cruise speed
    2. decreased stall speed
    3. easier to increase G loading
    4. reduced longitudinal stability
21. From Professor Will Hubin: A pilot is making a crosswind landing in a tricycle-gear airplane. If the airplane is allowed to touch down on just the main gear while in a crab, it initially tends to
    1. turn into the crosswind.
    2. turn downwind.
    3. travel in the direction in which it is headed.
    4. straighten out and go in the direction in which it was traveling over the ground immediately before touchdown.
22. A pilot boarding his airplane sees a bolt of lightning in the distance. The associated clap of thunder is heard 18 seconds later. The distance to the thunderstorm is approximately
    1. 2.3 miles.
    2. 3.0 miles.
    3. 3.6 miles.
    4. 4.5 miles.

ANSWERS

1. (g)
2. (i)
3. (l)
4. (h)
5. (n)
6. (j)
7. (k)
8. (a)
9. (b)
10. (m)
11. (e)
12. (c)
13. (f)
14. (d)
15. Large airplanes appear to move more slowly because it takes longer for them to travel a distance equal to their own length, which is the subconscious reference that an observer uses to estimate speed.
16. Speed describes only the rate of movement; velocity is a vector and describes both speed and direction.
17. If the pilot pitches down and establishes a zero-G condition, the wings cannot develop lift, induced drag, or wingtip vortices.
18. Pan comes from the French word panne, which means breakdown, mishap, or failure.
19. The letter P represents the primary lead (or circuit) of the magneto.
20. (a) The other choices are the consequences of flying with an aft CG.
21. (d) A tailwheel-equipped airplane would not be quite so forgiving.
22. (c) At sea level, sound travels approximately one mile every five seconds (1,100 feet per second).