Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. Pilots know that the "B" in B-29 indicates that the Superfortress was designed for bombardment; it is a bomber. What do the letters in the following World War II aircraft designations indicate?
   1. A-26 Invader
   2. AT-6 Texan
   3. BT-13 Valiant
   4. C-47 Skytrain
   5. F-8 Mosquito
   6. L-4 Grasshopper
   7. O-52 Owl
   8. OA-10 Catalina
   9. P-51 Mustang
   10. PT-23 Cornell
   11. LR-6
   12. UC-78 Bobcat
   13. CG-3A
2. How did Delta Air Lines get its name?
3. How did it come to be that safety belt buckles in many aircraft connect at the front and center of a pilot's torso instead of on the side (as is the case with automobiles)?
4. Their official name was the American Volunteer Group (AVG), but they were better known as ___________________.
5. What is the difference between a derated engine and a flat-rated engine?
6. What is the significance of the lower limit of the green arc on a manifold pressure gauge?
7. For those who fly in pressurized airplanes, what is the difference between an explosive and a apid decompression?
8. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the year in which the first helicopter was certificated by the FAA (nee CAA), which provides a clue to its identity. Can you name this helicopter?
9. British pilots call them spats; we call them ________________.

TRUE OR FALSE

10. Your parked airplane is coated with volcanic ash. The best way to remove the ash is to blow it off with an air hose.
11. Structural icing typically forms on the tail before forming on the wings.
12. The 50 states are wholly contained within 10 time zones.
13. The United States has more tornadoes each year than any other country, and it also has the strongest tornadoes.

BRAINTEASER

14. Reader Harold D. Gordon asks: A pilot tunes to a nearby VOR, selects 360 degrees on his OBS (omni-bearing selector), and turns in a southerly direction toward the station. While the airplane maintains a magnetic heading of 165 degrees, the CDI (course deviation indicator) remains halfway between center and a full right deflection. What is the airplane's magnetic track and drift angle?

ANSWERS

1. 1. Attack (light bombardment)
   2. Advanced trainer
   3. Basic trainer
   4. Cargo and transport
   5. Reconnaissance and photographic
   6. Liaison
   7. Observation
   8. Amphibian
   9. Pursuit (fighter)
   10. Primary trainer
   11. Rotary wing (helicopter)
   12. Utility transport
   13. Cargo-troop glider
2. Delta began life in the Mississippi River Delta in 1925 as the world's first crop-dusting operation.
3. In case of an accident resulting in an injured or broken arm, the injured person can most easily reach a centrally located buckle irrespective of which arm is injured.
4. The Flying Tigers.
5. A derated engine is typically a piston engine that is limited by the manufacturer to develop less power than it was originally designed to produce. A flat-rated engine is typically a turboprop engine that can develop more power (at low altitude) than the pilot is permitted to use.
6. When manifold pressure is "in the green," the engine usually is driving the propeller, but when mp is "below the green," the propeller usually is driving the engine (windmilling).
7. Explosive decompression is a change in cabin pressure that occurs faster than the lungs can decompress, which can be injurious. During rapid decompression, the lungs can decompress faster than the cabin.
8. The Bell 47, which was certificated in 1947.
9. Wheel pants.
10. False. According to the Alaska Airmen's Association, the best way to remove ash is to flood it off with water.
11. True. Structural icing typically forms first on objects with a small radius (such as an outside air-temperature probe). The leading edges of tail surfaces usually have smaller radii than the leading edges of wings.
12. False. There are only six time zones in the United States: Bering Standard Time, Alaska Standard Time, PST, MST, CST, and EST. (Alaska Standard Time is the same as Hawaii Standard Time.)
13. True. No other place on earth comes close to matching the number and severity of tornadoes in the United States.
14. 175 degrees magnetic and 10 degrees right. The aircraft is tracking 5 degrees to the right (or west) of the 360-degree radial, which means that it is tracking inbound to the station along the 355-degree radial, which represents a magnetic track of 175 degrees. (Remember that a half-deflected CDI means that the airplane is 5 degrees off the selected course.) A heading of 165 degrees while tracking 175 degrees indicates that drift is 10 degrees right.