Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. Why is the aluminum skin of the control surfaces of some light airplanes corrugated?
2. The scientific name for the northern lights is Aurora Borealis. What is the scientific name for the southern lights, which occur in the southern hemisphere?
3. What restrictions do the Federal Aviation Regulations place on aerobatic flight at night?
4. How did rain make it possible for Louis Blériot to complete the first flight across the English Channel?
5. Reader Ed Emanuel asks: How is it possible to make a 360-degree turn such that the magnetic compass and gyroscopic heading indicator agree throughout the turn (no compass turning error)?

TRUE OR FALSE

6. A pilot operating an airplane under FAR Part 91 may not continue to operate his aircraft if the engine exceeds TBO (time between overhaul) as specified by the powerplant manufacturer.
7. A pilot has not flown for more than 90 days. He then makes three solo takeoffs and landings at night. He may now carry passengers during the day.
8. During World War II, many carrier-based airplanes were equipped with flotation devices to keep them afloat following a ditching.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

9. Structural icing on the leading edges of horizontal stabilizers typically causes an airplane to
   1. pitch down.
   2. pitch up.
   3. roll left.
   4. pitch up and roll left.
10. A turbocharged airplane is at rest with the engine shut down on an airport with an elevation of 300 feet msl at a time when the altimeter setting is 29.72 inches and the ambient temperature is 10 degrees Celsius. What should be the indicated manifold pressure of the engine?
    1. 29.42 inches
    2. 29.62 inches
    3. 29.72 inches
    4. 30.02 inches
11. The Spirit of St. Louis was not equipped with
    1. a sensitive altimeter.
    2. fuel quantity indicators.
    3. vertical speed indicator.
    4. any of the above
12. A pilot arrives over his destination, only to find the single runway closed because of a disabled aircraft. To loiter above the airport for as long as possible before having to divert to an alternate airport, the pilot should maintain altitude using the following airspeed:
    1. VX
    2. VY
    3. speed for best glide
    4. none of the above

BRAINTEASER

13. After loading a Boeing 747, an airline cargomaster decides to move a 1,000-pound weight 50 feet forward. This causes the jumbo jet's center of gravity to move forward one inch. What is the gross weight of the airplane?

ANSWERS

1. Corrugation increases the stiffness of a control surface, while requiring a minimum of internal structure, which can reduce weight and the cost of construction.
2. Aurora Australis
3. None. The same rules apply to aerobatics performed at night as when they are performed during the day.
4. Blériot's overheating 25-hp Anzani engine probably would have failed had it not been for the cooling effect of a rain shower.
5. Execute a wings-level skidding turn at a constant airspeed. Compass turning error is the result of banking. This can be demonstrated during a turn made while taxiing.
6. False. If the engine is in compliance with all airworthiness directives, he may operate the engine for as long as it remains airworthy.
7. True. The regulations require only that the pilot have made three takeoffs and landings to be legal to carry passengers during the day. Daytime or nighttime conditions are not specified.
8. True. The flotation gear consisted of large rubber bags packed into the wings. The pilot inflated the bags with carbon dioxide from a highly charged flask.
9. (a) The normal function of a conventional horizontal stabilizer is to produce a downward force that prevents the nose from dropping. Ice interferes with this function.
10. (a) When the engine is shut down, a manifold pressure gauge acts as a barometer and indicates ambient atmospheric pressure, which — in this case — is equal to 29.72 inches minus 0.3 inches, or 29.42 inches.
11. (d) Charles Lindbergh kept track of the fuel remaining in each fuel tank by calculating fuel flow vs. time. The altimeter was nonsensitive (a single hand made one counterclockwise revolution every 20,000 feet).
12. (d) The pilot should use the speed for maximum endurance, which is normally not provided in pilot operating handbooks. It is the speed that results from using the minimum power required to maintain a given altitude.
13. 600,000 pounds. The formula is the same for all airplanes: the distance a weight is moved is equal to aircraft gross weight times the distance of CG movement divided by the weight of the item(s) shifted. To solve the problem, ensure that both distances are expressed in common units (inches or feet).