Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. The only three instruments required on a hot-air balloon are an altimeter, a fuel gauge, and a ________.
2. Why is a compass not required on a balloon?
3. From reader Hal Gordon: An airway segment shown as a straight line on a sectional chart connects two VORs. It consists of the 085-degree radial of one VOR and the 270-degree radial of the other. Give two reasons why these radials are not exact reciprocals of each other.
4. A pilot wants to "go for a hop" in her new airplane. How did the word hop come to mean "a local flight"?
5. Pilots know the general meaning of scud running, but what is the meteorological definition of scud?
6. Why does it become progressively easier to overstress an airplane as the center of gravity moves aft?
7. Basic VFR minimums when operating above 10,000 feet msl require a minimum visibility of _____; minimum distance from clouds is _______ feet above, _______ feet below, and ______ feet horizontally.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

8. Which of the following cities annually experiences more lightning than any other in the United States?
   1. Albuquerque, New Mexico
   2. Atlanta, Georgia
   3. Kansas City, Missouri
   4. Tampa, Florida
9. Which of the following was the first U.S. production airplane equipped with turbocharging or supercharging?
   1. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
   2. Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
   3. Douglas DC-3/C-47 Skytrain
   4. Lockheed P-38 Lightning
10. In the classic Humphrey Bogart film Casablanca, the airplane boarded by Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and Victor (Paul Henreid) at the end of the movie was a
    1. Beech Model 18 Twin Beech.
    2. Lockheed 12A Electra.
    3. Lockheed 18 Lodestar.
    4. It was not a real airplane

TRUE OR FALSE

11. One way to determine that the Boeing 747 used in the movie Air Force One is not the genuine article is that it lacks the bulge in the nose that conceals the aerial-refueling receptacle.
12. During a climb in icing conditions, the pitot tube becomes obstructed with ice. As the climb progresses, indicated airspeed becomes increasingly lower than would normally be expected.
13. The world's first scheduled airline flight was operated using a hot-air balloon.
14. From reader Larry Johnston: A navaid in use in the United States prior to introduction of the VOR was the VRB, or voice radio beacon, which broadcast in voice the bearing of an aircraft from the station.

ANSWERS

1. A pyrometer, which measures the temperature of the hot air at the top of the balloon.
2. A balloon is free to rotate about its vertical axis, and its pilot cannot maintain a given heading. A handheld compass, however, is useful in approximating track when movement over the ground can be detected.
3. A straight line on an aeronautical chart is a great-circle route that changes direction with longitude. Also, magnetic variation can change over a given distance.
4. The term hop evolved from a World War I acronym that meant "high operational patrol."
5. Technically, scud is either fractostratus or fractocumulus of bad weather. It usually consists of small, dark clouds that hang beneath a layer of stratocumulus or nimbostratus.
6. The pulling force on the control wheel required to create a given G load becomes less as the CG moves aft. At an extremely aft CG, excess Gs can be "pulled" using only the fingertips.
7. 5 statute miles; 1,000 feet; 1,000 feet; and 5,280 feet (one statute mile).
8. (d) The other cities do not experience winter thunderstorms to the extent that Tampa does.
9. (a) The B-17 prototype and the production model first flew on April 29, 1938, and June 27, 1939, respectively.
10. (b) It was the same basic type used by Amelia Earhart during her ill-fated attempt to fly around the world.
11. True. The "Flying White House" can be refueled in flight.
12. False. The airspeed indicator will behave like an altimeter. As altitude is gained, indicated airspeed becomes increasingly greater than would normally be expected.
13. False. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line used a Benoist flying boat (January 1, 1914) that carried one passenger on the 23-minute flight.
14. True. The recorded human voice was broadcast on a rotating beam transmitted on VHF.

Note to readers: I have attempted without success to determine why a pilot's shirttail is clipped following his first solo flight. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who might know how this custom originated.