Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. A pilot lands on a long runway at night. During a normal landing roll, he crosses a row of pulsing white lights embedded in the runway. What is the significance of these lights?
2. Explain why rain entering a pitot tube during flight neither floods the airspeed indicator nor damages the instrument's internal mechanism.
3. A pilot is in a full-power, vertical dive toward a target directly beneath the aircraft. What must be the pitch attitude of the aircraft?
4. Until the late 1940s, U.S.-registered aircraft had registration numbers prefixed by NC (civil), NX (experimental, such as NX-211, the Spirit of St. Louis), NR (restricted, such as crop-dusters and racers), and NS. What did this last registration prefix indicate?
5. What is one origin of the expression,"the whole nine yards?"

TRUE OR FALSE

6. If half of the sky is obscured by cloud at a given height above the ground, this is considered to be broken layer.
7. A pilot who is legally or totally blind in one eye can obtain a first, second, or third class medical certificate.
8. Baggage-compartment doors that access the cabin on most general aviation airplanes should be latched and locked by key during flight.
9. A batted baseball travels farther in humid air than in dry air.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

10. Which of the following does not belong?
    1. interference drag
    2. form drag
    3. parasite drag
    4. skin-friction
11. Only two states share common borders with eight other states, which is the greatest number of borders shared by any state. These states are
    1. Arkansas and Kentucky.
    2. Kentucky and Missouri.
    3. Missouri and Tennessee.
    4. Tennessee and Arkansas.
12. To dress a propeller is to
    1. file the leading edges.
    2. repaint the blades.
    3. balance it.
    4. prepare it for shipping.
13. Beechcraft's first V-tailed airplane was the
    1. Model 35 Bonanza.
    2. Model 35A Bonanza.
    3. Model V35 Bonanza.
    4. None of the above.

ANSWERS

1. These land-and-hold-short lights are installed across certain runways approved for land-and-hold-short operations (LAHSO) at the hold-short point (to help pilots avoid tangling with aircraft operating on an intersecting runway).
2. Air and rain do not flow through the pitot tube to the airspeed indicator gauge. Instead, ram air compresses ambient air already in the pneumatic lines to increase pressure measured by the instrument.
3. More than 90 degrees nose-down (slightly inverted) so that the horizontal component of thrust exactly equals and counteracts the net horizontal component of lift.
4. These were state-owned aircraft, those belonging to the federal or a state government.
5. The machine guns of a North American P-51 Mustang were fed by ammunition belts that were 27 feet long. After a pilot emptied his guns on a target, he would say that he "gave 'em the whole nine yards."
6. False. It is a scattered layer because it obscures only 3/8 to 4/8 of the sky. A broken layer obscures 5/8 to 7/8 of the sky.
7. True. As of January 1997, there were 184, 638, and 2,169 first, second, and third class medical certificates, respectively, issued for monocular vision under a statement of demonstrated ability.
8. False. Locking a properly latched baggage-compartment door usually does not close the door any more securely, but it can hamper escape or ground-rescue operations should they become necessary.
9. True. Humid air contains water vapor, which is less dense than dry air and, therefore, results in less drag, which aids the ball in flight. This is why humidity elevates density altitude.
10. (c) The other three items are forms of parasite drag.
11. (c) Missouri and Tennessee. (Arkansas and Kentucky share borders with six and seven other states, respectively.)
12. The purpose of such filing (or dressing) is to remove stress points (risers) and should be performed only by a certified mechanic.
13. (d) The first was a V-tailed version of the Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita, a twin-engine advanced trainer built for the military during World War II (see photo below).