Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. Modern and sophisticated aircraft simulators have six freedoms of motion. Can you name them?
2. What is the quaint word used by British pilots when referring to an airplane's control stick?
3. What is the only state in the United States that does not have a border consisting of or containing either a straight line or an arc?
4. Why do many airplanes have pull-type circuit breakers, while many others have flush-type circuit breakers?
5. Orville Wright was the first man to solo an airplane, but who was the first woman?
6. One of the most famous operations in the history of the U.S. Air Force was named "Operation Vittles." What was its more popular name?
7. Why was Roger's name chosen to mean, "I have received all of your last transmission," during radiotelephone communications?
8. A discrete transponder code is issued to a pilot so that ATC can easily identify his aircraft on secondary radar. All 4,096 codes may be used as discrete codes except __________.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

9. From reader Don Draper: A pilot is about to fly a typical piston-powered lightplane that was manufactured in 1975. He should know that the airspeed indicator most likely reads in ______ and the color markings represent ______ airspeed.
   1. mph, calibrated
   2. mph, indicated
   3. knots, calibrated
   4. knots, indicated

TRUE OR FALSE

10. The Federal Aviation Regulations permit an instrument-rated pilot flying a properly certificated sailplane (not a motorglider) to request from air traffic control and execute an ILS approach during actual instrument conditions.
11. During World War II, some bombs were dropped by parachute.

ANSWERS

1. Pitch, roll, and yaw; and lateral (sideways), vertical, and fore-and-aft movements.
2. Pole, as in "pole and pedals" instead of "stick and rudder."
3. Hawaii.
4. The less-expensive, flush-type circuit breakers are installed primarily to reduce aircraft manufacturing costs.
5. According to an article by Richard Bauman, Blanche Stuart Scott, "The Flying Tomboy," soloed a Curtiss airplane on September 2, 1910, and became a professional stunt pilot only two months later.
6. The Berlin Airlift, which provided a flow of food (vittles) and supplies to the isolated city for more than a year (beginning in 1948).
7. The letter R was used in early Morse Code communications to mean "I have Received your message." It was natural to use Roger in radiotelephony because it represented the letter R in the first phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie, etc.).
8. Any code ending in double zeros (such as 1200, 5600, 7700, etc.).
9. This generally applies to aircraft manufactured prior to or during 1975. However, answer (d) is generally correct for aircraft manufactured after 1975.
10. True. According to FAA's Flight Standards Division, a pilot may execute the approach if he is assured of not having to hold or maintain an assigned altitude, is certain that he will not have to execute a missed approach, and has a sufficiently glib tongue to avoid being charged with a careless or reckless operation.
11. True. When dropped from low altitude, the use of parachutes gave pilots of slow aircraft time to escape the target area before the bombs burst.