Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. The first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean was flown by Britons John Alcock and Arthur Brown in a Vickers-Vimy biplane in 1919. Who was first to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean?
2. From reader Brian Schiff: A subsonic aircraft flies slower than the speed of sound, and a supersonic aircraft flies faster than Mach 1.0. What is the speed capability of a hypersonic aircraft?
3. From reader Ed Williams: Increasing an airplane's airspeed while in level flight also increases the speed of the air flowing past the static port(s). Why doesn't this additional airspeed cause a reduction in static pressure in the vicinity of the static ports and produce erroneous altitude, airspeed, and vertical-speed (VSI) indications?
4. Which state typically experiences the most days of thunderstorm activity during the three winter months?

TRUE OR FALSE

5. A pilot on a VFR cross-country flight during the hours of darkness arrives at his destination during daylight hours (after sunrise). He is required to land with a minimum fuel reserve of only 30 minutes.
6. Hurricanes and typhoons are meteorologically identical.
7. A pilot about to land on an unusually wide runway at night is most likely to perceive that he is closer to the runway than he really is and flare prematurely (while too high).
8. A lightplane pilot on final approach is number two to land following a Boeing 747. If he could see the wingtip vortices, he would notice that the vortex generated by the right wingtip of the 747 is rotating in a clockwise direction.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

9. Assuming that increasing airspeed during level flight causes static ports to sense reduced ambient pressure as discussed in question three,
   1. the altimeter, VSI, and airspeed indicator would indicate excessively high.
   2. the altimeter, VSI, and airspeed indicator would indicate abnormally low.
   3. the altimeter and VSI would indicate excessively high, and the airspeed indicator would indicate abnormally low.
   4. the altimeter and VSI would indicate abnormally low, and the airspeed indicator would indicate excessively high.
10. For instrument-rated pilots: The maximum-allowable airspeed while holding in a piston-powered general aviation airplane at 9,000 feet msl is
    1. 175 KIAS.
    2. 200 KIAS.
    3. 230 KIAS.
    4. 265 KIAS.
11. Solar eclipses prove that the sun and moon each occupy (subtend) the same angle of the sky. What is the size of the angle occupied in the sky by the sun or the moon?
    1. 0.5 degree
    2. 1.0 degree
    3. 2.0 degrees
    4. 4.0 degrees

ANSWERS

1. Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. flew their Bellanca Skyrocket, Miss Veedol, from Japan to the United States in 1931 and covered the 4,465 statute miles in 41 hours and 13 minutes.
2. A hypersonic aircraft can fly at five times the speed of sound (Mach 5.0).
3. Even though the airflow (or streamlines) passing by the static ports do increase in velocity, the velocity of the streamlines ahead of the static ports is the same as the velocity of the streamlines passing by the ports (i.e., velocity does not change along the length of the streamlines in the vicinity of the static ports). According to Bernoulli's principle, a change in pressure results only from a local change in velocity (as occurs to streamlines flowing over a cambered wing).
4. Louisiana averages at least 10 days of thunderstorm activity during the winter. (Florida is the leader during the summer, when it averages more than 50 days of activity.)
5. False. There is no minimum fuel reserve required at the time of landing. FAR 91.151 is a planning requirement, which means that fuel reserves must be in the tanks at the beginning of the flight. Although imprudent, this reserve may be consumed en route.
6. True. The only difference between them is their location. Tropical cyclones in the Western Hemisphere are called hurricanes; those west of the International Date Line are called typhoons.
7. True. Conversely, a pilot about to land on an unusually narrow runway can perceive that he is higher than he really is and touch down without having flared sufficiently to avoid a hard landing.
8. False. Simplifying the explanation, a vortex forms as high-pressure air from beneath the wing curls around the tip in an attempt to fill the "void" of low pressure above the wing. Therefore, the rotation off the right wing is counterclockwise.
9. (a) Reducing static pressure causes the altimeter and VSI to behave as if the airplane were climbing. Reducing static pressure without a corresponding reduction in static pressure entering the pitot tube causes indicated airspeed to increase beyond what would normally be expected.
10. (c) Maximum-allowable holding speeds for any type of aircraft is 200 KIAS up to and including 6,000 feet, 230 KIAS from 6,001 through 14,000 feet, and 265 KIAS above 14,000 feet. The 175-KIAS limit for piston-powered aircraft has been deleted.
11. (a) The sun and the moon only appear to be larger (especially at sunrise or moonrise) because of refraction. It would require 360 full moons (touching at their edges) to span an overhead arc of the sky that connects the east and west horizons.