Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. An attitude indicator shows changes in pitch and roll because of the way in which a spinning gyroscope remains fixed in space. Why, then, doesn't the conventional artificial horizon indicate an inverted attitude following a nonstop flight from the North to the South Pole?
2. An airplane with a fully functioning groundspeed indicator is being flown at a constant altitude in no-wind conditions. Why is the pilot not surprised by a groundspeed indication of zero knots?
3. Why is attacking ground personnel or installations by aircraft firing machine guns called strafing?
4. The shortest day of the year (the winter solstice) occurs on or about December 21 and is when the Northern Hemisphere receives the least amount of sunlight. Why is it that February—during which there is more sunlight than in December—is the coldest month?
5. The CDI of a VOR receiver reaches maximum deflection when the aircraft becomes _____ degrees offset from a selected course. Also, ILS needles reach maximum deflection when _____ _ degrees left or right of a localizer and _____ degrees above or below a glideslope.
6. What current manufacturer of popular automobiles was the world's first manufacturer of production turbojet engines?
7. In which year was the greatest number of aircraft manufactured in the United States? Logic provides the answer.
8. What is the world's fastest bird, and what is its top speed (within 10 mph)?

MULTIPLE CHOICE

9. Which of the following does not belong (aeronautically speaking)?

   1. chicken
   2. cow
   3. duck
   4. sheep

10. Which of the following does not belong?

    1. Kachina
    2. Morrisey
    3. Shinn
    4. Varga

11. Which of the following does not belong?

    1. cyclone
    2. hurricane
    3. tornado
    4. typhoon

TRUE OR FALSE

12. Engine manufacturers discourage pilots from operating their engines "over square," meaning that manifold pressure (in inches) should not be allowed to exceed rpm (in hundreds).
13. Blimp manufacturer Goodyear also produced inflatable airplanes.
14. The airport data block shown on VFR aeronautical charts depict the longest runway at a particular airport as "40." This means that the runway length is longer than 3,950 feet.

ANSWERS

1. The erecting mechanism of the attitude indicator exerts a small but constant gravitational bias on the spinning gyro. This causes the gyro to maintain a right-side-up attitude with respect to the Earth's center of gravity. It is why an attitude indicator gradually biases toward a wings-level indication during a prolonged turn.
2. The aircraft is equipped with a conventional DME-based groundspeed indicator, and the pilot is flying a circular orbit around a vortac. Indicated groundspeed is zero because distance to the station remains constant.
3. Strafe comes from the German verb strafen, which means to punish.
4. It takes a month or two for the Earth to absorb and begin to radiate heat received by the increasing sunlight. Similarly, the warmest month is one to two months after the longest day of the year (about June 21), and the hottest time of day is an hour or two after the sun passes its zenith.
5. 10 degrees (typically), 2.5 degrees, and 0.7 degrees. A glideslope is 3.6 times as sensitive as a localizer and 14.3 times as sensitive as when tracking a VOR radial (for a given distance from the transmitters).
6. BMW. Bavarian Motor Works also was a major manufacturer of German reciprocating aviation engines during both world wars.
7. There were 96,369 aircraft built in 1944, the last full year of America's involvement in World War II.
8. The peregrine falcon has been clocked in a dive at up to 220 mph. Imagine diving a Cessna 172P at VNE and being passed by a bird going 38 mph faster.
9. (b) The first successful aerial voyage occurred in France on September 19, 1783. The Montgolfier brothers placed a cock, a duck, and a sheep aboard their aerostat (a hot-air balloon) to determine if the upper air could sustain life and wished them bon voyage. The animals returned safely after an eight-minute flight.
10. (a) Morrisey, Shinn, and Varga were manufacturers of the model 2150 trainer at different times. Varga, however, called the airplane a Kachina the way Cessna calls the model 172 a Skyhawk.
11. (a) A cyclone is simply a low-pressure area. (An anticyclone is a high.) The other phenomena are characterized by high winds. A cyclonic wind could be as gentle as a zephyr. Take partial credit for (c) because it is a local phenomenon while the others cover large areas.
12. False. It happens on every takeoff near sea level. Manufacturers usually provide pilots with approved cruise power settings that are "over square."
13. True. Goodyear Tire and Rubber manufactured several one- and two-place Inflatoplanes in the late 1950s. They had inflatable fuselages, wings, and tail surfaces, but the project failed to float.
14. False. The rounding-up point used for runway lengths on aeronautical charts is 70, not 50, feet. This means that the actual runway length is between 3,970 and 4,069 feet.