Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. Explain the circumstances during which Boeing B–17 Flying Fortresses engaged in battle against one another during World War II.
2. Ignoring the effects of prop wash blowing over a wing, why does a wings-level, nose-high, power-on stall occur at a slower airspeed than a power-off stall?
3. A pilot is taxiing along a conventional, paved taxiway and approaches a single, dashed-yellow line painted across the taxiway. What does this indicate?
4. What was the Waco Meteor?
5. A pilot opens the cockpit door, lowers the flaps, turns on the carburetor heat, retards the throttle fully, and turns off a magneto. Why is he doing these things?
6. Everyone knows that Charles "Chuck" Yeager is credited with being the first to exceed the speed of sound (Mach 1.0), but who was first to exceed twice the speed of sound (Mach 2.0)?
7. Lycoming (now Textron Lycoming) is a household name in general aviation. What is the origin of this engine manufacturer's name?
8. Under what conditions would air traffic control advise a pilot to squawk a transponder code between 4400 and 4477?

MULTIPLE CHOICE

9. With respect to the 329 midair collisions that occurred in the United States during the past 18 years, _______ percent of them involved fatalities and _______ percent of the aircraft involved landed safely.
   1. 56, 30
   2. 56, 60
   3. 81, 30
   4. 81, 60
10. From reader Jeff Pardo: In the United States, sequence flashers (colloquially known as a rabbit) are associated with certain approach lighting systems. These lights flash in sequence from the outermost to the innermost fixture at an average speed of
    1. less than 500 knots.
    2. 1,000 knots.
    3. 2,000 knots.
    4. more than 4,000 knots.
11. Who was the first and perhaps only pilot given formal permission by the U.S. Navy to fly any of its aircraft at any time?
    1. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
    2. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle
    3. Howard R. Hughes
    4. Charles A. Lindbergh
    5. Edward V. "Eddie" Rickenbacker
12. The total usable fuel capacity of an airplane certified under Part 23 of the federal aviation regulations must be enough for at least _______ of operation at maximum continuous power.
    1. 30 minutes
    2. an hour
    3. an hour and a half
    4. two hours

TRUE OR FALSE

13. From reader Rick Durden: A pilot arrives at his destination only to discover that a blustery crosswind would make it hazardous for him to use the single runway. He may, however, legally land on a long, perpendicular taxiway.
14. A pilot may not make a special VFR departure at night without a clock in his airplane.

ANSWERS

1. The German Luftwaffe acquired and repaired about 40 B–17s that had crashed in Europe. Many of these were used as stragglers to lure American bombers out of formation and then to attack them.
2. When in a power-on, nose-high attitude, there is a vertical component of thrust that helps to offset the weight of the airplane, and the wing is not called upon to create as much lift. It is as though the airplane weighs less.
3. This is a holding-position line that marks where a pilot is about to enter the intersection of two or more taxiways. It is where a pilot must hold short when a ground controller instructs him, for example, to "hold short of [intersecting] Taxiway Charlie."
4. The SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 was originally marketed in the United States during the late 1960s under the Waco banner and was called a Meteor.
5. He is taxiing a seaplane into the wind and toward a docking, beaching, or mooring area and needs to reduce taxi speed as much as possible by increasing drag and decreasing idle thrust. (Seaplanes obviously do not have brakes.)
6. Scott Crossfield made aeronautical history on November 20, 1953, when he reached Mach 2.005 (1,291 mph) in a Douglas D–558-II Skyrocket.
7. Lycoming is named after the Pennsylvania county in which the factory is located. The company manufactured bicycles and sewing machines before it manufactured automobile engines and then aircraft engines.
8. Such discrete codes are issued to pilots wearing pressure suits and planning to operate in the Class E airspace above Flight Level 600 (approximately 60,000 feet).
9. (b) Surprising, isn't it? Also, every one of these midair collisions occurred in VFR conditions.
10. (d) Pretty fast rabbit, eh? Sequence flashers consist of a 2,400- or 3,000-foot-long row of five to 21 lights.
11. (d) The permit read, in part, that "the commanding officers of all Naval units are authorized to place service equipment at [Lindbergh's] disposal, either for local or cross-country flying."
12. (a) It is difficult to imagine how one would operate such an airplane, but it apparently would be legal (obviously not for cross-country flights).
13. True. There is no requirement that a landing be made on a runway. The pilot, however, is responsible for determining that the operation would not be careless or reckless. At a controlled airport, controllers would likely clear a pilot to land on a taxiway at his own risk.
14. True. To operate in special VFR conditions (clear of clouds and one mile's visibil-ity), a pilot must be instrument-rated and the aircraft must be equipped for instrument flight, which includes the requirement for a clock.

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