Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. A pilot flying a typical single-engine airplane experiences thick smoke in the cockpit. Until the problem causing the smoke has been resolved, what is usually the most effective way to evacuate smoke from the cockpit?
2. Hundreds of thousands of fabric-covered airplanes were built with fuselages made of welded tubing. What was the first airplane constructed in this manner?
3. Why is carburetor icing more likely to occur in a float-type carburetor than in a pressure-injection carburetor?
4. Explain why the Barra Airport in Scotland is perhaps the only airport in the world that opens and closes in accordance with the sun and the moon (and this has nothing to do with day or night).
5. When and why would it be a good idea to rub urine on your body?
6. What type of aircraft was the first to use JATO to make a "jet-assisted takeoff?"
7. Speaking of carburetor ice, what are the first positive signs of ice when operating a carbureted engine turning a constant-speed propeller?
8. From reader Christopher Rose: What is the Lindbergh Crate Museum?
9. Many foreign aircraft are well known to U.S. pilots, but what is the meaning of their model names (shown in italics)?
   1. Aero L-29 Delfin
   2. Aerospatiale Alouette (helicopter)
   3. Bücker Jungmann and Jungmeister
   4. Fiesler Storch
   5. Fouga Magister
   6. Junkers JU-87D Stuka
   7. PZL-104 Wilga
   8. Saab AJ37 Viggen
   9. Santos-Dumont Demoiselle
   10. Sequoia F.8L Falco

TRUE OR FALSE

12. An airplane with a 36-foot wingspan is in a 45-degree banked turn at a true airspeed of 120 knots while at a constant altitude near sea level. A pitot tube on each wing tip serves its own airspeed indicator in the cockpit. It would be difficult for a pilot to see any difference in indicated airspeed between one gauge and the other.
13. When operating at or below the maneuvering speed (V _A), any of the primary flight controls may be fully and rapidly deflected without jeopardizing the structural integrity of the airplane.
14. From reader Hal Fishman: The first military use of an airplane during wartime occurred in 1914 at the beginning of World War I.

TEST PILOT ANSWERS

1. It usually is best to open a door or window on the right side of the cockpit. An opening on the pilot's side (left) might cause evacuating smoke to pass in front of his face and worsen his ability to see and/or breathe.
2. The Spirit of St. Louis (according to Cecil Jones, who helped to build the Spirit).
3. The fuel-discharge nozzle of a float carburetor is in the venturi (throat) of the carburetor upstream of the throttle valve and contributes to throat and throttle icing. The nozzle of a pressure carburetor, however, usually is downstream of the venturi and throttle valve.
4. The runway is a wide, shallow stretch of beach (made of packed shell sand) that is covered by water during high tide, which adds an unusual wrinkle to flight planning.
5. Urine helps to cool a person during a summer survival situation in the desert when other fluids are in short supply (according to the U.S. Marine Corps).
6. An Ercoupe. It departed California's March Field on August 12, 1941, and was assisted by a solid-propellant rocket producing 28 pounds of thrust. Technically, JATO is a misnomer and should be called RATO because power is provided by rocket(s).
7. An insidious reduction of manifold pressure and indicated airspeed that might not be noticed until the condition worsens.
8. It is a museum of Lindbergh memorabilia in Canaan, Maine. The tiny building (290 square feet) is the crate in which the fuselage of the Spirit of St. Louis was deck-shipped back to the United States aboard the USS Memphis. Call Larry Ross at 207/474-9841 to arrange a visit.
9. (a) Dolphin (Czechoslovakian); (b) Lark (French); (c) Cadet and New Champion (German); (d) Stork (German); (e) Schoolmaster (French); (f) Attack plane (German); (g) Thrush (Polish); (h) Thunderbolt (Swedish); (i) Dragonfly (French); and (j) Falcon (Italian).
10. (c) Furthermore, the antenna should be aligned horizontally when using the handheld VHF receiver for VOR navigation.
11. (b) American General never manufactured the Ercoupe or any of its derivatives; the other manufacturers did. A case could be made for (e), because the others no longer build airplanes.
12. True. The true airspeed of the outer wing tip in this case is only 1 knot more than that of the inner wing tip.
13. False. Contrary to popular belief, provision is not made in Part 25 of the regulations for fully deflecting rudder in an anti-yaw direction.
14. False. It occurred during the Italo-Turkish War in October 1911 when an Italian pilot in a Blériot XI monoplane made a reconnaissance flight over enemy positions.

Visit the author's Web site ( www.barryschiff.com).