Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. From reader Bill Worden: Piper Aircraft once experimented with inflatable rubber floats on some aircraft for operating on water. These floats were lighter and less expensive than aluminum floats. What were the two primary reasons that the concept was abandoned?
2. General aviation airplanes have either 12- or 24-volt electrical systems and are equipped with 12- or 24-volt batteries, as appropriate. Why are these sometimes referred to as 14- and 28-volt systems?
3. From reader Tom Reesor: Under what conditions must a pilot embarking on a flight in one category of aircraft also be rated in a second category of aircraft?
4. What was the first airline to become an all-jet operator and advertise that "propellers were for boats"?
5. From reader Mark Barchenko: A pilot is sitting stranded in the middle of a large sheet of very hard, absolutely frictionless ice. He obviously cannot walk or crawl off the ice. How can he escape such a "prison"?
6. State within 10 years the year in which the first successful parachute jump was made from an aircraft at altitude.
7. From reader Paul Bartlett: Most pilots have heard of Lockheed's high-flying U-2 spy plane that the Air Force calls "Dragon Lady." What kind of an airplane is the U-3?
8. The Denalt performance computer is used to calculate the effects of temperature and elevation on takeoff and climb performance. Who or what is Denalt?

MULTIPLE CHOICE

9. A pilot is descending from 12,000 to 6,000 feet msl at a constant indicated airspeed and variable rate of descent while under the influence of a constant and steady crosswind. During this descent, drift angle
   1. will decrease.
   2. will increase.
   3. will remain constant.
   4. cannot be determined.
10. Decreasing airplane weight by 50 percent increases climb rate (at a given airspeed and power setting) by
    1. 25 percent.
    2. 50 percent.
    3. 100 percent.
    4. 200 percent.
11. Although not required, aircraft owners probably should replace their analog 121.5-MHz emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) with digital 406-MHz ELTs no later than
    1. January 2006.
    2. January 2007.
    3. January 2008.
    4. January 2009.

TRUE OR FALSE

12. From reader George Desnoyer: A pilot is gliding to land under the influence of a 20-knot headwind. To maximize glide distance, he needs to fly faster than the aircraft's published best-glide speed.
13. The authoritative and annually published reference book Jane's All the World's Aircraft was founded by a man named Jane.
14. FAA Administrator Najeeb Halaby received an FAA piloting violation during his administration and had to pay a $1,000 fine.

ANSWERS

1. Puncturing could be a problem. Also, the floats expanded and created additional drag as the aircraft gained altitude. The higher the altitude, the more the aircraft slowed.
2. The higher voltage represents charging voltage, which is always slightly greater than battery voltage.
3. A pilot about to embark with a passenger on a glider flight that involves IFR flying also must have an airplane category rating with an instrument rating. Refer to FAR 61.3 (e).
4. Trans World Airlines (TWA) became the first all-jet carrier when it retired its last Lockheed Constellation from passenger service on August 7, 1967.
5. He needs only to remove his shoes and throw them as hard as he can. The reaction to this is that he will slide off the ice in the opposite direction. (To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.) Blowing also might be effective.
6. In 1797, André Jacques Garnerin stepped from a hydrogen balloon 2,000 feet above Paris, France, and landed safely. The canvas parachute had a 23-foot diameter, stiff ribs, and the appearance of an oversize umbrella.
7. The U-3 is the military version of the Cessna 310, which is commonly referred to by military pilots as the "Blue Canoe." Originally designated in 1957 as the L-27 (a liaison airplane), it was redesignated in 1962 as the U-3 (a utility airplane).
8. Denalt might sound like the name of a French pilot or engineer but is actually a foreshortening of the term density altitude.
9. (b) When descending at a constant indicated airspeed, true airspeed decreases, which results in a larger drift angle.
10. (c) Airplane rate of climb varies inversely with weight. Doubling aircraft weight would cut climb rate in half.
11. (d) This is when the COSPAS-SARSAT search-and-rescue satellites will no longer monitor 121.5 MHz (although ground stations will continue to monitor this VHF frequency). (See " Airframe & Powerplant: Getting a Better Signal," page 93.)
12. True. Conversely and when flying under the influence of a tailwind, glide distance is maximized by flying slower than the best-glide speed.
13. True. Fred T. Jane (born 1865 in England) was an eccentric visionary, writer, and artist who began his publishing empire with Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships in 1898. His aircraft reference was first published in 1909.
14. True. This was the result of a taxiing accident that occurred at Washington National Airport while Halaby was operating FAA's Grumman Gulfstream I (N1). FAA investigators were aboard the turboprop aircraft.

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