Test Pilot

GENERAL

1. During World War I, the Pour le Mérite was the highest military decoration that could be bestowed upon a German pilot. Why was it also called the "Blue Max" (popularized by the 1966 motion picture of the same name starring George Peppard)?
2. In the motion picture Tora! Tora! Tora! Lt. Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, commander of the first wave of planes to attack Pearl Harbor, broadcast those three words to the Japanese fleet. What does tora mean in English, and what did the transmission signify?
3. From reader Bob Merritt: Name an American production airplane that was given a model designation in honor of a famous aviation personality. (For example, it could not be a Beechcraft V35B Bonanza because Bonanza is not a famous person.)
4. The McDowell Safety Starter consisted of a long handle by the pilot's left knee that was pulled aft to crank the engine through one or two compression strokes (in lieu of hand-propping or an electric starter). What popular lightplane was manufactured with one?
5. Why is the reference line on a conventional magnetic compass called a lubber line?
6. There are six classes of airspace in the United States, A, B, C, D, E, and G. What is Class F airspace, and why don't we use it?
7. Aviation is replete with colorful expressions. Three of them are a) cold nose, b) passing gas, and c) penalty box. What do they mean?
8. Air & Space magazine asks: Why does the space shuttle roll 180 degrees shortly after it launches?

MULTIPLE CHOICE

9. A pilot is on short final approach to a runway with standard runway markings. He notes eight white stripes that look like hash marks painted on the runway threshold. From this he knows that the runway is
   1. 75 feet wide.
   2. 100 feet wide.
   3. 150 feet wide.
   4. 200 feet wide.
10. From reader Tony Bill: The first scheduled airmail service was inaugurated by the Zahn brothers of Los Angeles in
    1. 1894.
    2. 1904.
    3. 1914.
    4. 1924.
11. A pilot departs Wellington, New Zealand, for a distant island in the South Pacific that has a true bearing from Wellington of 125 degrees. The en route winds are calm. If the pilot maintains a true heading of 125 throughout the flight, he will pass
    1. north of the island.
    2. south of the island.
    3. directly over the island.
    4. Cannot be determined without knowing variation and deviation.

TRUE OR FALSE

12. From reader George Shanks: Induced drag is generated whenever a wing develops lift.
13. From reader Jeff Pardo: Some airport signs are built to withstand the equivalent of an F5 tornado (261 to 318 mph on the Fujita Scale) for 10 minutes.
14. From reader Brian Schiff: A complex airplane has retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable-pitch propeller. A small turbofan-powered airplane, therefore, is not complex because it lacks a propeller.

ANSWERS

1. It obviously was a blue medal. The British nicknamed it the "Blue Max" after Max Immelmann, the first pilot awarded one. Immelmann also developed an evasive maneuver consisting of a half-loop followed by a half-roll (an Immelmann turn).
2. Tora! Tora! Tora! means Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! The message signified that the attack planes had achieved complete surprise over American forces on that fateful Sunday morning.
3. The North American B-25 Mitchell was named after famed airpower proponent Gen. Billy Mitchell. The farsighted military leader was court-martialed in 1925 in part for his prophecy that Japan might cripple the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor. A 1955 motion picture, The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, stars Gary Cooper.
4. One was the Aeronca 11-AC Chief, the side-by-side version of the Aeronca 7-AC Champion. The lever was connected via cable to a ratchet device on the crankshaft.
5. Also called a lubber's line, it makes steering a ship easier for the inexperienced helmsman or lubber, a contemptuous name given to a sailor on his first voyage.
6. Class F is "uncontrolled airspace in which traffic separation is provided to participating aircraft." (Sounds like an oxymoron.) The FAA does not provide such service, but it is available in some countries.
7. a) radar is off, b) what an aerial tanker does, and c) a designated area on an airport where an arriving airliner is directed to park until its assigned gate becomes available.
8. Antennas on the belly of the orbiter are blocked by the external tank and solid rocket boosters. The orbiter rolls to point the antennas on its upper surface at tracking stations on the ground during ascent.
9. (b) A table of runway threshold stripes vs. runway width can be found in chapter 2, section 3, paragraph 3 of the Aeronautical Information Manual.
10. (a) Carrier pigeons carried mail consisting of news from nearby Catalina Island to the Los Angeles Times. There was even a byline for homing pigeon "Clara."
11. (b) Because the flight takes place in the Southern Hemisphere, the true heading along the great-circle route must continually decrease en route to the destination.
12. False. There is no induced drag during supersonic flight because the necessary upwash ahead of the wing cannot form during flight in excess of Mach 1.0.
13. True. Such signs are typically located in areas subject to jet blast.
14. True. But it doesn't matter. One does not need a complex endorsement to fly a turbofan-powered airplane because a type rating is required instead. Having a type rating in a jet, however, does not permit the holder to fly a complex airplane without an endorsement.

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