1. “I was an experienced civilian pilot when I enlisted in the Army as a private on March 21, 1941. (I would have joined sooner but had to gain 5 pounds to meet the minimum weight requirement.) During the war I became a commissioned officer, earned my military wings, and retired as a brigadier general in 1968, the only pilot other than Chuck Yeager to have risen from private to general. Who am I?”
2. What is the difference between an inverted normal loop and an inverted outside loop?
3. From reader John Schmidt: Why would you not want to be a pilot for Los Angeles-based Air Hollywood?
4. What is the Goldfish Club?
5. A pilot makes a forced winter landing at a remote location where the temperature is well below freezing. After the airplane becomes cold-soaked, the pilot inadvertently places a warm moist hand on the metal airframe, and his hand instantly freezes to the surface. What is the best way to unstick his hand without removing a layer of skin in the process?
6. What was the first single-engine, piston-powered airplane that could cruise at more than two mph per horsepower?
7. From reader Tom Travis: The first U.S. government-issued pilot license was issued to
A. Glenn Curtiss
B. William P. MacCracken
C. Orville Wright
D. Wilbur Wright
8. True or false? A pilot can experience blackout when exposed to sufficient positive Gs. The opposite of a blackout occurs when exposed to sufficient negative Gs and is called a redout.
Test Pilot Answers
1. Motion picture actor James Stewart was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses for actions in combat (flying B–24s), an Air Medal with three oak-leaf clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre. During the Cold War he flew the B–36, the B–47, and the B–52.
2. An inverted normal loop is begun by pulling the nose down from an inverted attitude. An inverted outside loop is begun by pushing the nose up from an inverted attitude.
3. You wouldn’t get to fly. Air Hollywood is the world’s largest aviation-themed production studio. If you’ve seen a movie filmed in an airplane, it likely was filmed on the ground at Air Hollywood, which has a wide variety of aircraft interiors (including rest rooms and cockpits).
4. It is an organization of flight crews whose lives have been saved using dinghies or rafts after ditching or parachuting into the water.
5. Survival courses teach that the best method is to urinate on the hand. If this is not possible, it might be handy to have a companion available.
6. The Wright Flyer. It achieved 30 mph with a 12-horsepower engine.
7. B. MacCracken was the first assistant secretary of commerce for aeronautics (1926) and issued himself the first license on April 6, 1927. He had offered the honor to Orville Wright, who was no longer flying at the time and declined. (Wilbur had died in 1912.)
8. True. A blackout is caused by blood draining from the brain. The opposite occurs during negative Gs and is called redout because excessive blood is forced to the brain; the pilot really does see red.
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