Test Pilot

1. Boeing’s first commercial jet airplane was the Boeing 707, which was followed by the Boeing 727, 737, 747, and so forth. Why did this sequence apparently skip the Boeing 717?

2. Most pilots have heard of the Denalt Performance Computer, which is used to calculate the effect of temperature and elevation on takeoff and climb performance. Who or what is Denalt?

3. Which of the 50 states experiences the most tornadoes per year?

4. The first type of airplane to be flown solo over the North Pole to a destination on the “other side” was a

A. Beech Model 18 Twin Beech.
B. Lockheed 10E Electra.
C. Lockheed Vega.
D. North American P–51 Mustang.

5. What airline on May 2, 1952, became the world’s first to operate a jetliner in passenger service, and what was the make and model of that airplane?

6. True or false? Objects seen through a curved, rain-covered windshield appear higher and closer than they actually are. In other words, a pilot on a landing approach thinks that he is lower than he really is.

7. From reader Tom Haines: Can you identify this symbol taken from a 1959 Los Angeles Local Aeronautical Chart?

8. Which of the following are certified to fly in moderate freezing rain?

A. Any airplane certified for flight into known icing conditions
B. Large (“heavy”) turbofan jetliners
C. Aircraft that cruise in excess of Mach 0.88
D. Any turbofan aircraft using engine bleed air for anti-icing
E. None of the above

Test Pilot Answers

1. Two airplanes evolved from the one-of-a-kind Boeing 367-80 (known simply as the “Dash Eighty”). These were the civilian Boeing 707 and the military KC–135 Stratotanker. The latter was also designated as the Boeing 717.
2. Denalt might sound like the name of a French pilot or engineer but is actually a foreshortening of the term density altitude.
3. Texas averages 124 tornadic touchdowns per year. Oklahoma is second with 52, and Kansas is third with 47.
4. The correct answer is D. On May 29, 1951, Brig. Gen. Charles F. Blair Jr., who was married to actress Maureen O’Hara, flew his P–51, Excalibur III, from Bardufoss, Norway, to Fairbanks, Alaska (3,260 statute miles), in 10 hours 27 minutes.
5. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) operated the four-engine de Havilland DH.106 Comet. The Boeing 707 did not enter airline service until October 26, 1958.
6. False. Rain can create the illusion that objects are lower and farther away than they really are; a pilot thinks that he is higher than he really is.
7. The blue concentric circles indicate that this is a military airport with a control tower. Above that is a representation of a blimp on a mooring mast. The entire symbol, therefore, represents a military blimp base with a control tower.
8. E. No airplane is certified to fly in moderate freezing rain.