Test Pilot

1. What was uniquely fortuitous about the Ryan B1 Brougham, a five-place airliner that first flew in 1927?
2. Why is the structure used to store an airplane called a hangar?
3. From reader Tracy Perry: True or false? 9/11 was the first and only time that all civil aircraft in the United States—including airliners—were grounded.
4. Israel’s national airline is El Al Israel Airlines. What do the words El Al signify?
5. From reader John Schmidt: The first person to set foot in the United States after flying across the Atlantic Ocean did not simply step out of the aircraft. He
   A. exited the aircraft on a bicycle.
   B. landed by parachute.
   C. ditched near the beach and swam ashore.
   D. drifted onto the beach in a raft.
6. Pilots obviously need to avoid manmade obstacles. How tall is the tallest manmade obstacle in the United States?
   A. 1,245 feet
   B. 2,000 feet
   C. 5,037 feet
   D. 15,000 feet
7. Why are the windows of control tower cabs installed at 15-degree angles instead of vertically?
8. True or false? Thermal runaway is a hazard associated only with NiCad batteries.

Test Pilot Answers

1. The Ryan B1 so resembled the Ryan NYP—The Spirit of St. Louis—that motion picture pilot Paul Mantz was able to modify two of them for use in the 1957 movie of the same name. Charles Lindbergh was said to have been astonished by the similarity of these replicas to his airplane.
2. The word hangar comes from the French word hangar, which means outhouse or shed.
3. False. During 1960, 1961, and 1962, the United States conducted three large-scale military exercises—Skyshield I, II, and III—to test our defensive capability against attack by the Soviet Union. During each of these exercises, all aircraft between the Arctic Circle and Mexico were grounded for up to 12 hours.
4. El Al is Hebrew for To the Skies or Onward and Upward (depending on the translator).
5. The correct answer is B. In 1919, Royal Air Force Maj. J.E.M. Pritchard parachuted from the British airship R.34 in dress uniform. He did this so he could arrange for the mooring of the airship, something that no one in America knew how to do.
6. The correct answer is D. There are nine cable-tethered blimps suspended up to 15,000 feet above and along the U.S. southern border. They are used as downward-looking radar platforms, are shown on sectional charts, and are marked with strobe lights.
7. This angle best prevents reflection and glare.
8. False. Under certain high-load, high-temperature conditions, a lead-acid battery can seriously overcharge and explode.