Test Pilot

1. From reader John Schmidt: Why would a World War II, Allied aircraft have red, yellow, and green lights mounted face down on its belly?
2. True or false? The Boeing 747 was the only Boeing airliner to incorporate a spiraling staircase in the cabin?
3. From reader Bill Stowe: Your altimeter indicates 3,000 feet while set to 30 inches Hg. At what height or altitude are you located?
4. What famous American entertainer was the first person to fly an airplane in Australia?
   A. William “Hopalong Cassidy” Boyd
   B. Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.)
   C. Tom Mix
   D. Ehrich Weiss
5. True or false? When pulling out of a steep dive, an American eagle can pull almost 10 Gs.
6. What was the name of Cessna’s eight-place, piston-powered single?
7. From reader George Shanks: What was the first jet airplane to fly across the Atlantic Ocean?
8. True or false? The Lockheed Constellation has three short vertical stabilizers instead of one tall one. The primary reason for this was to position a rudder directly behind each of the two inboard engines, and this would increase rudder effectiveness in the event of an outboard engine failure.

Test Pilot Answers

1. Called recognition lights, these were an early IFF (identify, friend or foe) system. When flying over an Allied air base, for example, the aircraft could be identified from below as friend or foe by the displayed pattern of lights, a sequence that could be changed daily.
2. False. The Boeing 314 Clipper, a flying boat, had a spiraling staircase as did the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.
3. You are 3,000 feet above that point in the atmosphere where the pressure is 30 inches Hg. If the pressure is 30 inches at sea level, you are then 3,000 feet msl (QNH). If the pressure is 30 inches at the airport, you are then 3,000 feet above the field (QFE).
4. The correct answer is D. The world-renowned magician and escape artist—also known as Harry Houdini—made the flight on March 18, 1910.
5. False, but a hummingbird can.
6. The Cessna Stationair 8 was essentially a seven-place Cessna 207 Skywagon with eight seats.
7. Six de Havilland Vampires (British, twin-boom, single-engine fighters) became on July 14, 1948, the first jets to cross the Atlantic when they landed in Goose Bay, Labrador, after having departed Scotland and making intermediate landings in Keflavik, Iceland, and Bluie West I, Greenland.
8. False. Howard Hughes, TWA’s major stockholder, advised Lockheed that he would not purchase the Constellation for TWA unless the airplane would fit completely into the airline’s existing hangars, and these were not tall enough to accommodate a single, tall, vertical fin. The result was the Connie’s distinctive and shorter triple tail.