Test Pilot

1. From reader George Shanks: Estimate within 4,000 feet the world altitude record for a helicopter.
2. Which of the following was the only aviation movie to have won an Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year?
   A. The High and the Mighty
   B. The Spirit of St. Louis
   C. Twelve O’clock High
   D. Wings
3. From reader Brett Schiff: ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, is responsible for creating the four-letter airport codes. For example, it begins the designations of airports in the 48 contiguous states with K, the designations of airports in Northern Europe with E, and so forth. What is the location of landing sites beginning with J?
4. What was the world’s first pressurized airliner?
5. From reader Kay Sundaram: Why did the Green River, Wyoming, city council on July 5, 1994, officially name its public airport (48U) as the Greater Green River Galactic Spaceport?
6. True or false? The Wright brothers never flew together in the same airplane.
7. On what occasion did the United States government suspend all pilot certificates except those held by airline pilots?
8. In which years did the Boeing B–47 (the XB–47) Stratojet and the Boeing B–52 (YB-52) Stratofortress make their first flights? (You have already been given sufficient clues.)

Test Pilot Answers

1. On June 21, 1972, French test pilot Jean Boulet flew an Aerospatiale SA315 Lama to an altitude of 40,820 feet, a record that still stands. The engine, however, flamed out at altitude, and Boulet had to descend and land without power, thus also setting a world record for high-altitude autorotation.
2. The correct answer is D. This 1927 World War I classic and Oscar winner starred Richard Arlen, Clara Bow, and Buddy Rogers.
3. Mars. When Rover Perseverance arrived at the Jezero Crater on Mars in 2021, ICAO designated this historic landing site as JZRO.
4. The Boeing 307 Stratoliner was a four-engine taildragger that first flew on the last day of 1938.
5. The city airport was designated as a spaceport for inhabitants of Jupiter (Jovians) wanting to take sanctuary in Green River in case their planet is further threatened by comets or meteors, a reference to the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that had recently impacted their planet.
6. False. The brothers made it a firm rule never to fly together to ensure that one of them would be available to continue their work. On May 25, 1910, however, Orville took Wilbur for their only flight together, a tacit concession that most of their work had been completed.
7. This occurred on December 8, 1941, the day after the Pearl Harbor attack and the day on which Congress declared war against the Empire of Japan. (We declared war against Germany on December 11.)
8. 1947 and 1952, respectively.