Test Pilot

1. Why were World War II Army cadets who had yet to solo often likened to dodos?
2. In the motion picture Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones escapes from hostile natives in a float-equipped Waco biplane bearing which of the following registration markings?
1. D-WACO
2. I-JONES
3. BI-PLANE
4. OB-CPO
3. From reader Jerry Griggs: The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed for military use. What caused the U.S. government to make it available to civilian users worldwide?
4. True or false? The rudders of airplanes built prior to World War I operate in reverse. That is, a pilot pushes the right rudder pedal (or rudder bar) forward to yaw left, and vice versa.
5. From reader George Shanks: The first American airplane shot down during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was
1. a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.
2. an Interstate S-1A Cadet.
3. a Piper Cub.
4. a Stearman PT–13A Kaydet.
6. The Daher TBM, formerly known as the Socata TBM, is a family of high-performance, single-engine turboprop airplanes built in France. What do the letters TBM represent?
7. From reader Sandy Bredin: What is the only mammal capable of true, sustained, and unassisted flight?
8. An airframe manufacturer liked the name of one of its 1930s aircraft so much that it used the same name for another, completely different aircraft it built in the 1950s. What name do these two aircraft share?

Answers

1. The extinct dodo was a flightless pigeon that had rudimentary, almost functionless wings.
2. The correct answer is D. Director George Lucas, actor Harrison Ford, and others were involved with Star Wars as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark. OB-CPO is a clear reference to Star Wars’ characters Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3PO. OB also is the identifier for Peru, where that part of the movie was filmed.
3. Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747, was en route from New York to Seoul on September 1, 1983. It entered Soviet airspace because of a navigation error and was shot down. All aboard were killed. President Ronald Reagan announced 15 days later that GPS would be made available for civilian use to minimize future navigation errors.
4. True. This concept originated with sleds, bicycles, and other machines wherein pushing forward on the right end of handlebars causes a left turn, and vice versa.
5. The correct answer is C. There were seven light aircraft flying over Oahu at the time of the attack. Two of them were Piper Cubs flown by Sargeant Henry Blackwell and Corporal Clyde Brown, and these were the first to be shot down by the Japanese. It is uncertain which of the two Cubs was first.
6. The aircraft is built in Tarbes (hence the TB) and was originally developed as a partnership between Socata, the general aviation division of Aerospatiale, and Mooney Aircraft (hence the M).
7. Bats are the only mammals that can fly, some reaching almost 100 mph. Although a bat can fly, it cannot walk because its legs are too thin and weak. Flying squirrels also are mammals, but they can only glide for short distances.
8. The Lockheed L–10 Electra (the twin-engine airplane used by Amelia Earhart during her attempt to fly around the world) and the Lockheed L–188 Electra (the four-engine turboprop airliner).