Test Pilot

1. True or false? Although the mammoth Stratolaunch Roc has the world’s longest wingspan, its wingspan is not as long as a 100-yard football field.
2. Name at least three countries that do not have an airport.
3. From reader George Shanks: A famous statesman made a speech during which he said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Who was the statesman and about whom was he speaking?
4. The first full-length motion picture shown aboard an airline flight was
1. Some Like It Hot (Jack Lemmon) in 1959.
2. By Love Possessed (Lana Turner) in 1961.
3. Love with the Proper Stranger (Natalie Wood) in 1963.
4. Doctor Zhivago (Omar Sharif) in 1965.
5. From reader Joseph DuPont: What was the largest floatplane of all time?True or false? Qantas, the Australian airline, has never had a fatal aircraft accident.
6. From reader Jeff Simon: What aircraft components manufacturer names its products after automobiles?
7. Everyone is familiar with the Rutan Voyager’s incredible nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world in 1986, but who designed an airplane that first flew in 1967 and was intended to beat Voyager to the punch?

Answers

1. False. With a wingspan of 385 feet, the Stratolaunch is 28 percent longer than a football field.
2. Four such countries are Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Vatican City. There could be others depending on how you define a country.
3. The speech was made by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 20, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, a pivotal air battle with the German Luftwaffe, and the first military campaign fought entirely in the air. He was expressing gratitude toward the efforts and sacrifices of the Royal Air Force and participating allied pilots.
4. The correct answer is B. This motion picture was shown aboard a TWA Boeing 707 passenger flight between Los Angeles and New York.
5. The Italian CANT Z.511 was similar in appearance to a Douglas DC–4 and powered by four Piaggio, 1,500-horsepower radial engines. Its floats were almost as long as a B–17 Flying Fortress. A video of this 1940 floatplane can be seen on YouTube. Search for “The Forgotten Largest Floatplane of All Time.”
6. False. Qantas has never had a fatal accident involving a jetliner. It did have seven fatal accidents between 1927 and 1951 involving mostly small, piston-powered airplanes.
7. Hartzell Propeller names various models of its propellers as Trailblazer, Pathfinder, Explorer, Navigator, Yukon, Voyager, Talon, and so forth.
8. Jim Bede designed—and Javelin Aircraft in Wichita built—the BD–2 Love One (an acronym for “Low Orbit Very Efficiently, Number One”). The BD–2 was a highly modified Schweizer 2–32 sailplane with jettisonable landing gear and a 225-horsepower engine.