Questions
- From reader Karl Lautman: What is the loudest airplane ever flown?
- Why were red and green chosen as the colors for the left (port) and right (starboard) position lights of ships and aircraft instead of two other colors?
- Which of the following statements—if any—about Elrey Jeppesen are true?
- True or false? Tropical storms become hurricanes when their steady-state winds reach 74 mph or greater. This is because 74 mph is the minimum wind speed needed for a discernable hurricane eye to develop.
- From reader George Shanks: How long is the longest grass runway in the United States, and where is it located?
- What is a good reason for taxiing an aircraft such as the Cessna 336/337 Skymaster with the front engine shut down or idling?
- True or false? The fastest jet streams have been measured at speeds up to 21,000 mph.
- For instrument pilots: True or false? It is more difficult to track the localizer to a 10,000-foot-long runway than it is to a 5,000-foot-long runway.
(Answers down below)
Answers
- The supersonic propeller tips of the Republic XF–84H Thunderscreech, an experimental turboprop, made so much noise (more than 150 decibels) that ground crews suffered nausea and headaches just being near the airplane (even when idling). Engine runups reportedly could be heard 25 miles away.
- Because they are the traditional stop-and-go colors. When a pilot sees a converging red light, he must “stop” (yield right-of-way); when he sees a converging green light, he can “go” (has right-of-way).
- All the statements are true. Shown in the photo is 25-year-old Barry Schiff consummating the sale of his company, Aero-Progress Inc., with Elrey Jeppesen.
- False. Sir Francis Beaufort devised the Beaufort Wind Scale in 1806 according to how wind affects the sea. A hurricane was defined by a Beaufort (or Force) 12 wind, which is 64 knots (74 mph) or more, the speed at which “the air is filled with foam and spray, and the sea is white with driving spray.”
- The longest grass runway measures 7,000 feet in length and is at the Triple Tree Aerodrome (SC00) in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.
- This prevents the front propeller from throwing debris into and damaging the rear propeller.
- True. Such jet streams have been detected, for example, on exoplanet WASP-127b, which is more than 500 light years from the Earth and orbits a G-type star.
- True. Localizers vary in width from 3 to 6 degrees so as to be 700 feet wide at the runway threshold. A long runway, therefore, has a narrow localizer, which is more difficult to track than a wide one.
Barry Schiff
Barry Schiff has been an aviation media consultant and technical advisor for motion pictures for more than 40 years. He is chairman of the AOPA Foundation Legacy Society.
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