1. From reader John Schmidt: A pilot is assisting his mechanic during an annual inspection and notices a small red dot (or triangle) on a new tire about to be installed on his airplane. What is the significance of this symbol?
2. Sensenich Propeller is the only U.S. manufacturer of certified wooden propellers. These are made from
A. birch
B. oak.
C. spruce.
D. walnut.
3. In 1938, why did French doctors send some of their patients to flying clubs with prescriptions for short, local flights?
4. Flat-hatting is a term that originated in military aviation and describes flying at dangerously and unnecessarily low altitudes (usually for the thrill of it). It is synonymous with buzzing. How did this term originate?
5. Who were the authors of the following 10 classic aviation books?
A. Fate is the Hunter
B. God is My Copilot
C. I Could Never Be So Lucky Again
D. The Shepherd
E. The Spirit of St. Louis
F. Stick and Rudder
G. Stranger to the Ground
H. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
I. West with the Night
J. Wind, Sand and Stars
6. On what radial of the Mission Bay (California) vortac is the Bondo Intersection?
7. An old wives’ tale claims that one should not operate a lightplane engine such that inches of manifold pressure exceed hundreds of propeller rpm (operating “over square”). What obvious, observable fact of flight completely disproves this myth?
8. True or false? The first nonstop flight across the United States occurred before the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
Test Pilot Answers
1. The red symbol indicates the light area of the tire. It should be aligned with the valve stem during installation to help balance the tire.
2. The answer is A, birch. Sensenich used to make butcher blocks and tabletops from the remaining propeller scraps. Hartzell Propeller used walnut and then birch for its wood propellers, but these are no longer in production.
3. Doctors could not explain why, but a so-called “whooping-cough flight” to about 8,000 feet cured suffering infants of that highly infectious disease.
4. According to a U.S. Navy publication, the expression arose from an incident during which a wheel of a low-flying airplane struck a pedestrian on the head and crushed his top hat.
5.
A. Ernest K. Gann
B. Robert L. Scott
C. James H. Doolittle
D. Frederick Forsyth
E. Charles A. Lindbergh
F. Wolfgang Langewiesche
G. Richard Bach
H. Ted W. Lawson and Robert Considine
I. Beryl Markham
J. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
6. The double-oh-seven (007) radial, of course.
7. Making a full-power takeoff in a lightplane with a constant-speed propeller—especially from a low-elevation airport—is performed with more manifold pressure than rpm. For example, taking off at 30 inches of manifold pressure and 26 hundred rpm is to operate the engine “over square.”
8. False. John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic in 1919 using a modified Vickers Vimy, a bomber from the Great War. Army pilots Oakley Kelly and John Macready did not make the first nonstop flight across the United States until 1923. They used a single-engine Fokker T–2 to make the westbound flight.
