Test Pilot

1. True or false? The Flying Tiger Line—also known as Flying Tigers—was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States. It was so named because the airline was founded by 10 of the original members of the Flying Tigers fighter pilot group of World War II.
2. What is the difference between an adjustable-pitch propeller and a controllable-pitch propeller?
3. Following his nonstop flight to Paris, Charles A. Lindbergh became known as “Lucky Lindy.” What factor regarding his flight more than any other justified this appellation?
4. True or false? The world’s first scheduled airline flight was operated using a lighter-than-air aircraft.
5. From reader George Shanks: What items carried aboard Apollo 11 were so integral to the success of the first manned flight to the moon that Command Module Pilot Michael Collins referred to them as “the fourth crew member?”
6. Why did many World War II bombs whistle after being dropped?
7. True or false? Design maneuvering speed (V_A) is the speed below which full, abrupt control movements can be made without exceeding the structural limits of the airplane.
8. What are the two most common reasons for a runway to have a displaced threshold?

Test Pilot Answers

1. True. The group formed the airline after returning to the United States in 1945. Flying Tigers was purchased by Federal Express in 1988.
2. The blade angles of an adjustable-pitch propeller can be changed only on the ground by loosening blade clamps with a special tool and manually adjusting the blade angles. The blade angles of a controllable-pitch propeller can be adjusted from within the cockpit during flight. In each case, blade angles remain subsequently fixed irrespective of airspeed or power changes.
3. John P.V. Heinmuller, chief official timer of the Lindbergh flight, wrote in his book, Man’s Fight to Fly, “that Lindbergh was favored with weather conditions so perfect for his purposes as to be almost freakish.” Heinmuller’s research showed that the net crosswind across the Atlantic at the time was zero. In other words, net drift was nil.
4. False. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was the first and used a Benoist flying boat (January 1, 1914) that carried one passenger on the 23-minute flight between the two cities.
5. Checklists. Each of the Apollo 11 astronauts logged more than 100 hours familiarizing themselves with and modifying checklists that were used for virtually every aspect of their flight.
6. Whistles were added to many bombs for the purpose of terrifying those on the ground.
7. False. The most recent definition of V_A is the speed below which you can move a single flight control, one time, to its full deflection, for one axis of airplane rotation only (pitch, roll or yaw), in smooth air, without risk of damage to the airplane.
8. A displaced threshold elevates the glideslope (visual or electronic) above any given point along final approach. This increases obstacle clearance and reduces aircraft noise heard by those on the ground.