Test Pilot

1. True or false? All VOR stations in the contiguous (48) United States are aligned with magnetic north.
2. National Aviation Day is observed on __________________.
   A. February 4 (Charles Lindbergh’s birthday).
   B. April 16 (Wilbur Wright’s birthday).
   C. August 19 (Orville Wright’s birthday).
   D. December 17 (anniversary of the first flight).
3. From reader George Shanks: True or false? When the Doolittle Raiders departed the USS Hornet in their B–25s for their daring bombing raid over Tokyo, the last aircraft to depart had more carrier deck available for takeoff than had preceding aircraft.
4. What was the world’s first certified helicopter?
5. True or false? New York’s LaGuardia Airport is named after an Italian American pilot who flew heavy bombers in Italy during World War I.
6. Why are the enclosures for engines located remotely from the fuselage (as on conventional multiengine airplanes) called nacelles?
7. True or false? Imagine that a Boeing 747 is sitting on a conveyor belt that is as long and as wide as a runway. The speed of the conveyor belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the 747’s wheels but moves in the opposite direction. As a result, it is impossible for the airplane to take off.
8. Orville and Wilbur Wright are among history’s most famous brothers, but how many Wright brothers were there?
   A. two
   B. three
   C. four
   D. five

Test Pilot Answers

1. False. There are at least 5 VOR stations in Florida aligned with true north, such as OCF (Ocala) and ORL (Orlando). The alignment of these VORs is based on a decades-old position of the magnetic north pole and—unlike other VORs—have inexplicably yet to be aligned with the current position of the magnetic pole.
2. The correct answer is C. The holiday was established in 1939 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
3. False. There was so little room for a B–25 to pass abeam the carrier’s island that each aircraft had to be positioned carefully abeam the island before it could begin its takeoff roll.
4. The Bell 47 was certified in 1947. A model of that helicopter “starred” in the 1972 television sitcom, M.A.S.H.
5. True. Fiorello La Guardia, who later became mayor of New York City, was a congressman on leave when he joined the U.S. Army Air Service. He flew the three-engine Caproni Ca 44 biplane, a heavy bomber, and rose to the rank of major.
6. Nacelle is French for “small boat” and refers aeronautically to any separate and streamlined enclosure on an airplane used to shelter something, such as an engine.
7. False. The conveyor belt does not prevent engine thrust from pulling the airplane through the air and accelerating the 747 to the airspeed needed for liftoff. To see this demonstrated—but with a smaller airplane—go to YouTube.com and search for “Mythbusters Plane on Conveyor Belt Ending.”
8. The correct answer is C. Orville (born 1871) and Wilbur (1867) had two older brothers, Reuchlin (1861) and Lorin (1863). They also had a younger sister, Katharine (1874). There also were twins who died in infancy.