Test Pilot

1. Should noon on a given day be expressed as 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.?
2. The record for endurance flights (longest time in the air without landing) was flown in
   A. a Boeing 747-8.
   B. the Rutan Model 76 Voyager.
   C. a helium balloon.
   D. a Cessna 172.
3. From reader John Schmidt: Who was the only pilot ever to fly a four-engine airliner in a pylon race?
4. Foc-Foc, an area on the tiny French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, holds several world records for rainfall. During a 24-hour period beginning on January 7, 1966, the measured rainfall there was
   A. 26.8 inches.
   B. 41.8 inches.
   C. 56.8 inches.
   D. 71.8 inches.
5. From reader Norman Grantham: True or false? When a pilot learns that the barometric pressure on his VFR or IFR flight exceeds or will exceed 31.0 inches of mercury, he may not continue that flight unless he conforms to the dictates of a notice to air missions dealing with this issue.
6. Why were some U.S. World War II pilots given extensive training in crash landing techniques and very little instruction in conventional landing techniques?
7. True or false? Jetliners are required to be equipped with ashtrays even though smoking is banned aboard these aircraft.
8. If Germany had won World War II, what would have been the longitude of Greenwich, England?

Test Pilot Answers

1. Both are incorrect. A.M. stands for the Latin, ante meridiem (before midday), the time before the sun crosses the meridian. P.M. means post meridiem (after midday), the time after the sun crosses the meridian. At exactly noon, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky and directly over the meridian; it is neither a.m. nor p.m. Confusion is avoided by saying “12 noon” or “12 midnight.”
2. The correct answer is D. In 1958 and 1959, Robert Timm and John Cook flew a Cessna 172 for 64 days, 22 hours and 19 minutes. Refueling was accomplished by handing a fuel hose to one of the pilots as they flew low and slow over a pickup truck. The duo logged 1,558 hours of flying time.
3. Clay Lacy and Allen Paulson flew a Douglas DC–7 nicknamed Super Snoopy in the California 1000 Mile Air Race at Mojave, California, in 1970. The pair finished sixth with an average speed of 325 mph.
4. The correct answer is D. That same day, tropical cyclone Denise produced 45 inches of measured rainfall during a 12-hour period.
5. True. The reason for this restriction is that the standard barometric altimeter is adjustable through a pressure range of 28.1 to 31.0 inches, which means that you can run out of the altimeter’s adjustment capability at extreme pressure settings. Refer to FAR 91.144.
6. Glider pilots were trained to make only one landing—crash landing their load of commandos behind enemy lines at night and without the help of landing lights.
7. True. Even though smoking might be banned aboard these aircraft, ashtrays must be located conspicuously on or near the entry side of each lavatory door. This safety feature is necessary because of those who violate no-smoking regulations.
8. 13 degrees 15 minutes west. Adolf Hitler had planned to move the world’s Prime Meridian (zero degrees longitude) to Berlin, Germany. He even had maps and charts printed to reflect that change.