Test Pilot

1. From reader John Schmidt: What was the world’s first four-engine airplane?
2. Match each of the famous aircraft with the most appropriate clue:
   1. Columbine A. Brrr!
   2. Enola Gay B. Democrat
   3. Glamorous Glennis C. His employer’s daughter
   4. Hindenburg D. His mother
   5. Independence E. His wife
   6. Josephine Ford F. Nineteen crashes en route
   7. Memphis Belle G. Republican
   8. Spirit of St. Louis H. Ryan
   9. Vin Fiz I. 25
   10. Winnie Mae J. Lakehurst, New Jersey
3. From reader Larry Bothe: True or false? NASA’s Ingenuity, a small robotic helicopter operating on Mars, is the first manmade aircraft to fly on a planet other than Earth.
4. What is a Cooper switch?
5. From reader George Shanks: What is the world’s smallest production three-engine airplane?
6. True or false? The throttles on British aircraft before World War II operated backward (i.e., pushing them forward reduced power, and vice versa).
7. The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) operated from 1939 to 1946. What was its purpose, and what did it accomplish?
8. Until the late 1940s, U.S.-registered aircraft had registration numbers prefixed by NC-, NX-, NR-, and NS-. What did each of these prefixes indicate?

Test Pilot Answers

1. Even though the 1913 Sikorsky Russky Vityaz had four engines, the Russian biplane had a top speed of only 56 mph.
2. 1. G. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Lockheed Constellation.
   2. D. Col. Paul Tibbets Jr. flew this B–29 to Hiroshima.
   3. E. Charles “Chuck” Yeager’s Bell X–1.
   4. J. Where this hydrogen-filled dirigible burst into flame.
   5. B. President Harry S. Truman’s Douglas DC–6.
   6. A. Admiral Richard Byrd’s airplane to the North Pole.
   7. I. Boeing B–17 that survived 25 bombing missions.
   8. H. Built by Ryan Airlines in San Diego.
   9. F. First flight across the United States (Cal Rodgers).
   10. C. Wiley Post flew this Lockheed Vega twice around the world.
3. False. Ingenuity is the first powered aircraft. The Soviet Union’s Vega 1 spacecraft dispatched a balloon in 1985 that travelled in the wind over Venus for at least a third of the circumference of the planet.
4. Named after hijacker, D.B. Cooper, it was an airspeed-operated switch that prevented opening the aft airstair door of a Boeing 727 in flight. This was the door through which Cooper parachuted from the aircraft.
5. The unconventional Britten-Norman Trislander has a trio of 260-horsepower Lycoming engines and a maximum gross weight of 10,000 pounds. Several commuter airlines have used the 18-seat aircraft.
6. False. But it was true of French aircraft, and this caused problems for French pilots flying Royal Air Force Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.
7. The CPTP was established as a New Deal program to energize a flailing aviation industry as well as to create a pool of pilots ready for military service. Civilian flight instructors, 1,132 colleges, and 1,460 flight schools trained 435,165 pilots (in mostly Piper J–3 Cubs).
8. NC- represented civil aircraft. NX- represented experimental aircraft (such as NX-211, the Spirit of St. Louis). NR- represented restricted aircraft (such as crop-dusters and racers). NS- represented those belonging to federal and state agencies.