Aviation Trivia

Senior Pilots of Central Colorado

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Aviation Trivia

Are you "Aviation Savvy"?
Test yourself.....

Question #1. What special piece of equipment did Wilbur Wright carry aboard his aircraft when he flew over New York Harbor in October, 1909.

A. A 22 caliber handgun.

B. A silver shamrock for good luck.

C. A red canoe.

Question #2. True of False: The origin of "logbook" and "logging time" has to do with wood logs.

Question #3. NASA's space shuttle Enterprise was named after:

A. A starship used in TV's Star Trek

B. The USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

C. Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Question #4. A pilot flying over a desolate, remote part of the country notices a downed airplane that apparently is the result of an accident. How would he know if that aircraft had already been reported and identified?

A. It would be marked with a large red X

B. The plane would be marked with a yellow cross

C. There would be a large tombstone just off the nose of the aircraft

Question #5. For WWII buffs. Two WWII aircrafts: One was named - Rhapsody in Glue. The other was named the Wooden Wonder. Name these two WWII aircraft.

Question #6. During World War II, which one of these oldie but goodie comedians was machining part for Douglas for the DC-3 in his garage?

A. Bud Abbott or Lou Costello

B. Stan Laurel or Oliver Hardy

C. One of the Marx Brothers

D. One of the Three Stooges

Question #7. What is the largest airport in the United States - figured on area?

Question #8. There are six commercial airports in the United States named after former presidents. How many can you name?

Question #9. The missing man formation is usually flown over a funeral or memorial event in honor of a fallen soldier. It is customary for the wingman to pull up and pull away, or simply be missing. What does it mean when it's not the wingman, but the formation leader that pulls up and away or is missing?

Question #10. There are atomic clocks aboard the Navstar/GPS satellites. Those clocks are accurate within one second every how many years:

A. 300

B. 3,000

C. 30,000

D. 300,000 years

Question #11. Our presidential and vice-presidential candidates and their spouses are: John McCain, Cindy McCain, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Joe Biden. We Know that John McCain and Todd Palin are pilots. Who else is a licensed pilot?

Question #12. Who was the first US president to get a pilot's license?

A. JFK

B. Ronald Regan

C. John Travolta

D. Dwight Eisenhower

Question #13. Today the event in Oshkosh is called EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. It has been in existence, though not by that name, since 1953. What cities have hosted this event?

A. Oshkosh and Green Bay

B. Oshkosh, Milwaukee and Beloit

C. Oshkosh, Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois

Question #14. Describe the inception of the FAA.

A. In prehistoric times, three ape-like men hatched from dinosaur eggs and formed the FAA.

B. The FAA was formed 50 years ago by a presidential decree.

C. In the '60's, there were 5 guys who all had been turned down for a pilots license and vowed to get back at licensed pilots and formed the FAA.

Question #15. Why was the FAA created?

A. The jetliners were coming.

B. There were lots of midair collisions.

C. Both A and B.

D. Too many general aviation pilots had bad attitudes.

Question #16. Relating to aviation - what is SLOP?

A. What your wife fixes you for dinner when you get back very late from flying.

B. What your instructor calls the last three bad landings that you made.

C. An acronym for Strategic Lateral Offset Procedures.

Question #17. When was the first hot air balloon launched and who were the passengers?

A. 1910 - Wilbur Wright and President William McKinley.

B. 1850 - General Santa Ana and his wife.

C. 1783 - A sheep, a duck and a rooster.

Question #18. What is the altitude record of a manned balloon flight?

A. 52,000'

B. 72,000'

C. 102,000'

Question #19. According to FAA regs what color should an airport windsock be?

A. Only orange

B. Orange or orange and white stripe

C. Orange, white or yellow

Question #20.  Which late-night talk-show host was a fighter pilot in the US Marine Corps?
A. Jack Paar
B. Steve Allen
C. Johnny Carson
D. Ed McMahon
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Question #21. We've all heard about the Phoenix space craft that successfully landed on Mars this summer.  How long did the Phoenix take to get to Mars?
A. Approximately 10 days
B. Approximately 10 weeks
C. Approximately 10 months
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Question #22. This is a four part question. In what decade was the first landing on Mars? What country was that craft from? What was the name of the craft? Was it successful?
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Question #23. The first successful spacecraft that landed on Mars was the Viking in the late '70's. This is a multiple choice question. Who were the brains behind the Viking?
A. University of Denmark
B. A private corporation owned by Ed McMahon and Johnny Carson
C. NASA
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Question #24. As pilots we know that V speeds are speeds that define certain performance and limiting characteristics of an aircraft. These airspeeds are calclated relative to the air through which the aircraft is moving. What is the origin of the "V"?
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Question #25. As pilots we know that METAR is an aviation routine weather report. The name comes from the French word METeorologique meaning "weather" and the word Aviation and another French word Reguliere that means "routine".  When you see a dollar sign at the end of a METAR report, it means:
A. Your credit card is being charged a dollar for this report.

B. The originator of this report is making note of the rising cost of fuel-leading to a rising cost of flying.
C. The dollar sign actually denotes something of significance.
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Question #26. This is a three part question relating to THE CONCORDE.
A. How many years was THE CONCORDE in service - catering to the rich and famous?
B. Who was the first pilot to break the sound barrier?
C. When THE CONCORDE was in its heyday - how many aircraft were in THE CONCORDE fleet?
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Question #27. What was the name of the world's first orbiting satellite?
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Question #28. Who was the first female US astronaut?
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Question #29. In 1971 it became law that you couldn't do what in an airplane?

Answers:

Question #1. C. Wilbur Wright flew from Governors Island up the Hudson to Grant's Tomb and back in 33 minutes on October 4, 1909, making the first successful flight ever seen in New York. His flying machine was equipped with a red canoe for emergency water landings.

Question #2. True. Sailors on sailing vessels of yore placed a log in the water and timed how long it took for the log to float aft. This provided a measure of the ship's water speed. These speeds were entered into a "ship's log", which eventually led to the aviation logbook.

Question #3. A. Pressured by a letter-writing campaign organied by Star Trek fans, called Trekkies, NASA named this particular space shuttle The Enterprise!

Question #4. B. The airplane has been reported and identified if the crash site has been marked with a conspicuous yellow cross. If there is no yellow cross - you have found an undiscovered crash site.

Question #5. Rhapsody in Glue was the Cessna T-50/UC-78 Bobcat, also known as the Bamboo Bomber. It was a twin-engine tail dragger built of wood, fabric, tubular aluminum and lots of glue. The second was the de Havilland Mosquito, a 400-mph, twin-engine combat aircraft built almost entirely of wood.

Question #6. Groucho Marx founded Marman Products which eventually had more than 500 employees. He was funny guy until 1933. In 1941 he became an inventor. He developed the Marman clamp which attached atomic bombs to aircraft for use in the war.

Question #7. The nation's largest airport by area - is almost twice as big as the combined campuses of all of the universities in the Big 12 Conference - and it covers 34,000 acres and is called: Denver International Airport.

Question #8. JFK in Queens, New York, Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Regan Washington National in Virginia, Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill., Gerald R. Ford International in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport in Dickinson, ND.

Question #9. When the formation leader pulls up and away or is missing, it salutes a fallen military leader.

Question #10. D. 300,000 years. Your cell phone receives signals from these satellites. So do you think that the time displayed on your cell phone is accurate? Probably!

Question #11. In 1982, when she knew she would be doing a lot of flying with her husband and so she c

ould overcome her fear of flying, Cindy McCain got her private pilot's license.

Question #12. D. Dwight Eisenhower got his pilot's license in 1939.

Question #13. C. The EAA Convention as is was originally called, began in Milwaukee with 100 visitors. In 1959 the event became too big for the Milwaukee airfield and moved to Rockford, Illinois, where it stayed for 10 years. The event outgrew Rockford and was moved to Oshkosh where there are two long runways and lots of room for planes to park and room for tents for camping. This year they had 750,000 visitors and the EAA gathering has become one of the world's largest aviation events!

Question #14. B. The FAA was formed on August 23rd, 1958 by President Eisenhower signing the Federal Aviation Act creating the FAA.

Question #15. C. The advent of jetliners and too many midair collisions spawned the creation of the FAA.

Question #16. C. With the advent of GPS and extremely accurate navigation, the odds of a midair collision, say over a VOR, or descending or climbing on an airway are very high. SLOP allows the pilot to offset his position by 1 NM. It is also used for wake turbulence avoidance from a preceding aircraft. SLOP does require ATC permission.

Question #17. C. In 1783 a French scientist launched the first hot air balloon with a sheep, a duck and a rooster. The balloon stayed up for 15 minutes.

Question #18. C. In 1960, Captain Joe Kittinger reached a height of 102,000' then parachuted out of the balloon. The Captain holds the record for the highest balloon flight and the highest parachute jump. He broke the sound barrier with his body. And, yes, he lived through it all!

Question #19. C. The FAA regs say that the windsock may be orange, white or yellow.

Question #20. D. Ed McMahon was a fighter pilot and also he was a flight instructor and a test pilot.
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Question #21. C. 10 months. Phoenix left planet Earth August 4, 2007.

Question #22. In the '70's Russia crash landed the 1st Rover on Mars. Then they landed the 2nd Rover, but it immediately stopped transmission. Then they landed the 3rd Rover, but it also did not transmit. Then they landed the 4th Rover - still in the '70's, but the probe separated and went into orbit. Successful? I don't think so!

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Question #23. C. NASA

Question #24. The "V" stands for velocity.
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Question #25. C. The dollar sign indicates that the automated sensor requires maintenance and some data might be inaccurate.

Question #26. A. 30 years, B. Chuck Yeager, C. 13 aircraft.

Question #27. Sputnik was launched in October 1957. It traveled 37 million miles in 3 months. It reentered the atmosphere and burned up in January 1958.

Question #28. Dr. Sally Ride. She was a crew member of the 1st and 2nd Challenger missions. She was training for her 3rd Challenger mission (which would have been the 4th Challenger mission) when that Challenger mission sadly exploded, killing 7 astronauts.

Question #29. In 1971, the government prohibited airborne hunting of birds, fish and other animals.
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If were at the meetings and IF you got any one of these teasers correct, you got to tell your war story. We heard some good ones!

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