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Brainteasers
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Oct. 30, 2008

Brainteasers
Interactive Quiz #139:
Good Night, Moon

As winter approaches, days get shorter ... well, not shorter; they're still 24 hours each, but they do get darker. To master nighttime's dark side, shed light on the following questions.

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the questions as best you can, then click on the "Score my quiz answers" button to see your score and read the explanations. If you don't like your score the first time around, you can change some of your answers and resubmit. To get the most out of this quiz, we suggest you keep trying until you get a perfect score.

NOTE: When more than one answer is true, only the most complete, correct answer will be scored as correct. The answers are assumed to apply within the United States unless otherwise noted.

1. In the airspace alphabet, G stands for Good, as in Class G airspace is good, because it has so few restrictions: no pesky ATC and ceiling and visibility minimums are somewhat lax. Most airports are comfortably parked beneath Class G airspace, where IFR traffic often mixes with VFR traffic in the pattern. At night with low ceilings and visibility, this could be interesting. Imagine you're IFR on a GPS-A approach to a sea-level airport inside Class G airspace at night. The AWOS reports a broken layer at 900 feet and 1-mile visibility in haze. Switching to CTAF you hear a Cessna 150 pilot call: "... Departing Runway 33, staying in the pattern." Assuming the Cessna 150 remains within 1/2-mile of the runway, that Cessna pilot must maintain what cloud clearance?
a. 500 above, 1000 below and 2000 feet horizontal
b. 1000 above, 500 below and 2000 feet horizontal
c. 1000 above, 1000 below and 1 mile horizontal
d. Clear of clouds
2. Away from the traffic pattern, what visibility must an airplane pilot maintain while operating at night inside Class G airspace below 1200 feet AGL (below 10,000 feet msl)?
a. 1 mile
b. 3 miles
c. 5 miles
d. Clear of clouds
3. Approaching an airport, you see flashes, and it's not from excess caffeine or cars on the highway signaling that you're too low. You're at 3500-feet agl, and the sky is clear with unlimited visibility. The flashes are from an aerodrome beacon, also known as an airport beacon. The beacon light sequence is flashing white, yellow, and green, which tells you that you're approaching what type of landing area?
a. Civilian land airport
b. Military airport
c. Water airport
d. Heliport
e. Wal-Mart with a Midnight Madness Sale
4. Strange illusions lurk in the night sky. What term best describes this phenomenon: "Induced nearsightedness that is associated with flying at night, in instrument meteorological conditions and/or reduced visibility. With nothing to focus on, the eyes automatically focus on a point just slightly ahead of the airplane."
a. Autokinesis
b. False horizon
c. Empty-field myopia
d. Empty-head myopia
5. It's night. You're VFR flying a Piper Warrior and approaching an airport inside Class C airspace. Tower tells you to follow a Cessna 182 ahead. You see it and follow. The Cessna lands, misses the first turn off and expedites to an intersection 5000 feet down the runway. The runway is lighted, dry, and the wind is calm. You have plenty of room to land behind the Cessna, which has not yet cleared the runway. For ATC same-runway-separation (SRS) purposes, the Cessna and Piper are in the same Category. The Cessna is at least 4500 feet down the runway (ahead of you) as you cross the threshold. Tower is permitted to clear the second airplane, your Warrior, to land, provided the Cessna is not restricted from turning off the runway.
a. True
b. False
6. LAHSO means Land And Hold Short Operations. Day or night, a pilot may be cleared to land on a runway and restricted to "hold short" of an intersecting runway. Student pilots should never accept LAHSO clearances, but all pilots should recognize the LAHSO hold-short lights that mark the hold short point. LAHSO lights (where installed) consist of:
a. A row of pulsing white lights installed across the runway at the hold-short point
b. A pair of steady red lights installed across the runway at the hold-short point.
c. A row of flashing red lights installed across the runway at the hold-short point.
d. A brace of alternating red and white lights installed across the runway at the hold-short point.
7. TIPH means Taxi Into Position and Hold. It's an ATC tower tool, designed to pump more airplanes off the same runway. In good hands, it works great. Sadly, mistakes happen, and consequently many towers are restricted on TIPH use, thus slowing the overall flow. Where TIPH is allowed, it may never be used at night. (Pick the better answer.)
a. True
b. False
8. It's late at night, several hours before dawn, and the Approach controller is working alone and half-zonked with fatigue from working two shifts within 24 hours. The weather is VFR. You're vectored to follow a freight dog Boeing 757 (non-heavy). You see the Boeing, or at least its lights and shape as it blots out the moon, so you tell the controller, "Boeing in sight." The controller then says, "Follow the Boeing 757, caution wake turbulence, cleared visual approach Runway 7, contact Tower 118.4." You accept the clearance: "Wilco." Who is now responsible for maintaining wake-turbulence separation between you and the tornado-generating Boeing?
a. You, the PIC
b. Approach Control
c. Tower
d. Boeing pilot
9. It's been scientifically proven that fuel flow increases in direct proportion to distance flown over unfamiliar, dark terrain at night. OK, not proven so much as it seems that fuel burns faster when you're uncomfortably far from home. Therefore, FAR 91.151 spells out the VFR minimum fuel requirements, which you will now please help us recall by filling in the blanks: "No (_____) may begin a flight in an (_____) under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed ... At night, to fly after that for at least (_____) minutes.
a. pilot, aircraft, 45
b. person, aircraft, 30
c. pilot, airplane, 30
d. person, airplane, 45
10. Same VFR night flight as the previous question, only now you're flying a helicopter (rotorcraft). What is your minimum fuel-reserve requirement to reach to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed, to fly after that?
a. No minimum for 'copters
b. 10 minutes
c. 15 minutes
d. 20 minutes

If you enjoyed taking this interactive quiz and would like to see more like it, go to the AVweb Brainteaser page. And if you thought it was unfair, confusing, or a waste of time, we'd like you to tell us that, too. And if you have an idea for a subject that you think would make a good future Brainteaser quiz, be sure to let us know.

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