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Brainteasers
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Jan. 5, 2009

Brainteasers
Interactive Quiz #140:
Winter Be Damned

When temperatures drop below an acceptable level of civility, pilots must face some cold realities: What you don't know about ice could severely chill your flight plans. Ace this ice-bound quiz to once again feel the warmth.

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. Ice in your banana daiquiri? Sure. But ice on the wings, prop blades or rotors means that your flying machine might not perform as smartly as the factory rep. promised. But before you complain about the icy weather, you should know the types of in-flight structural icing. Which type is defined as, "A rough, milky, opaque ice formed by the rapid freezing of supercooled drops/droplets after they strike the aircraft. The rapid freezing results in air being trapped, giving the ice its opaque appearance and making it porous and brittle"?
a. Clear
b. Glaze
c. Rime
d. Runback
2. Once your Bonanza ices up like an Estonian fishing trawler, you'll be expected to report your condition to ATC or FSS, using approved phraseology. "I'm freezing up like a prom-night date!" does not do. Instead, ATC wants to know specifically where you found the ice, what type it is (see previous question) and how bad it is. What are the official reportable icing values (per AIM)?
a. Light, Moderate, Severe, Extreme
b. Trace, Light, Moderate, Severe
c. Few, Light, Moderate, Severe
d. Light, Medium, Severe, Extreme
3. Refer to your correct answer in the previous question. Please defend your answer by completing this sentence with the best answer: Icing-report values are based upon the ...
a. Thickness of the ice
b. Weight of the ice
c. Type of ice
d. Rate of accumulation
4. Structural icing affects all aircraft unfortunate enough to fly in visible moisture where the OAT is near freezing (+2 degrees C to -10 degrees C). The ice tends to form on certain items before others. Generally speaking, of the items listed, which would most likely display ice first?
a. Small and/or narrow objects
b. Thick and/or blunt objects
c. Windshields
d. Gear
5. Ice-contaminated tailplane stalls (ICTS) can catch an otherwise experienced pilot off guard. To prevent an ICTS, the pilot -- flying in icing conditions and suspecting tailplane icing -- should approach with full flaps to prevent the stall.
a. True
b. False
6. Nothing spells overtime pay for a Wichita lineman faster than freezing rain. Trees ice up, lose limbs and rip down power lines to generally make life miserable. In-flight, freezing rain can be equally annoying. Should you encounter freezing rain in flight, where -- if at all -- might you expect to find warmer temperatures? (You'll notice "Hawaii" is not an option here.)
a. Above
b. Below
c. Above and below
d. At the surface only
7. AIRMETs are disseminated to all pilots and come in three types. Which type AIRMET describes moderate icing and provides freezing level heights?
a. AIRMET India
b. AIRMET Sierra
c. AIRMET Tango
d. AIRMET Zulu
8. SIGMETS are disseminated to all pilots and affect all aircraft. We're talking generally nasty weather stuff here. Which dangerous icing condition is posted in a SIGMET?
a. Severe icing associated with thunderstorms
b. Severe icing not associated with thunderstorms
c. Severe icing associated with warm fronts
d. Severe icing not associated with warm fronts
9. Stopping by your airplane on a chilly morning you notice gray fuzz coating the upper airframe surfaces. It wasn't there the night before. "Frost!" you curse a long-dead New England poet, but that's no help, because you'll need to remove this frost from all surfaces before flight. You know that even a small amount of frost ... (Complete that thought with the best answer.)
a. Causes radio static due to St. Elmo's Fire
b. Causes structural icing to form in flight
c. Can freeze fuel lines
d. Can degrade aerodynamic properties
10. Scenario: You're IFR, eastbound at 7000 feet, in a poorly heated, single-engine airplane, inside Class E airspace. You're skimming the tops of the clouds and you're picking up ice. Clear sunshine beckons above, so you request a climb to 9000 feet. "Unable," ATC replies, due to opposite-direction traffic at 8000 and same direction traffic at 9000 feet. "Well, move someone!" you want to yell but, instead, you request, "VFR On-Top at 7500 feet." The controller -- impressed that you know this OTP trick -- approves your request. As a result, your IFR clearance is:
a. Cancelled
b. Suspended
c. Still in effect
d. Changed to VFR only

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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