AVweb Quiz #168: Dreams Are Made Of This

HOME

FREE NEWSLETTER

XML|RSS

PODCAST

VIDEO

Sunday 19th May 2013

Brainteasers

Brainteasers Home »

Feb. 6, 2012

Interactive Quiz #168:
Dreams Are Made Of This

It's not just how well you fly that makes a great pilot. How good you look in flight also matters. Let's test your ability to look and fly smart by exploring the possibilities of aeronautical form and function. (Includes a new survey to determine the most beautiful airplane.)

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 a previous Brainteaser (#166), we explored ATC angles, such as radar-vector angles to an instrument final-approach course. Now consider the airframe and this definition from the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: "The angle formed by the chord line of the wing and a line parallel to the longitudinal axis of the airplane." What is that angle called?
a. Angle of insipience
b. Angle of attack
c. Angle of lift
d. Angle of incidence

2. The French didn't invent flight, but they seemed to have secured the naming rights: aileron, pitot, Air Bus ... Admittedly, French aeronautical designers also designed some of the most beautiful biplanes ever made, such as the SPAD XIII and Nieuport 17. But whether French or a venerable American Stearman biplane, the angle difference between the upper and lower biplane wings is (_____). (Fill in the blank. See this photo if you've never seen a biplane, and that would be so sad.)
a. Decalage
b. Empennage
c. l'Baggage
d. Fromage

3. Fill in this blank from the American FAA's Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: "(_____) construction uses stressed skin to support almost all loads, much like an aluminum beer can."
a. Monocoupe
b. Monocoque
c. Monocogue
d. Monorail

4. Refer to this picture. It's an easily recognizable Beechcraft Model 17 "Staggerwing." The "Staggerwing" name is a bit confusing because the upper and lower wings on most biplanes are staggered, with one slightly forward of the other. Usually the upper wing is forward. Beech reversed that to wonderfully stylish results and achieved what is called (_____) stagger. (Photo courtesy of Brent Taylor, Antique Airplane Association)
a. Positive
b. Neutral
c. Negative
d. Alternative

5. Regardless how many wings you're flying above, beneath or between, if a wing's angle of attack becomes excessive, it will stall. Let's say that if right wing drops in a stall, the airplane pilot should raise the lowered wing by inputting (_____). (Answer based on the Airplane Flying Handbook.)
a. Ailerons (yoke or stick to the left)
b. Rudder
c. Elevator (or stabilator)
d. Ailerons (yoke or stick to the right)

6. Some airplanes offer a fair amount of comforting aileron effectiveness as the wing approaches its critical angle of attack. This is achieved by constructing the wing so that the wing root chord has a (_____) angle of (_____) than the wingtips. (Hint: Refer back to Question #1 for half of the answer.)
a. Greater, incidence
b. Greater, attack
c. Lower, insipience
d. Lower, incidence

7. Regardless how well designed an airplane is, in the wrong pilot hands it will stall in unintentional situations. Imagine an unskilled pilot (not you) attempting to recover from a stall, but the pilot panics and hurries the stall-recovery process only to stall again. What best labels this subsequent stall?
a. Accelerated stall
b. Whip stall
c. Secondary stall
d. Spiral stall

8. Rate the pilot's response in this stall scenario: Slow-flying at a relatively low altitude in a Cessna, Cherokee, Cirrus or just about any other, common, general-aviation airplane, the pilot allows the wing to exceed its critical angle of attack and a stall results. The pilot's first reaction for stall recovery should be to add power in order to climb away from the ground.
a. Good idea
b. Not so good

9. Imagine this landing scenario: Poor planning, for whatever reason, causes the airplane to overshoot the turn from base leg to final approach less than a half-mile from the runway. You're off centerline, high, and a little fast, with full flaps and gear down. Assuming plenty of fuel, no emergency situation and VFR weather without nearby obstacles such as rising terrain off the runway's departure end, what, in your pilot opinion, is the best option to salvage this approach?
a. Go around.
b. Go around if ATC authorizes.
c. Slip.

10. Regardless how beautiful your airplane is or how well you know its makeup, before you fly you must navigate the tangled web of NOTAMs lest you be smitten by a FAR 91.103, which says in essence, "Thou shalt know all before flight." Cover your left eye and read this NOTAM: "Ailerona IA [IA66]: February NOTAM #99 issued by Fort Dodge IA [FOD] Aerodrome DEER on / INVOF runway…" What does INVOF mean? (You really don't need to cover your eye ...)
a. In and off
b. In vicinity of
c. In vehicle on final
d. In violation of

11. Bonus Survey Question: What's in your fantasy hangar? Time to stand up in your open cockpit (preferably not in flight) and tell the aviation world what you think is the prettiest aircraft ever built and flown. Twin Beech? P-51? Corsair? F-86? B-17? Lockheed Connie? Spitfire? Hawker Hurricane? Cub, Champ, Ercoupe? Single-engine, twin or even helicopter, what aircraft best embodies your notion of the physical poetry of flight? Feel free to share a line about how the fetching beauty in your flying life first caught your eye. Survey results and selected comments will be posted in a future Brainteaser quiz. Results will be argued in pilot lounges for decades.
a. Choose this answer, and then on the results page you'll have the opportunity to tell us about the airplane you consider to be most beautiful.
b. Please don't select this answer, even if you don't intend to write to us about a beautiful airplane. It is here for technical reasons, so that your final quiz score will be accurate.

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.

Return to the AVweb Brainteasers page.

JavaScript Menus and DHTML Menus Powered by Milonic

Interactive Quiz #168:Dreams Are Made Of This

Interactive Quiz #168:
Dreams Are Made Of This