Quiz - ‘Aviation Pioneers’

Quiz-Time

Topic : ‘Aviation Pioneers’

On 16^th April, 1867, a son was born to Milton Wright and his wife Susan. They named him after a prominent American Methodist minister, educator and theologian - Wilbur Fisk.

Wilbur Wright and his brother, Orville, are credited with inventing, building, and flying the world’s first successful airplane. To celebrate Wilbur’s birthday, here is a small quiz on Aviation Pioneers.  

1.         Born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892, she created history at the age of 30 when soared across the sky as the first African American woman pilot. One of 13 children of Susan, a maid, and George, a sharecropper, her life story was an inspiring one. Known as ‘The Only Race Aviatrix in the World’, her life ended with a tragic plane crash.

 *  Who was this mercurial lady?

Ans. – Bessie Coleman (In 1931, the Challenger Pilots’ Association of Chicago started a tradition of flying over Coleman’s grave every year.)

2.         In 1912 a competition was devised with the intention to encourage technical advances in aviation industry but it ultimately became a contest for pure speed. Over its short history (it was only held 11 times), the contests were staged as time trials, with aircraft setting off individually at set intervals, usually 15 minutes apart.

 * Which competition, reinstated in 1981 under a revised format and using a replica trophy, was it?

Ans. – Schneider Cup (It is frequently referred to in the 1992 animated film ‘Porco Rosso’, even to the extent of director Hayao Miyazaki's naming the film's antagonist Donald Curtiss, a reference to American aircraft designers - Glenn Curtiss and Donald Douglas.)

3.         On June 17, 1928, X departed from Newfoundland with pilots Wilmer ‘Bill’ Stultz and Louis E. ‘Slim’ Gordon. As X had no experience in using plane instruments, X was given the task of keeping the flight log. When the team landed in Wales 21 hours later, X created a record that was just one of many. The occasion brought X a hero’s welcome at home and a visit to the White House.

* Who was X? Which record did X make on that occasion?

Ans. – Amelia Earhart (X) became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

4.         An ornithopter (literally meaning ‘bird wing’) is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Since time immemorial, engineers sought to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats and other insects.

* Whose ornithopter design was this?

Ans. – Leonardo da Vinci

5.         A distant cousin of the mathematician Arthur Cayley, this English engineer was a founding member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He greatly contributed in different things which included self-righting lifeboats, tension-spoke wheels, automatic signals for railway crossings, seat belts, small scale helicopters, and a kind of prototypical internal combustion engine fuelled by gunpowder.

He also designed the first glider that had the layout of a modern aircraft, with a kite-shaped wing towards the front and an adjustable tailplane at the back.  In 1804, it was flown for the very first time.

 

* What was his name?

Ans. – George Cayley

Audience Question

Q.        Gossamer _______ is a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Dr. Paul B. MacCready’s company AeroVironment. On June 12, 1979, it completed a successful crossing of the English Channel. Piloted by Bryan Allen, the aircraft completed the 22 mile crossing in 2 hours 49 minutes achieving a top speed of just 18 mph and an average height of less than 6 feet.

* Considering the wingspan of that aircraft, what word would very appropriately fill the blank in it’s name?

Please send me your answers quickly. Next Saturday, I will share another short set of questions on another topic. Your suggestions are always welcome.

Happy quizzing!!!!