AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2015 - 48

PILOT BRIEFING
TEST PILOT ANSWERS

ASI CHART CHALLENGE |

Enlightening chart symbols
AERONAUTICAL CHARTS include a mind-boggling
array of symbols, some obscure enough to probe.
For example, the blue dot near Camden
Point in the Albemarle Sound (red circle) is a
marine light. These lights are white unless otherwise noted, and "FI" indicates that the light
flashes. The FAA's Aeronautical Chart User's
Guide includes some two dozen marine lights
with different characteristics, including quick,
alternating Morse code; interrupted flashing;
and more. Should you plan a pilgrimage to the
Wright Brothers National Memorial at First Flight Airport (FFA) and approach from the
northwest, you'll know what the white flashing light is all about.
Do you know what the asterisk next to the "L" symbol in Dare County Regional
Airport's information label means? To refresh your memory: You should consult the
FAA's airport/facility directory to determine the airport's runway lighting limitations,
such as part-time and pilot-controlled lighting. Up for a challenge? Take this online quiz
(www.airsafetyinstitute.org/VFRchartquiz).
-Machteld A. Smith

Gibson wins Reno
ROBERT "HOOT" GIBSON won the Unlimited Breitling Gold Race at the FiftySecond Annual National Championship
Air Races in Reno, Nevada, September
20, unseating six-time gold winner Steve
Hinton Jr. Gibson flew the P-51D Mustang Strega and covered the course in a
time of 7:52:54, for a speed of 488.983
mph. Defending champion Hinton, flying
Voodoo-a P-51D Mustang-did not finish the race.
Gibson, 68, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is a former naval aviator, test pilot,
retired NASA astronaut, and professional
pilot who competes regularly at the annual Reno Air Races.
"It ain't over until it's over," he told
the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I didn't know
I had him until I crossed the checkered
flag and until I stopped on the ground
and I heard them say it was a clean race."
Second: Stewart Dawson, Celina,
Texas, flying Rare Bear, a F8F-2 Bearcat;
471.957 mph. Third: Dennis Sanders, Ione,
California, in Dreadnought, a Hawker Sea
Fury T Mk.20; 420.361 mph.
Jet Class First: Pete Zaccagnino, Park
City, Utah, in his de Havilland Vampire,
Vampire; 502.370 mph. Second: Sean
Cushing, Virginia Beach, Virginia, in his
L-39 Albatros, Fast Company; 501.806
mph. Third: Rick Vandam, Reno, flying

48 | AOPA PILOT December 2015

L-39 American Spirit at 492.234 mph.
T-6 Gold Race First: Dennis Buehn, Fallon, Nevada, flying an AT-6, Midnight
Miss III; 238.073 mph. Second: Chris
Rushing, Van Nuys, California, flying
Baron's Revenge; 231.808 mph. Third:
Nick Macy of Tulelake, California, flying
Six Cat; 231.730 mph.
Sport Class First: John Parker, Reno, in
his Thunder Mustang, Blue Thunder II;
403 mph. Second: Lynn Farnsworth, Roswell, Georgia, flying the Lancair Legacy
Miss Karen II; 375.483 mph. Third: Andrew Findlay, Norfolk, Virginia, in his
Legacy One Moment; 356.811 mph.
Biplane Class First: Tom Aberle, Fallbrook, California, in Phantom, a modified
Mong Sport; 245.109 mph. Second: Jake
Steward, Lewisville, Texas, flying his Pitts
S-1S Bad Mojo; 220.447 mph. Third: Jeff
Rose, Carmichael, California, flying a
Mong, Reno Rabbit; 200.220 mph.
Formula One Gold Race First: Steve
Senegal, San Bruno, California, in Endeavor, a David Hoover AR-6; 239.432
mph. Second: Vito Wypraechtiger, Salzburg, Austria, in the Cassutt III-M Scarlet
Screamer; 238.243 mph. Third: Elliot Seguin, Mojave, California, in Wasabi Siren,
a Wasabi Special; 233.087 mph.
Full results from this year 's race are
online (http://reports.airrace.org).

from page 41

1. ADS-C is quite different. It consists
of avionics (not a transponder) that
receive and accept electronic transmissions or "contracts" (hence the C)
from a controlling authority to automatically and autonomously provide
(via satcom) periodic, on-demand,
and conditional position reports-plus
real-time weather and other data-from
over remote (oceanic, mostly) areas.
2. False. A Douglas C-47 (military
variant of the DC-3), however, was
converted into a glider and renamed
the XCG-17. The conversion, however,
occurred too close to the end of the
war to be of value.
3. They are identical to the Boeing
B-29 Superfortress. During World War
II, four of our B-29s made emergency
landings in the Soviet Union. The Soviets used these to reverse-engineer
(copy) the B-29, which resulted in 847
Bulls (a NATO designation).
4. (b) During a normal glide, the glide
ratio (the ratio of forward speed to
vertical speed) remains constant. As
an aircraft descends at a constant
indicated airspeed, its true airspeed decreases. This means that vertical speed
must decrease in the same proportion.
5. The Es and Hs designate which engines drive electrical generators and
which drive hydraulic pumps.
6. Jury struts. Those used to connect
the wings of a biplane are called interplane struts.
7. She was an elevator operator in
the Empire State Building on July 28,
1945, when a B-25 Mitchell bomber
flying in fog crashed into the north
side of the building. The cables of her
elevator car were severed and coiled
at the bottom of the shaft. That, along
with some air compression in the
shaft, cushioned her fall.
8. Minus 5 degrees Celsius (or 23
degrees Fahrenheit), which is the standard temperature for an elevation of
9,927 feet. It is determined by subtracting 2 degrees Celsius per 1,000 feet of
elevation from the standard temperature at sea level of 15 degrees Celsius.
(Interestingly, the density altitude at
Leadville is 13,100 feet when ground
temperature there is only 75 degrees
Fahrenheit.)

http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/VFRchartquiz http://reports.airrace.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2015