AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2023 - 45

Test Pilot /
BY BARRY SCHIFF
1 From reader John Schmidt: What was the world's first fourengine
airplane?
hangar, the dreaded little voice continued, and this
time I pretty much knew what was coming: Listen
up, flyboy, push that master switch to off and pull the
mixture. Pack it in, mister, it's about time.
Five minutes later when closing the hangar door
for what sadly turned out to be the very last time, I
realized I had just experienced that " Bob Hoover "
moment; that moment of truth. Tough decision for
sure, but once made, it was final and absolutely the
right thing to do.
Clint Eastwood famously said in one of his Dirty
Harry adventures: " A man's got to know his limitations. "
And my personal treatise that I conjured
some years ago: " A cowboy should endeavor to leave
his last gunfight standing up. " And so, with all due
respect to a few who say losing a little gray matter to
old age is no reason to quit flying, for me, it's reason
enough, and I did pack it in with very few regrets.
I have never dented either of my silver birds, nor
any of my passengers, although I did send a fairly
large raptor to bird heaven one windy Saturday in
Fairbanks, Alaska.
Although I am now without a silver bird, I
remain a pilot with appropriate knowledge and
skills. I will visit my airport friends and will likely
fly again because of a younger friend who has offered
the right seat for occasional flying club outings. True,
just as a passenger, but still, I think it will satisfy. Sad?
Maybe, but I find there exists a bright side, a small
reward for simply making it through a few hundred
hours aviating the heavens and returning to Earth
unharmed. With three fingers of Glenfiddich and just
two small ice cubes, I have magically morphed from
an active pilot to now a " pilot Emeritus, " a " philosopher
of flight " with a sage-like base of experience
and knowledge that will likely grow as I further age.
Aviation opened the third and final dimension of
spatial freedom that until the past hundred years or
so was known only to our feathered friends. I guess
that's about it. I guess that's why flying small airplanes
in the clear heavens above was so precious
and leaves such profound memories. So, thanks
again to the gods of flight for all the wonderful hours
in the sky, it has been fun. Wayne Pinger flew in
Alaska for 24 years and is the author of Angel's Alaska
trilogy. waynepinger@gmail.com
2 Match each of the famous aircraft with the most
appropriate clue:
1. Columbine
2. Enola Gay
A. Brrr!
B. Democrat
3. Glamorous Glennis
4. Hindenburg
5. Independence
6. Josephine Ford
7. Memphis Belle
8. Spirit of St. Louis
9. Vin Fiz
10. Winnie Mae
3 From reader Larry Bothe:
True or false? NASA's
Ingenuity, a small robotic
helicopter operating on
Mars, is the first manmade
aircraft to fly on a planet
other than Earth.
4 What is a Cooper switch?
5 From reader George
Shanks: What is the world's
smallest production threeengine
airplane?
6 True or false? The throttles on British aircraft before World
War II operated backward (i.e., pushing them forward reduced
power, and vice versa).
7 The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) operated
from 1939 to 1946. What was its purpose, and what did it
accomplish?
8 Until the late 1940s, U.S.-registered aircraft had
registration numbers prefixed by NC-, NX-, NR-, and NS-.
What did each of these prefixes indicate?
Answers on page 54.
C. His employer's daughter
D. His mother
E. His wife
F. Nineteen crashes en route
G. Republican
H. Ryan
I. 25
J. Lakehurst, New Jersey
AOPA PILOT / January 2023
45
JOHN UELAND
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2023

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