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Week of 7/7/97:
Q:
During World War I, U.S. airman Frank Luke, Jr., shot down
fourteen hydrogen-filled Hun observation balloons with his Spad
XIII. What was it about his weaponry that ignited the hydrogen?
A:
Luke's machine guns had incendiary tracer bullets.
Congratulations to Dan Shedd.
During a period spanning only seventeen days, Luke shot down fourteen
heavily-guarded balloons and four aircraft, earning him the nickname
"Arizona Balloon Buster." On September 29, 1918, he was shot down and
killed after downing four balloons. Luke was the first aviator to be
awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
- The Aeroquiz Editor
Week of 7/14/97:
Q:
One way to give rockets a little extra "push" on their way to orbit
is to take advantage of the Earth's rotation and launch them to the east from
a point as close to the equator as is practically possible.
Another launching concern is to have spent stages fall harmlessly into an
uninhabited area, like an ocean. These are two reasons why NASA launches
rockets from the eastern coast of Florida. The Air Force, however, often
launch their satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, located on
the California coast. Why?
A:
Because the military usually prefers near-polar orbits to get full observational
coverage of the Earth, and such orbits require launching north or south over
ocean (or uninhabited land) which Vandenburg satisfies.
Congratulations to Bill Strack.
Week of 7/21/97:
Q:
"We're at 27,000 feet," said the pilot of the commercial airliner.
"The temperature outside is minus forty degrees."
"What kind of degrees?"
asked the copilot, without thinking it through. "Fahrenheit, Celsius,
Rankine, or Kelvin? What do you mean?"
"What do you mean, 'what do I mean'?"
replied the pilot. What does he mean?
A:
Since the temperature is less than zero, he couldn't mean Rankine or
Kelvin, which are absolute temperature scales - the minimum for both
is defined as zero. And minus forty degrees
is the temperature at which the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales coincide.
Congratulations to Dan Shedd.
27,600 ft is the International Standard Atmosphere altitude where
the static temperature is -40.
- The Aeroquiz Editor
Week of 7/28/97:
Q:
In U.S. military aircraft parlance, the letter "F" designates "fighter"
aircraft, "B" is for "bomber," "A" is for "attack," etc.
Lesser known is the "U" designation. What does it stand for?
A:
It stands for "Utility."
Congratulations to Dan Shedd.
Lockheed's famous high-altitude spy plane was
given the name "U-2" to be intentionally ambiguous.
- The Aeroquiz Editor
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