The Aviation Knowledge Test: Could you survive the first day of Flight School?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Front Of A Plane?

Question 1

What Color Are Most Airport Runways Marked With?

Question 1

What Does A Pilot Mean By Saying Mayday?

Question 1

What Is The Invisible Path A Plane Flies Called?

Question 1

Which Famous Brothers Made The First Successful Airplane Flight?

Question 1

What Does A Pilot Do When They Taxi?

Question 1

What Is The Black Box On A Plane Actually Used For?

Question 1

How Many Engines Does A Typical Commercial Airliner Have?

Question 1

What Does ATC Stand For In Aviation?

Question 1

What Is The Word Pilots Use Instead Of Saying The Letter A?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Seating Area For Passengers?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Very First Class Seat Section?

Question 1

What Does A Pilot Call The Speed Needed To Lift Off?

Question 1

What Is The Tall Structure At Airports That Guides Planes?

Question 1

Which Control Surfaces Rise From The Wings To Slow A Plane Down On Landing?

Question 1

What Is The Word For The Thin White Line A Plane Leaves Behind?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Pilot Who Sits In The Right Seat?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Area Where Planes Park At The Airport?

Question 1

How High Do Most Commercial Planes Typically Cruise?

Question 1

What Is The Name For The Fear Of Flying?

Question 1

Pilots Measure Airspeed In Knots — But How Far Is One Knot Per Hour?

Question 1

What Is The Name For The Co-Pilot's Checklist Read Before Every Flight?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Force That Lifts A Plane Into The Air?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call It When A Plane Lands Perfectly Smooth?

Question 1

What Is The Word For The Pilot In Overall Command Of The Flight?

Question 1

How Many Degrees Does A Full Turn In Aviation Equal?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Instrument That Shows A Plane's Altitude?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Runway Lights That Guide Them At Night?

Question 1

What Is The Aviation Word For A Sudden Dangerous Drop In Air?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Very Last Radio Call A Pilot Makes Before Landing?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Two Main Wings On A Plane?

Question 1

What Is The Name For The Pilot's Steering Wheel In A Cockpit?

Question 1

What Color Is The Right Side Navigation Light On A Plane?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Back Tail Section Of A Plane?

Question 1

What Is The Word For The Long Main Body Of An Airplane?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Instrument That Shows Their Airspeed?

Question 1

What Is The Pilot Word For The International Radio Language Used Worldwide?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Moment A Plane Leaves The Ground?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Pedals Pilots Use To Steer On The Ground?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Automatic System That Flies The Plane For Them?

Question 1

What Is The Instrument Pilots Use To Stay Level In Clouds?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Invisible Boundary Between Two Air Masses?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Force That Pushes A Plane Forward?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call It When A Plane Stalls In The Air?

Question 1

What Is The Special Word For A Pilot's Official License?

Question 1

What Color Is The Left Side Navigation Light On A Plane?

Question 1

What Is The Name For The Minimum Safe Flying Height Over Cities?

Question 1

On The Radio Pilots Say This Single Word To Mean Yes — Not Roger

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Map Pilots Use To Navigate The Sky?

Question 1

What Is The Word For Flying A Plane Using Only Your Instruments?

Question 1

Before Takeoff Pilots Check The ATIS Broadcast — What Information Does It Provide?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Invisible Spinning Air Left Behind A Plane?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Checklist Pilots Complete After Landing?

Question 1

What Is The Word For The Safe Zone Around Each Flying Plane?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Special Fuel Most Small Planes Use?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Moment They Hand Control To Another Pilot?

Question 1

What Is The Name For The Angle Of A Plane's Nose Pointing Upward?

Question 1

What Is The Word For A Pilot Who Flies Without Any Passengers Or Cargo?

Question 1

What Is The Name Of The Line On A Map That Shows Equal Altitude?

Question 1

What Do Pilots Call The Official Record Of Every Flight They Have Flown?

1

The Tip

2

The Bow

3

The Nose

4

The Cap

Every aircraft part has a nautical-inspired name because early aviation borrowed heavily from sailing traditions.

1

Orange And Black

2

Red And White

3

Blue And White

4

White And Yellow

Yellow marks taxiways while white markings guide pilots directly onto the landing runway itself.

1

Fuel Running Low

2

Weather Warning Issued

3

Landing Clearance Granted

4

Emergency Distress Call

Mayday comes from the French word m'aider meaning help me and is always repeated three times.

1

Flight Path

2

Wind Track

3

Sky Lane

4

Air Road

Air traffic controllers assign specific flight paths to keep thousands of planes safely separated every single day.

1

The Wright Brothers

2

The Bell Brothers

3

The Edison Brothers

4

The Ford Brothers

Orville and Wilbur Wright flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903 and their first flight lasted only 12 seconds.

1

Signal The Tower

2

Climb To Altitude

3

Reduce Engine Power

4

Drive On The Ground

Planes taxi to and from runways just like cars on a road but follow strict painted lines and tower instructions.

1

Tracking Weather Patterns

2

Powering Navigation Lights

3

Storing Emergency Gear

4

Recording Flight Data

Despite the nickname black boxes are actually bright orange so investigators can find them easily after a crash.

1

Three

2

Four

3

Two

4

One

Most modern passenger jets like the Boeing 737 use just two engines because they are now incredibly reliable.

1

Aircraft Technical Crew

2

Air Traffic Control

3

Airway Transit Clearance

4

Altitude Tracking Center

Air traffic controllers guide hundreds of flights simultaneously and go through years of intense specialized training.

1

Arrow

2

Anchor

3

Alpha

4

Apex

The NATO phonetic alphabet was created in the 1950s so radio static could never cause a dangerous misunderstanding.

1

The Hold

2

The Deck

3

The Bay

4

The Cabin

Early passenger planes were designed like ship cabins giving aviation that nautical borrowed word.

1

Premier Class

2

First Class

3

Upper Class

4

Gold Class

First class seating on planes was inspired by luxury Pullman train cars from the early 1900s.

1

Climb Speed

2

Cruise Speed

3

Approach Speed

4

Rotation Speed

Pilots call liftoff moment rotation because the nose literally rotates upward off the runway.

1

Radar Station

2

Ground Post

3

Signal Beacon

4

Control Tower

The world's first airport control tower opened in Cleveland Ohio back in 1930.

1

Ailerons

2

Spoilers

3

Flaps

4

Elevators

Spoilers literally spoil the lift under the wings which is exactly how they slow a plane down.

1

Vapor Stream

2

Cloud Trail

3

Contrail

4

Jet Streak

Contrail is short for condensation trail and forms when hot engine exhaust meets freezing cold air.

1

Second Captain

2

Relief Pilot

3

Co-Captain

4

First Officer

The first officer is fully qualified to fly the plane and often takes control during long haul flights.

1

The Hangar

2

The Terminal

3

The Pad

4

The Apron

Early airports paved their parking areas with apron-shaped concrete slabs and the name stuck forever.

1

50000 Feet

2

15000 Feet

3

20000 Feet

4

35000 Feet

At 35000 feet the air is thin enough to reduce drag but thick enough to keep engines running efficiently.

1

Claustrophobia

2

Aviophobia

3

Agoraphobia

4

Acrophobia

About 25 million Americans have aviophobia making it one of the most common fears in the country.

1

One Nautical Mile

2

One Statute Mile

3

One Kilometer

4

One League

Knots come from sailors who measured speed by counting knotted ropes trailing behind their ships.

1

Flight Log

2

Pre-Flight Checklist

3

Departure Sheet

4

Safety Rundown

Checklists became standard after a 1935 Boeing crash killed a pilot who forgot a simple step.

1

Thrust

2

Lift

3

Drag

4

Torque

Lift is created by air moving faster over the curved top of a wing than underneath it.

1

Silk Landing

2

Butter Down

3

Greaser

4

Soft Touch

Pilots have used the term greaser for decades because a perfect landing feels slick as grease.

1

Captain

2

Chief Pilot

3

Flight Director

4

Commander

By law a captain has final authority over every person and decision aboard the aircraft.

1

270 Degrees

2

360 Degrees

3

400 Degrees

4

180 Degrees

Pilots use a 360-degree compass rose to navigate and every heading is measured in degrees.

1

Altimeter

2

Gyroscope

3

Variometer

4

Airspeed Indicator

An altimeter works by measuring air pressure which drops predictably the higher you climb.

1

Approach Lights

2

Runway Torches

3

Ground Strobes

4

Landing Beacons

Approach light systems can stretch up to 3000 feet before the runway to guide pilots in darkness.

1

Air Pocket

2

Wind Shear

3

Downdraft

4

Turbulence

Turbulence is caused by invisible air currents and is almost never dangerous to a modern aircraft.

1

Landing Clearance

2

Final Approach

3

Runway Check-In

4

Touchdown Call

Announcing final approach tells air traffic control the pilot is lined up and committed to landing.

1

Stabilizers

2

Airfoils

3

Fuselage Panels

4

Ailerons

Wings are technically called airfoils because their curved shape forces air to create lift.

1

The Trim Wheel

2

The Throttle

3

The Rudder

4

The Yoke

Many modern jets now replace the traditional yoke with a small joystick called a sidestick.

1

Blue

2

Red

3

White

4

Green

Green on the right and red on the left help pilots know which direction another plane is heading.

1

The Empennage

2

The Fairing

3

The Fuselage

4

The Nacelle

Empennage comes from a French word for arrow feathers because it steers the plane just like feathers guide an arrow.

1

The Fuselage

2

The Cowling

3

The Nacelle

4

The Empennage

Fuselage comes from the French word for spindle and the tube shape was inspired by early dirigible balloons.

1

Airspeed Indicator

2

Vertical Speed Indicator

3

Heading Indicator

4

Attitude Indicator

Airspeed is measured in knots not miles per hour and one knot equals about 1.15 miles per hour.

1

Tower Speak

2

Flight Standard

3

Aviation English

4

Radio Protocol

Since 2008 all international pilots must prove English proficiency because it became the official global aviation language.

1

Departure

2

Liftoff

3

Climb Out

4

Initial Ascent

NASA made liftoff famous worldwide when mission controllers used it for every rocket launch starting in the 1960s.

1

Trim Pedals

2

Brake Pedals

3

Throttle Pedals

4

Rudder Pedals

Rudder pedals also control the vertical tail fin in the air helping the plane turn smoothly left or right.

1

Navigation Mode

2

Auto Throttle

3

Autopilot

4

Flight Director

Sperry Corporation invented the first working autopilot in 1912 just nine years after the Wright Brothers first flew.

1

Turn Coordinator

2

Attitude Indicator

3

Airspeed Indicator

4

Altimeter

Without seeing the horizon pilots can become dangerously disoriented in just 20 seconds inside clouds.

1

A Sector

2

A Ceiling

3

A Front

4

A Layer

Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts and are responsible for most sudden stormy weather changes.

1

Thrust

2

Lift

3

Drag

4

Weight

Aviation's four forces are thrust lift drag and weight and every flight is a constant balancing act between them.

1

Gear Collapse

2

Loss Of Lift

3

Engine Failure

4

Fuel Cutoff

A stall has nothing to do with the engine — it means the wings stop producing enough lift to fly.

1

Permit

2

Endorsement

3

Certificate

4

License

The FAA officially calls it a certificate not a license and pilots carry it every single time they fly.

1

Blue

2

Yellow

3

White

4

Red

Red on the left and green on the right helps other pilots instantly know which direction a plane is heading.

1

Transition Level

2

Minimum Altitude

3

Service Ceiling

4

Cruise Altitude

FAA rules require pilots to fly at least 1000 feet above the highest obstacle over crowded urban areas.

1

Affirm

2

Wilco

3

Roger

4

Confirm

Roger only means message received while Affirm specifically means yes in official aviation radio language.

1

Flight Diagram

2

Sectional Chart

3

Road Atlas

4

Weather Map

Sectional charts look like colorful puzzles and are packed with information about airspace terrain and airports.

1

IFR Flying

2

VFR Flying

3

Manual Flying

4

Solo Flying

IFR stands for Instrument Flight Rules and pilots need a separate rating beyond their basic license to do it.

1

Runway Closure Alerts

2

Fuel Price Updates

3

Current Airport Weather

4

Passenger Load Data

ATIS stands for Automatic Terminal Information Service and updates every hour with fresh weather conditions.

1

Jet Wash

2

Slip Stream

3

Wake Turbulence

4

Prop Blast

Wake turbulence from a jumbo jet is powerful enough to flip a small plane flying too closely behind it.

1

Shutdown Checklist

2

Arrival Form

3

Post Log

4

Landing Report

Pilots use printed or digital checklists after every single landing to make sure nothing important gets skipped.

1

Buffer Zone

2

Safe Radius

3

Clear Space

4

Separation

Air traffic controllers are trained to maintain precise separation distances between every plane in the sky.

1

Diesel Blend

2

Avgas

3

Jet Fuel

4

Kerosene Mix

Avgas still contains lead which was banned from car fuel in the 1970s making it unique among modern fuels.

1

Transfer

2

Relief Call

3

Handoff

4

Switch Over

Pilots say the words 'you have control' and the other pilot must repeat it back before a handoff is official.

1

Lift Angle

2

Nose Climb

3

Rise Degree

4

Pitch Up

Too much pitch up at low speed causes a stall which is why takeoff angles are carefully calculated every flight.

1

Dead Head

2

Solo Pilot

3

Ferry Pilot

4

Test Pilot

Ferry pilots often fly brand-new planes across oceans from the factory directly to the airline that bought them.

1

Height Ring

2

Level Band

3

Altitude Mark

4

Contour Line

Pilots reading contour lines that are packed tightly together know there is a very steep mountain ahead.

1

Hour Sheet

2

Logbook

3

Flight Record

4

Pilot Journal

Amelia Earhart's original logbooks still exist today and are considered priceless pieces of aviation history.

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