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Multidisciplinary
Design, Analysis, and
Optimization Branch
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EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES: THE NASA AEROQUIZ
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Week of 5/4/98:
Q:
There is a place in the American desert southwest. From all over the
world, an interesting breed of people go there. They scramble to the high
ground, carrying with them binoculars and cameras with long telephoto lenses.
They evade the tight security and ignore the scorching heat, because they know
that if they get that once-in-a-lifetime candid spy photograph, any number of
magazines will pay them handsomely for it. No, they're not after a picture of
the latest rumored Mach seven spyplane harbored at Nevada's Nellis Air Force
Base, nor the supposed alien spacecraft kept at the so-called "Area 51."
They want a picture of something equally exciting, but much more down-to-Earth.
What is it?
A:
Many automobile manufacturers test their cars in the heat of the desert.
Photojournalists go there, hoping to get pictures of new models. The most
attention in years occurred recently at General Motors' Desert Proving Grounds
near Phoenix in 1996, where Chevy's new fifth-generation Corvette was
undergoing high-temperature durability tests prior to its 1997 debut.
No one got the correct answer!
- The Aeroquiz Editor
Week of 5/11/98:
The first of three questions regarding Air Force One!
Q:
Perhaps not surprisingly, the indomitable Teddy Roosevelt was the
first U.S. president to fly in an airplane, albeit not while serving in
office. Years later, transportation by air would forever change the face
of the presidency. Who was the first U.S. president to fly while in office?
A:
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Congratulations to Dale Martin.
Week of 5/18/98:
The second of three questions regarding Air Force One!
Q:
Normally, air traffic control uses an airplane's tail number or flight
number as their radio call sign for in-flight identification. This convention
was naturally used in the early days of transporting U.S. presidents by air.
Now, however, any Air Force plane that carries the president assumes the radio
call sign "Air Force One." What event took place for this to happen?
A:
A problem caused by the confusion of an air traffic controller over which
airplane was carrying then President Eisenhower prompted the switch of
the call name of any Air Force plane transporting the Chief Executive to
"Air Force One."
Congratulations to Anthony Lee.
When President Dwight Eisenhower was flying in the presidential Lockheed
C-121 Constellation (with the tail number/radio call sign "Air Force 8610"),
air traffic control alarmingly confused Ike's plane with Eastern Flight 610.
- The Aeroquiz Editor.
Week of 5/25/98:
The third of three questions regarding Air Force One!
Q:
As soon as a U.S. president boards any Air Force airplane, the plane
assumes the radio call sign "Air Force One." At other times, the call sign
reverts back to the plane's tail number. What was the only time that the
radio call sign changed from "Air Force One" back to its tail number while
the plane was in flight?
A:
When Gerald Ford was sworn in.
Congratulations to Tom Lavelle.
At 12:08 PM, August 9, 1974, not long after giving his farewell speech
to his staff and supporters, Richard Nixon was aboard Air Force One while
Gerald Ford was sworn in to the presidency. "Air Force One" then became
"Air Force 27000."
- The Aeroquiz Editor.
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