Q 01/05

Which First World War fighter does Snoopy imagine flying in Peanuts as he duels the Red Baron?

A) Fokker Dr.I

B) SPAD XIII

C) Sopwith Camel

D) Nieuport 17

Answer · why

C) Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel took its name from a humped metal fairing on its nose that pilots joked about; the name was never official. Snoopy's doghouse stands...

Q 02/05

The Mitsubishi A6M, which entered navy service in 1940, took its 'Zero' nickname from the last digit of what?

A) The imperial year 2600

B) The Shōwa era's 10th year

C) Mitsubishi's design number 10

D) Its Navy contract number

Answer · why

A) The imperial year 2600

The imperial year 2600 fell in 1940, so the Navy's 'Type 0 carrier fighter' label used its final digit; pilots called it the Reisen, or zero fighter. ...

Q 03/05

Which American bomber, in service since 1955, was slated in 2025 to keep flying into the 2050s?

A) B-36 Peacemaker

B) B-2 Spirit

C) B-47 Stratojet

D) B-52 Stratofortress

Answer · why

D) B-52 Stratofortress

The B-52 Stratofortress last left the factory in 1962, so the youngest airframes would be about 90 years old by the 2050s; crews call it the BUFF, for...

Q 04/05

Why were black-and-white 'invasion stripes' painted on Allied aircraft for the Normandy landings in June 1944?

A) To confuse German radar operators

B) To prevent friendly fire

C) To mark squadrons in formation

D) To hide them on grass airfields

Answer · why

B) To prevent friendly fire

To prevent friendly fire: planners feared thousands of aircraft would swamp the electronic friend-or-foe system, and for secrecy the order to paint th...

Q 05/05

Which Grumman fighter, retired by the US Navy in 2006, had a single foreign customer, Iran?

A) F/A-18 Hornet

B) A-6 Intruder

C) F-14 Tomcat

D) F-8 Crusader

Answer · why

C) F-14 Tomcat

The F-14 Tomcat was sold to the Shah's Iran in 1976, three years before the revolution; the new regime then flew its Tomcats in the war with Iraq, dec...