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 Japanese 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, first flown in April 1952, 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 entered service in 1955 and will be almost a century old when it finally retires, a span no other aircraft has matched. Crews ...

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 for formation flying

D) To hide them on grass airfields

Answer · why

B) To prevent friendly fire

To prevent friendly fire, every aircraft over the beaches wore alternating black and white bands on wings and fuselage, so jumpy gunners on ships and ...

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, and Iranian examples were still airworthy decades after the last American one landed aboard USS T...