Q 01/05

Which future film star was spotted by an Army photographer while assembling radio-controlled target drones?

A) Marilyn Monroe

B) Elizabeth Taylor

C) Rita Hayworth

D) Lauren Bacall

Answer · why

A) Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was Norma Jeane Dougherty, a Radioplane assembly-line worker, when the pictures led to modelling work and a screen test.

Q 02/05

Which inventor steered a small radio-controlled boat at Madison Square Garden in 1898, long before RC planes existed?

A) Guglielmo Marconi

B) Thomas Edison

C) Nikola Tesla

D) Alexander Graham Bell

Answer · why

C) Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla hoped to sell the idea to the US government as a torpedo, and his patent included a frequency changer so that an enemy could not take con...

Q 03/05

Which radio-controlled British target plane, a pilotless Tiger Moth, is said to have inspired the word drone?

A) Queen Wasp

B) Queen Bee

C) Queen Martinet

D) Fairey Queen

Answer · why

B) Queen Bee

Queen Bee targets trained anti-aircraft gunners from 1935. A drone is a male bee, which makes a single flight in search of a queen.

Q 04/05

In 2003 the model plane TAM-5 left Newfoundland and became the first to fly the Atlantic, landing in which country?

A) Portugal

B) Iceland

C) France

D) Ireland

Answer · why

D) Ireland

Ireland's Mannin Beach, near Clifden, was the finish line after almost 39 hours aloft. The model landed with under two fluid ounces of fuel left.

Q 05/05

Which Olympic throwing event gives its name to the spinning wingtip launch used to fling small RC gliders skyward?

A) Discus

B) Javelin

C) Hammer

D) Shot put

Answer · why

A) Discus

Discus launching has the flier grip one wingtip and spin round before letting go, which is easier and more efficient than the older overarm javelin-st...