Are you a frequent flyer? You may enjoy this short quiz on Airliners and other civil aircraft

1. Shirley you’re Joking!
A Quiz on Airplanes
(CONDUCTED ON 14 MAY 2020 FOR THE VIT QUIZ SOCIETY)
KUNAL SAWARDEKAR

2. Question 1
This Boeing product was scheduled to have a press launch and world
premiere on 8 July 2007 in Everett, WA and was supposed to have its
first flight a couple of months later. However, due to development
delays, it was nowhere near done, and flight tests only began in
December 2009. However, Boeing felt that they could not abandon
the launch date in July 2007, and ended up launching the aircraft
anyway - with the empty shell of the aircraft being displayed to
journalists. Which aircraft is this?

3. Answer 1
787 Dreamliner (8 July 2007 is written as 7-8-07 in the US)

4. Question 2
This company began with a turboprop corporate aircraft called X,
designed and built by Grumman Aviation (makers of the iconic F14
Tomcat). Grumman followed this up with a corporate jet called X II. In
1967, Grumman built a new facility in Savannah in an effort to split its
military and civilian aircraft manufacturing. The Savannah factory soon
split into a new company, taking the name X after the two models of
corporate aircraft built by Grumman, and has since become the byword
for luxurious business jets. What is the name of the company?

5. Answer 2
Gulfstream

6. Question 3
This aircraft (model number 228) is a short take off and landing
(STOL) utility transport in service since 1982. As of 2017, 63 of these
remain in service with airlines and charter operators, including
Jagson Airlines in India. Since 1983, HAL has built 125 so far under
license for the IAF, Navy and Coast Guard. In Indian service, the
aircraft are most likely to be known by the name of the company
which designed them. What is the name of the original designing
company? (Visual Clue on Next Slide)

7. Question 3

8. Answer 3
Dornier (the aircraft is the Do-228)

9. Question 4
The Falcon is a line of business jets built since 1965, and is famous for its
unique (for business jets) configuration of having 3 aft-mounted engines
(9 of 10 models produced so far are tri-jets, with only the Falcon 2000
being a twin-jet). The company that manufactures the Falcon line is
mainly known for its military products (in fact the company name itself is
its founder’s adopted surname, which comes from the word for Tank), and
the Falcon is pretty much the company’s only civilian product. What
company? (Visual Clue on Next Slide)

10. Question 4

11. Answer 4
Dassault Aviation (Marcel Bloch, the founder, changed his last name
to Marcel Dassault after Char D’assault - which is the French for battle
battle tank and the code name that his brother used in World War II)

12. Question 5
This company was formed in 1981 as a joint venture between
Aerospatiale and Aeritalia (now Airbus and Leonardo). It is focussed
on building turboprop aircraft for regional airlines, and the
company’s name is an abbreviation of the French and Italians
phrases for Regional Transport Airplanes. It produces two main
model families, the 42 and the 72. The 72 is in service with several
Indian airlines, and Indigo and Alliance Air are among the type’s
major operators. What company? (Visual Clue on Next Slide)

13. Question 5

14. Answer 5
ATR (stands for Aerei da Trasporto Regionale in Italian and Avions de
transport régiona in French)

15. Question 6
The F-27 Friendship was a popular turboprop airliner from the 1950 that
saw service in several of the short-lived Indian airline operators of the
1990s such as East-West Airlines, NEPC Airlines and Elbee Airlines, along
with established operators like Indian Airlines. The aircraft was
manufactured by a company named after its eponymous founder who
designed several World War I German fighters. Which company (famous
for alliterative model names post WW2) manufactured the F-27
Friendship? (Visual Clue on Next Slide)

16. Question 6

17. Answer 6
Fokker

18. Question 7
The HFB Hansajet was a business jet manufactured by Hamburg
Flugzeugbau between 1964 and 1973. Designed as a competitor to
the Learjet 23, its most striking design feature is a solution to the
problem of the wing spar (the main structural member of the wing
that passes through the fuselage) taking up space in the main cabin.
What is this striking design feature in the HFB Hansajet, which makes
the Hansajet unique among jet aircraft that reached series
production?

19. Answer 7
It has forward-swept wings

20. Question 8
The Douglas DC-9 was a popular small airliner built by Douglas Aircraft
Company (later McDonnell Douglas) from 1965 to 1982. McDonnell
Douglas later built an upgraded version of the DC-9 called the MD-80 in
the ‘80s and early ‘90s. In 1997, McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing,
and the new company continued development of a further upgraded
model. While this new model was initially developed under the model
name MD-95, Boeing decided to use its own branding, and the model was
given a name that seemingly plugged a gap within the names of Boeing’s
own product line. What was the name given to this aircraft by Boeing?
(Visual Clue on Next Slide)

21. Question 8

22. Answer 8
Boeing 717 (Since while Boeing had a model 707 and models 727
through 777 in service or on sale at the time, there had never been a
model 717 available to customers)

23. Question 9
Professor Natesan Srinivasan was an aeronautical engineer and professor in
India in the 1950s and ‘60s. In 1953, when he was working at HAL, he was the
main technical expert in an accident inquiry formed by the Indian government
for the fatal crash of a British airliner in Calcutta. Srinivasan’s conclusions led to
two major design changes in the concerned aircraft - installation of weather
radar and a system to give the pilot feedback from the position of the control
surfaces. Although Srinivasan’s review did not suggest metal fatigue as a
contributor to the crash, the aircraft suffered several subsequent crashes due to
metal fatigue and was majorly redesigned as a result. What pioneering aircraft?
(Visual Clue on Next Slide)

24. Question 9

25. Answer 9
De Havilland Comet
(Since this was the first jet airliner, previously unknown problems
with metal fatigue around the large square windows caused several
high-profile crashes. While the problem was identified and the
aircraft significantly redesigned to eliminate the metal fatigue issues,
the aircraft’s sales suffered greatly)

26. Question 10
Since the supersonic Concorde was withdrawn from service in the
2000s, all airliners in service are subsonic. The current record holder
for the fastest airliner in service is capable of an FAA certified top
speed of Mach 0.92. This would be surprising to some, considering
that the aircraft in question is a variant of an aircraft type that held
another record until 2007. Which aircraft (specific variant not
required, type is fine).

27. Answer 10
Boeing 747-8i