Aviation Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
Print the sheet (or save it as a PDF from the print window), hand it out, then mark it together using the answer page: every answer is explained. Perfect for a party, a birthday, a classroom, a care home or a team activity.
Name: ………………………………Score: ……… / 20
- What was Jean Mermoz's destination when he disappeared?
- A. Dakar
- B. Natal
- C. Toulouse
- D. Saint Louis
- What is the purpose of flying aircraft in formation like migratory birds?
- A. Safer for the pilots
- B. To free up space in the sky
- C. So as not to lose aircraft
- D. To save fuel
- What is the main advantage of digitizing in-flight magazines?
- A. It avoids getting your hands dirty
- B. It reduces the flight's weight and saves fuel
- C. It optimizes tablet use
- D. It prevents the spread of disease
- Why do aircraft leave contrails?
- A. Pure pollution
- B. Engine smoke
- C. Heat
- D. Condensation
- Which solar-powered aircraft completed the first round-the-world flight without a single drop of fuel in 2016?
- A. SolarStratos
- B. Sunseeker Duo
- C. Solar Impulse 2
- D. Airbus E-Fan
- Which experimental aircraft was rocket-powered to reach the edge of space?
- A. X-15
- B. Soyuz
- C. XB-70
- D. Space Shuttle
- Which Russian aircraft resembled Concorde but was faster?
- A. Il-62
- B. Tu-144
- C. Su-27
- D. MiG-29
- Which German jet bomber with forward-swept wings first flew in 1944, before being tested by the USSR after the war?
- A. Tupolev Tu-4
- B. Sukhoi Su-47
- C. Junkers Ju 287
- D. Ilyushin Il-22
- What unusual, historic instrument did Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" use to see ahead, given that its cockpit had no forward windshield?
- A. It had nothing and he looked out the side windows
- B. A periscope
- C. A primitive video camera
- D. A set of external mirrors
- What was the most unusual aerodynamic feature of the French Sud-Ouest "Trident" interceptor of the 1950s?
- A. Its wings were entirely round
- B. The cockpit detached to serve as an emergency parachute
- C. It had no vertical tail fin
- D. It had its turbojets mounted on tiny wingtips and a rocket motor in the fuselage
- Who was the first to cross the English Channel by plane, in 1909?
- A. Gabriel Voisin
- B. Henri Farman
- C. Louis Blériot
- D. Alberto Santos-Dumont
- In which year did the first-ever round-the-world flight take place?
- A. 1924
- B. 1957
- C. 1933
- D. 1947
- What is the 'ILS' system used by pilots during landing for?
- A. detecting wing icing
- B. guiding the aircraft to the runway in poor visibility
- C. communicating with the control tower
- D. measuring wind speed at altitude
- Which German WWI triplane was made famous by the flying ace known as the 'Red Baron'?
- A. the SPAD S.XIII
- B. the Fokker Dr.I
- C. the Sopwith Camel
- D. the Nieuport 17
- What are the upward-curved wingtips, now common on modern aircraft to reduce drag, called?
- A. spoilers
- B. flaps
- C. ailerons
- D. winglets
- Which French engineer got the 'Éole' off the ground in 1890 and coined the word 'avion' (aeroplane in French)?
- A. Clément Ader
- B. Gustave Eiffel
- C. Alberto Santos-Dumont
- D. Henri Fabre
- What does the number '27' painted at the end of an airport runway represent?
- A. The runway length in hundreds of metres
- B. The magnetic heading of the runway, about 270°
- C. The runway's sequence number
- D. The runway gradient
- Which Airbus cargo plane, with a bulging fuselage resembling a white whale, carries aircraft parts between European factories?
- A. The Dreamlifter
- B. The Super Guppy
- C. The Beluga
- D. The Antonov An-124
- In which direction does the lift that keeps an aircraft airborne act?
- A. Always exactly vertical, whatever the attitude
- B. Perpendicular to the relative wind
- C. Parallel to the flight path, forwards
- D. Downwards, pressing the aircraft onto the air
- What is a VOR beacon used for?
- A. To measure wind speed at altitude
- B. To light the runway at night
- C. To show which radial, and therefore which direction, the aircraft is on relative to the station
- D. To broadcast boarding music
Answer key — Aviation Quiz
- B. NatalJean Mermoz disappeared aboard the four-engine Latécoère 300 flying boat, the Croix-du-Sud, on December 7, 1936, along with co-pilot Alexandre Pichodou, navigator Henri Ézan, radio operator Edgar Cruveilher, and mechanic Jean…
- D. To save fuelThe wake of an aircraft creates a draft for the one following it, allowing it to save fuel.
- B. It reduces the flight's weight and saves fuelFor example, if a magazine weighs just 150 g, on a flight of 300 passengers that adds up to 45 kg.
- D. CondensationIt is water vapor that condenses.
- C. Solar Impulse 2Solar Impulse 2, designed by Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, completed its round-the-world flight from March 9, 2015 to July 26, 2016, covering 40,000 km in 17 legs.
- A. X-15The X-15 reached over 100 km in altitude, at the edge of space.
- B. Tu-144The first supersonic commercial aircraft to fly.
- C. Junkers Ju 287Although originally developed by Nazi Germany (Junkers), the captured Ju 287 prototype, with its forward-swept wings and turbojet engines, was taken and actively tested by the USSR after the war.
- B. A periscopeTo fit the large fuel tank at the aircraft's center of gravity (just behind the engine), Lindbergh had to sacrifice the forward windshield.
- D. It had its turbojets mounted on tiny wingtips and a rocket motor in the fuselageThe Trident used a unique mixed propulsion system: small turbojets at the tips of very short, straight wings for cruising, and a powerful three-chamber rocket motor in the fuselage to climb to Mach 1.8 in record time.
- C. Louis BlériotOn July 25, 1909, Louis Blériot flew from Calais to Dover aboard his Blériot XI monoplane, a world first.
- A. 1924In 1924, US Army aviators completed the first round-the-world flight aboard four Douglas World Cruiser aircraft, over several stages across roughly six months.
- B. guiding the aircraft to the runway in poor visibilityThe ILS (Instrument Landing System) emits radio signals that let an aircraft align precisely with the runway, even in fog.
- B. the Fokker Dr.IManfred von Richthofen, nicknamed the 'Red Baron', flew an all-red Fokker Dr.I during his final combats in 1918.
- D. wingletsWinglets reduce wingtip vortices, decreasing induced drag and therefore fuel consumption.
- A. Clément AderOn 9 October 1890, Clément Ader's steam-powered Éole rose a few centimetres off the ground over about fifty metres.
- B. The magnetic heading of the runway, about 270°Runway numbers give the magnetic heading rounded to the nearest ten degrees: '27' means 270° (due west).
- C. The BelugaThe Beluga (A300-600ST) first flew in 1994. Its successor, the A330-based BelugaXL, sports eyes and a smile painted on its nose.
- B. Perpendicular to the relative windBy definition, lift is the component of the aerodynamic force perpendicular to the relative wind.
- C. To show which radial, and therefore which direction, the aircraft is on relative to the stationA VOR transmits a signal that lets the aircraft determine which radial it is on, from 0 to 359°.