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Test your knowledge: Questions 21-30

21. What is the name of the oldest surviving Canadian-built aircraft?

a) Bleriot XI
b) Borel-Morane monoplane
c) McDowall monoplane
d) A.E.A. Silver Dart

Answer: (c) – This home-built, pioneer-era plane first flew in 1915, but only a few short hops. It is on display at the Canadian Aviation Museum. a) and b) are older, but US-built. The Silver Dart is a replica built in 1956-58.

22. On December 10, 1931 a Fokker Standard Universal, G-CAJD, crashed in a Manitoba snowstorm and was not found until 2005. What was its name of lore?

a) Ghost of Charron Lake
b) Northern Specter
c) Ghost of Charron Woods
d) The Lost Fokker

Answer: (a) – A search team from the Western Canada Aviation Museum, using side scan sonar, found the plane. It was raised in 2007 and taken to the Museum, located in Winnipeg.

23. Which Canadian airport was named after the founder of Western Canada Airways Ltd?

a) Edmonton
b) Whitehorse
c) Winnipeg
d) North Bay

Answer: (c) – Its full name is the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson
International Airport. Richardson founded the airline in 1926 and in 1930 he
amalgamated  it with five eastern carriers to create Canadian Airways Limited.

24. In 2008 the 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron at 19 Wing Comox won which prestigious aviation award?

a) Ninety-Nines Canadian Award in Aviation
b) Pilot Training Achievement Award
c) Transport Canada Aviation Safety Award
d) Trans-Canada (McKee) Trophy

Answer: (d) – In October 2006, the 442 squadron crew rescued three victims of a chopper crash along Knight Inlet, B.C. It is the oldest (est. 1927) aviation award in Canada.

25. In 1983 the space shuttle, piggybacking on a Boeing 737, made its first landing outside the United States. Which airport received it?

a) Edmonton
b) Abbotsford
c) Mirabel
d) Goose Bay

Answer: (d) – Runway 08/26, at 11,046 feet long, can accommodate any aircraft in the world. It is an alternate emergency landing site for NASA space shuttles.

26. In January 2009 NAV CANADA and Aéroports de Montréal announced it would deploy a surface surveillance system for locating aircraft on the runways and apron. What is the acronym for this technology?

a) MDS
b) WAAS
c) CAATS
d) ILS

Answer: (a) – Called Multistatic Dependent Surveillance, it uses a form of triangulation to locate aircraft using their transponder squits.

27. A Canadian competitor for the $10-million Ansari X Prize used a two-stage rocket design based on a German V2. What was the competitor’s name?
a) The da Vinci Project
b) Canadian Arrow
c) Pablo de Leon & Associates
d) Scaled Composites

Answer: (b) – The Toronto-based da Vinci Project planned to launch its Wild Fire spacecraft from a huge helium balloon. Scaled Composites won with its SpaceshipOne flight on October 2, 2004.

28. Chicago-based PlanetSpace wants to build a rocket-launching facility in Canada – our “first” space port, according to 2006 NewScientist article. Where is the planned site?

a) Sydney Mines, NS
b) Bigger, SK
c) Kaslo, BC
d) Churchill, MB

Answer: (a) – Akjuit Aerospace tried to establish a spaceport in Churchill, but reportedly gave up in 1998. There is already a functioning Spaceport in Calgary.

29. A Russian trawler off the coast of Vancouver intentionally lasered a Canadian Forces Sea King helicopter. One pilot suffered debilitating eye damage that ended his flying career. When did this happen?

a) 1963
b) 2007
c) 1997
d) 2000

Answer: (c) –April 4, 1997 to be exact. A 2002 Canadian Aviation Regulations amendment forbids pointing a bright light into navigable airspace that could cause injury or damage to pilot or aircraft.

30. The Museum of Civilisation says the first international airmail flight was from Vancouver to Seattle. But a $1 commemorative stamp issued by the Aero Club of Canada gives this distinction to a Toronto-New York flight. What is the year?

a) 1907
b) 1919
c) 1917
d) 1921

Answer: (b) – The dates are March 3 and Aug 25, respectively. Can anyone resolve this discrepancy?