Commercial Written - dumb questions

JaceTheAce

JaceTheAce

Well-Known Member
Seriously folks, will questions like this be on the Commercial written? It is not in the FAR/AIM, only in the FAR-AMT! Am I supposed to read the FAR-AMT cover to cover now too?! Sheesh! :D

[SIZE=+2]5069[/SIZE]
The carriage of passengers for hire by a commercial pilot is
A) not authorized in a "limited" category aircraft. B) authorized in "restricted" category aircraft. C) not authorized in a "utility" category aircraft.
Click to expand...

The answer is A, but I had to do some serious searching in the FAA's poorly organized website. I found it here:
http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/airworthiness_certification/sp_awcert/limited/
 
hmm Im working on my commercial written as well, havent even been though that chapter yet....thanks for brining up a logical and hypothetical reason of that answer.
 
i have a question as well about a question on the exam:

5238
A propeller rotating clockwise as seen from the rear, creates a spiraling slipstream. The spiraling slipstream, along with torque effect, tends to rotate the airplane to the
A) left around the vertical axis, and to the right around the longitudinal axis.
B) left around the vertical axis, and to the left around the longitudinal axis.
C) right around the vertical axis, and to the left around the longitudinal axis.

The ASA book says A is correct, but people have told me it is B as well. which is it?
 
Imagine the airplane hovering in mid air with the prop turning clockwise and a big hand grabs the prop (stopping it) the plane will then start to roll to the right (torque)

the spiraling slipstream spirals around the fuselage of the plane striking the left side of the vertical stabilizer yawing the nose to the left.

P-factor yaws the nose left as well since the prop turns clockwise it's taking a bigger bite of air on the descending side of the blade because of the the way the prop is twisted.

A is correct
 
bradj2000 said:
Imagine the airplane hovering in mid air with the prop turning clockwise and a big hand grabs the prop (stopping it) the plane will then start to roll to the right (torque)

the spiraling slipstream spirals around the fuselage of the plane striking the left side of the vertical stabilizer yawing the nose to the left.

P-factor yaws the nose left as well since the prop turns clockwise it's taking a bigger bite of air on the descending side of the blade because of the the way the prop is twisted.

A is correct
Click to expand...


I disagree.
I think the correct answer is:
B) left around the vertical axis, and to the left around the longitudinal axis.
and so does the Gleim!
 
want to know another dumb question that I've been asked at least 2 times (FII and most likley ORA)?

When on a heading of 180, what is the correct VFR cruising altitude?
A. odd thousand + 500 ft
B. even thousand + 500 ft
C. even thousand

Obviously, in the AIM the crusing altitudes are given as:

0 to 179 - odd + 500
180 to 359 - even + 500

but who the hell learns it than in depth? The way I learned it, is odd east, west even. If you're directly south or north, just pick one.

Yes, TECHNICALLY the answer is B, but what happens if the wuind shifts and you have to alter your course by 1 degree? Are you going to change your altitude? What then if the wind shifts back? I have gotten that question at least TWICE and it pisses me off to no end.

In my years of taking written tests I've read a bunch that are pretty dumb, but thats only one that I can remember. I swear, if I ever end up working for the FAA, one of the things that will be on my priority list would be revamping the written tests.
 
nbv4 said:
want to know another dumb question that I've been asked at least 2 times (FII and most likley ORA)?

......but who the hell learns it than in depth? The way I learned it, is odd east, west even. If you're directly south or north, just pick one.

.....
Click to expand...

The rule is very clear about what you should be at. Just picking one is an option that could lead to trouble. I would say that is the wrong choice. Suppose you pick one, and pilot B heading the other way, picks the "other" wrong choice. Now you are on a collision course.

But who cares, it's only 1 degree...... :insane: :sarcasm:
 
JEP said:
The rule is very clear about what you should be at. Just picking one is an option that could lead to trouble. I would say that is the wrong choice. Suppose you pick one, and pilot B heading the other way, picks the "other" wrong choice. Now you are on a collision course.

But who cares, it's only 1 degree...... :insane: :sarcasm:
Click to expand...

I'm not quite sure if you're being sarcastic or what, but do you really think you're more likley to have a mid-air flying 180 at 3500 than you would flying 179 at 3500? Would you honestly change your altitude when the winds shift one degree?
 
nbv4 said:
I'm not quite sure if you're being sarcastic or what, but do you really think you're more likley to have a mid-air flying 180 at 3500 than you would flying 179 at 3500? Would you honestly change your altitude when the winds shift one degree?
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Sarcastic, a little maybe, but if you 'just pick one' (your words, not mine) and the other pilot just picks one (the other one) you could set yourself up for trouble.

If you go with 179-180, the next pilot could make it 178-181, and to me that starts to get slippery. I have always felt the rules are there for a reason. The minute we start to pick which ones we use and don't use, it could lead to trouble.
 
ian said:
i have a question as well about a question on the exam:

5238
A propeller rotating clockwise as seen from the rear, creates a spiraling slipstream. The spiraling slipstream, along with torque effect, tends to rotate the airplane to the
A) left around the vertical axis, and to the right around the longitudinal axis.
B) left around the vertical axis, and to the left around the longitudinal axis.
C) right around the vertical axis, and to the left around the longitudinal axis.

The ASA book says A is correct, but people have told me it is B as well. which is it?
Click to expand...

You can make a case for both being correct.

If you're going to focus solely on the effect of the spiralling slipstream, it does want to yaw the aircraft to the left around the vertical axis. Also, the increased force (lift) on the vertical stabilizer occurs ABOVE the CG, and that would tend to roll the aircraft right, around the longitudinal axis.

Now, if the torque effect referred to by the question is the torque effect of the engine, that want to roll the aircraft left around the longitudinal axis.

Since the question refers to the torque effect, and that's only used when referring to the engine torque, I'd be likely to think that B was the correct choice.
 
Dazzler said:
I disagree.
I think the correct answer is:
B) left around the vertical axis, and to the left around the longitudinal axis.
and so does the Gleim!
Click to expand...

Acutally, Gleim does state (A) is the correct answer. It all makes perfect sense that the aircraft would rotate left around the vertical axis as the slipstream "presses" against the tail and causes a yaw moment to the left around the vertical axis. Torque, which is greatest at slow airspeeds, high AoA, and high power settings, could create a right rolling moment about the longitudinal axis although its somewhat opposite whats taught as torque is a left turning tendency, not necessarily a right. Logically though, the torque reaction is based off of Newtons 3rd law of inertia which we all know by heart - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction - so my head tells me it wouldnt necessarily be a "torque" reaction per say.

Man, I love the FAA and their quirky questions.

Gyroscopic precession may also be a right turning tencency but more so about the vertical axis. When discussing forces applied, an aircraft in transition from the runway to ascending flight will have a force applied at the "bottom" of the prop if you will, causing the force to be felt 90 degrees in the plane of rotation, causing a right turning tendency. This is only a transition phase though.

How I got to gyro precession is beyond me. :insane:
 
bradj2000 said:
Imagine the airplane hovering in mid air with the prop turning clockwise and a big hand grabs the prop (stopping it) the plane will then start to roll to the right (torque)
Click to expand...

Torque isnt necessarily a right turning tendency though. While your example makes logical sense, torque is equal and opposite. By purely definition, there would be no way to make the aircraft move about the longitudinal axis to the right by means of a torque reaction since the prop rotates clockwise. This would result in a left turning tendency as a result of a torque reaction.

Tgrayson, thoughts?
 
meritflyer said:
his would result in a left turning tendency as a result of a torque reaction.
Click to expand...

Agreed. When I use my drill to drive a screw, the bit (propeller) turns right, the drill twists left in my hand.

When the screw reaches maximum depth, the screw stops turning (hand grabs propeller), but the drill still wants to turn left.

I just tested this to make sure I wasn't imagining things.:)
 
nbv4 said:
want to know another dumb question that I've been asked at least 2 times (FII and most likley ORA)?

When on a heading of 180, what is the correct VFR cruising altitude?
A. odd thousand + 500 ft
B. even thousand + 500 ft
C. even thousand

Yes, TECHNICALLY the answer is B, but what happens if the wuind shifts and you have to alter your course by 1 degree? Are you going to change your altitude? What then if the wind shifts back? I have gotten that question at least TWICE and it pisses me off to no end.
Click to expand...

If the wind shifts, do you select a different course to fly or do you adjust the heading to maintain the same course? Note that the VFR cruising altitudes apply to magnetic course, not heading, so wind correction angles are not pertinent.
 
A) left around the vertical axis, and to the right around the longitudinal axis.




I was once told that the right turn about the longitudinal axis is due to the slip stream air spiraling back and hitting the left wing on its underside and the right wing on its topside, thus turning the plane to the right. I would imagine that this effect would vary though between aircraft, such as piper/cessna etc due to the wing position. I also feel that its probably negligable at best, since most books dont even mention it.
 
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