Airienteering with 13MIKE

by Fred J. Calfior and Douglas W. Miller

The Early Pioneers

Man has always been mystified by flight and he is still mystified even today. Before the turn of the century, there was a flurry of activity to realize the dream of flying. This dream of controlled powered flight came to its culmination on a beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, by the brothers, Wright. They thought that the battle for flight had been won. If they had only known that this was only the beginning of a lengthy battle for public acceptance of flight, I wonder if the Wright Brothers would have even started. That act at Kitty Hawk sent a call to the adventurous with the vision of an airplane in every garage. These early pioneers, through hardship of all kinds, dangers, nonacceptance, and financial stress, dragged aviation from its “Gee whiz! But what do you use it for?”, to an industry that today affects just about every person on the face of the earth.

Now the real battle began. Great men and women in aviation have risen to the challenge and have been victorious. The first controlled powered airplanes were fragile at best, not reliable, and needed a lot of support. There were very few airfields, no two way radios, navigation aids, or lighted runways. Growing pains were innumerable. The individuals that helped aviation survive these times were people like: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Glenn Curtiss, Samuel Langley, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Harriet Quimby to name a few. These men and women are only the tip of a very enormous iceberg of early pioneers in aviation.

The following flight will determine not only your flying, navigating, and chart reading skills, but also your knowledge of the early aviation pioneers.

In this scenario, there are no puzzles! You will find aviation early pioneer trivia questions somewhat straightforward. They will put you at a fork in the air road of two or three choices. The questions are not tricky, but do address some common misconceptions about aviation history that might surprise you as you find yourself looped or dead ended! Many times, you will see plain, simple “Go To AirLeg” statements. Be thankful for those, because in later scenarios, you will lose these free rides!

SETUP

Aircraft:

1) Choose “Cessna Skylane RG”

SETUP:

Weather:

1) Set Surface winds “DEPTH” to “4000”

2) Set Surface winds “DIR” to “230”

3) Set Surface winds “SPEED” to “30”

Aircraft Position:

1) “NORTH” to “15396.7135” – [N034° 05'13.0023]

2) “EAST” to “5952.3402” – [W118° 02' 04.8496]

3) “ALTITUDE” to “296” – [0]

4) “HEADING” to “280”

note:

At this point you may wish to save this setup for future use. Set ZOOM to “1.0”

FLIGHT

“This is Professor Calflor, and what an adventure in time you are about to embark on! Now begins your first age of pioneer exploration, dipping into the wealth of the past and the present! The past is an enriching amusing knowledge of the guts, inventiveness, stamina, attitude, failures and successes of our early aviation forefathers. The present is your ability to navigate by way of the Los Angeles Terminal Area chart, properly identifying vital checkpoints and landmarks, as well as the smoothness of your flying skills. Welcome to El Monte airport! May you always have following tailwinds on your journey, except when you takeoff and land!”

1) Which Wright brother piloted the Wright Flyer on its maiden voyage?

If your answer is “Orville”, go to AirLeg 19

If your answer is “Wilbur”, go to AirLeg 1

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