USAF Trivia

1. The US Army Air Service was born from the aviation section of which branch of the US Army?

From Quiz US Aviation in World War One

Answer: Signals

For the first year after the USA's entry into WW1, its military aviation continued to be organized as part of the US Army Signals Corps. Because the USA had been hitherto neutral, it had missed out on many of the technological and organizational advances experienced by the combatant nations of the First World War. Consequently few of its aircraft were modern, none were combat types, and none of its units had been trained for air warfare. It had a full complement of 1,218 soldiers, of which 131 were officers who were mainly aviator students under training. The US Army had only 26 fully trained military pilots. In May 1918, the US Army Air Service was formally established as an independent unit in its own right within the US Army.

From Quiz USAF Strategic Air Command Aircraft

Answer: B-29 Superfortress

The venerable B-29 Superfortress, possibly the best strategic bomber of World War II, was quickly becoming obsolete. After the war, it was updated with the current technologies of the time and was re-designated the B-50 Superfortress in 1948, and it served for nearly 20 years before being retired.

From Quiz USAF Modern Strategic Bombers

Answer: B-52H

The B-52H strategic bomber has TF-33-P-3 turbofans, which give it much better range and fuel efficiency. It is expected to remain in service into the 2050s.

From Quiz The US Civil Air Patrol

Answer: Air Force

Bet you didn't know the Coast Guard is an Armed Force. The other one of the Armed Forces is the Navy, and although not their auxiliary, the CAP dovetailed some of their activities with the Navy. Other questions within this quiz cover these activities.

From Quiz The Underrated Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

Answer: Jug

It was called the "Jug" because the fuselage resembled a milk jug used at the time. It might be hard to visualize it today, but stand the plane upright on its propeller and remove the wings and you'll eventually see the resemblance.

From Quiz The F-111 Challenge!

Answer: General Dynamics

In designing the F-111, General Dynamics introduced many new features such as variable geometry wings, afterburning turbofan engines, and a pilot and copilot seated side-by-side in a capsule that ejects as a unit.

From Quiz A Multi-Role Workhorse: The F-16 Fighting Falcon

Answer: F-17

The Northrop F-17, which ultimately became the McDonnell Douglas F-18 (now Boeing F-18), lost out to the F-16. However, the two designs were again pitted against each other for a subsequent US Navy contract which the F-17 won.

From Quiz United States Aces

Answer: Major Gervais Lufbury

Recipient of the Legion of Honor, Military Medal, Croix de guerre, and Purple Heart; credited with 17 aerial victories flying the French Nieuport 28, with both the Lafayette Escadrille and U.S. Army Air Service.

From Quiz Bombs away! Post WWII American Bombers

Answer: B-47 Stratojet

Even though it had six state-of-the-art jet engines, many variants of the B-47 used JATO packs (short for jet-assisted takeoff) to help the bomber lift off shorter runways, especially while carrying a full load.

From Quiz USAF Trivia

Answer: 1947

Before 1947, the Air Force was known as the Air Corps which was part of the United States Army.

From Quiz American Bombers

Answer: Curtiss B-2 Condor

Throwing bombs out of airplanes had been around since 1911 or so, but a properly designed bomber was not conceived until 1914 by the Russians (a four-engined job called the Ilya Muromets). The U.S. decided to classify bombers properly in 1920 but did not use the B category (at the time for medium bombers) until 1924 and the first B designated bomber followed in 1929. It was given the B-2 name as it was a descendant of the NBS-1 which was a night bomber classified under the old system in 1920. The Condor had a top speed of 132 mph and could carry 1,100 lbs of bombs. Only 13 were ever built as they were more or less obsolete when they entered service.

From Quiz US Aircraft Nicknames

Answer: F-4 Phantom II

Not sure if the Air Force or Navy/Marine Corps came up with this one but it goes back to at least Vietnam.

From Quiz US Air Force Missiles

Answer: Thor

Thor was considered to be an intermediate range ballistic missile, or IRBM, capable of hitting targets up to 2,897 km (1,800 miles) away. Thor missiles were deployed in the United Kingdom from 1959 to 1963. Thors also carried test nosecones for the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, aloft, and launched the Corona series of spy satellites into orbit. Thor was the basis of the successful Delta family of satellite boosters.

From Quiz A-Z of American Military Aircraft

Answer: Airacomet

The Bell P-59 Airacomet did not attain full operational status. Its performance was barely on a par with many piston-engined fighters then in service and it was not a stable gun platform. Nevertheless, the 66 P-59s that were built provided the USAAF with useful training in conversion to jet aircraft.

From Quiz USAF Planes

Answer: high speed fighter/bomber

The reason the 105 came into service, was to replace the F-84, and so the USAF could have a high speed fighter/bomber that could keep up with the MiGs.

From Quiz USAF Call Signs 2

Answer: Lou

Lou Gossett, Jr. is a well-known actor ("An Officer and a Gentleman") and Lou Rawls is a legendary R&B singer.

From Quiz U.S. Military Aircraft Nicknames

Answer: Hustler

Capable of flying at Mach 2, the B-58 originally carried a single nuclear bomb, but was eventually upgraded to carry up to five weapons. The Hustler remained in service until 1970.

From Quiz So You Know an Air Force Fighter Pilot

Answer: dollar ride

The pilot-in-training decorates a one dollar bill to present to the IP (instructor pilot) after his first ever ride in the jet. He sure hopes not to get a "taco", which is a cute way of saying a grade of "U", or "Unsatisfactory" for that ride! And there is definitely no soloing the first time out.

From Quiz Military Aircraft Names

Answer: Starlifter

This was the first jet powered aircraft the U.S. used for Airborne operations. It has also brought home the remains of a U.S. serviceman from Vietnam years after the war had ended. Now the C-141 is only in U.S. Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force Reserve units.

From Quiz U.S. Military Aircraft

Answer: Grumman

The aircraft's first military flight was in 1963. It was designed as a first-pass attack aircraft for surface targets in any weather. The aircraft was primarily used by the Navy.

From Quiz BASIC

Answer: Lackland Air Force Base

This base has the biggest hospital in the entire Air Force.

From Quiz The United States Air Force Academy

Answer: Colorado Springs

The south gate of the Academy is on the very north end of the Springs on I-25. Denver is about an hour to the north. The Academy is spread over 18,000 acres and is 7,258 feet above sea level.

From Quiz USAF Aircraft!

Answer: Northrop T-38 Talon

A fun, maneuverable, quick and small aircraft, it has been deemed this, now its most widely used nickname. The T-38's design dates back to the early 60s, and is still in prolific use with the USAF and NASA. The fighter variants, the Northrop F-5 and F-20 are cheap, popular fighters with allied countries, too old for the fight in the US's frontline arsenal. The AT-38 (attack-trainer) aircraft is painted with a blue camouflage scheme and are dubbed the 'smurf' jets.

From Quiz United States Bomber

Answer: Convair

The B-58A was the world's first supersonic bomber, able to reach speeds of 1,325+ mph.

From Quiz U.S. Military Aircraft Parts/Systems

Answer: Provides pitch movement

The stabilator is used mostly on fighter aircraft. Instead of having a horizontal stabilizer, some of these aircraft are equipped with stabilators, which are moving horizontal stabilizers. They provide the up and down, or pitch movement, instead of the aircraft having elevators.

From Quiz U.S. Aircraft and Weaponry

Answer: Thunderbolt II

Although the plane is nicknamed the Warthog, it was actually named after the P-47 Thunderbolt used in WWII.

From Quiz Modern US Aircraft Official Names

Answer: Tomcat

The F-14 was the only aircraft equipped to carry the long-range Phoenix air-to-air missile. The last US Navy F-14 retired from service in October 2006.

From Quiz Air Force Weapons

Answer: 70,000 lbs

The B-52H can be armed with attack missiles, bombs, mines, cruise missiles, and anti-ship missiles.

From Quiz U.S. Military Airplanes

Answer: Skyraider

From Quiz US Aviation in World War One

Answer: Lafayette Escadrille

The first Americans to see action in the First World War were volunteers who joined the French army in the early months of the war. As non-French citizens, they had to enlist with the French Foreign Legion and many saw action in the trenches on the Western Front. Based on the numbers of Americans who had already transferred to the French Aéronautique Militaire and were serving as aviators in French squadrons, in 1915 a special squadron of American volunteers was established, as part of the Aéronautique Militaire and under French command. Flying Nieuport scouts, it scored its first aerial victory in May 1916 and soon became famous as the Lafayette Escadrille. This grew into a whole corps of several squadrons and many of its pilots went on to form the combat-experienced core in units of the US Army Air Service. The Lafayette Escadrille was formally transferred to the US Army in February 1918, as the 103rd Aero Squadron. Initially it continued as an active component of the French Groupe de Chasse 21 until the summer, however, after which it came under the command of the newly formed US 3rd Pursuit Group under American command.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:03 AM

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