Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. A pilot's call sign is usually created by either a play on the pilot's given name, based on a career or personal life incident, or on the pilot's personality. I will give you the clues about the pilot, and see if you can figure out the call sign from the clues. These are all real call signs from people that our family knows, so I've tried to keep the personal info to a minimum!
First one: Sometimes an aircrew member will share a name with a celebrity, from which will follow a call sign. For instance, if a pilot's given name is Don Johnson, what would be a good choice for his call sign?
2. A pilot that we know had an incident where he accidentally scraped the tail of his jet upon landing. Imagine the result of metal scraping on the concrete runway, and what call sign did this pilot earn?
3. Sometimes a call sign will be a play on words based on the last name of the pilot, and these are usually the most clever ones. Our friend whose last name is "Frank", has which call sign? (This one is most like a brain teaser.)
4. Occasionally a pilot will transition his career from flying a large, heavy airplane to flying a small fighter jet. In a heavy aircraft the mission is often hours and hours long, with plenty of time and room in the cockpit for meals. As a reference to a pilot's previous lifestyle (where they can actually eat in the plane), what call sign will they be given when they arrive at their new fighter squadron?
5. If your last name is "Fry", which do you suppose would be your call sign?
6. One pilot we knew was a little slow when it came to matters of the brain, and often didn't notice things that were right in front of him. If you watched TV cartoons in the 1970s, you will recognize his call sign.
7. The flight doctor of a squadron usually has a medically related call sign, like "Bones". Can you guess the call sign of the flight doc we knew whose last name was "Pendon"?
8. Sometimes the call sign will be ironic: in direct contrast to what the pilot actually is or does. For instance, one aircrew member was supposed to be reading the map while he and some other pilots tried to make their way into a large city in a rental car. They ended up completely lost, and the "navigator" earned himself an ironic call sign. Can you guess it?
9. Another pilot friend of ours has the last name of Gilbreath. It's not much of a leap to figure out his call sign based on his last name. Can you figure out which animal goes with Gilbreath?
10. Finally, one pilot I know has had no less than 5 call signs. Every time he moves to a different squadron he acquires a new one. Someone suggested that he be given a call sign to illustrate the fact that no call sign ever sticks to him. With that clue, which call sign do you suppose was suggested?
Source: Author
djsgal
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trident before going online.
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