Alabama Aviation History Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Where did the Wright Brothers open America's first civilian flight school in 1910?

Answer: Montgomery

The school didn't last long but several early records were set there including the first recorded night flight. The site of this school has been incorporated into Maxwell Air Force Base.

2. Many NASCAR tracks are built on the sites of airports including the one at Talladega. From the air you can still see the original airport layout clearly. Why was one runway paved over in sections with cobblestones?

Answer: Harley-Davidson uses it for testing motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson has been testing motorcycles here for decades. In addition to track work they use environmental test chambers and ride on local roads as well.

The new Talladega airport located adjacent to the track does not use any of the old military airport runways on which the track is built.

3. Which US Army base is often called the "Home of Army Aviation"?

Answer: Fort Rucker

All US Army helicopter pilots have trained at this base in Dale County since 1963 along with many US Air Force and Allied pilots. It's located just down the road from Opp, which is well known for the annual Rattlesnake Rodeo.

4. How many SR-71 and A-12 Blackbird aircraft are displayed in Alabama museums?

Answer: 3

All of these are early A-12 models. Only California, which is the home to this amazing aircraft, has more on display.

One of these is displayed at Battleship Park on the shore of Mobile Bay and was seriously damaged during Hurrican Katrina.

5. Approximately how many bombers escorted by the 332nd Fighter Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen, were lost during World War II?

Answer: 25

For many years it was publicly claimed that no bombers were lost. However, detailed checks of records do indicate about twenty five were lost while being escorted by the 332nd.

This in no way diminishes what they accomplished; twenty five losses in the hundreds of escort missions they flew is an amazing feat. They were credited with over 100 kills of Luftwaffe aircraft including a number of ME-262 jets.

6. Which Tuskegee Airman was the first black four star general in the US Air Force?

Answer: Daniel Chappie James

General James was almost certainly the inspiration for Louis Gossett's character Chappie Sinclair in the "Iron Eagle" movies. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

James Ellison was an early commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron who was unpopular for enforcing segregation on the base.

7. Oh no! You're on an airplane that has just crash landed somewhere in the US, you don't even know what state you're in. It's OK though, the pilot has activated the emergency locator beacon. After your distress signal is received and an approximate location calculated by satellites, what Alabama based organization is likely to coordinate an air based search for you?

Answer: Civil Air Patrol

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is based at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery and is the civilian auxiliary for the US Air Force. It directly owns more than 500 aircraft and is able to call on more than 4000 additional member owned aircraft when needed.

Civil Air Patrol was founded by Fiorella La Guardia during World War II. During this war, the CAP located many and actually sank several German U Boats but is now prohibited from military missions.

CAP is also heavily involved in disaster relief with both traditional search/rescue operations as well as more unusual ones such as evacuating lost pets after Hurricane Katrina. They are also used as flying targets for US Military pilots practicing intercepts of low speed, low flying aircraft over restricted airspace for anti-terrorism exercises.

Airmed International is a pioneering Birmingham based Air Ambulance service with bases and services worldwide.

"Wings of Hope" is a Werner Herzog movie about an air crash in Peru. It's also the English translation of "Alas de Socorro" which is an Ecuadoran Christian Charity using aircraft to help provide services to people living in the Amazonian areas of the country.

NASAR is based in Virginia and is involved in setting standards for Search and Rescue but not in the process itself.

8. This Fort Payne, Alabama, native started one of the most successful early aircraft manufacturing companies in Detroit, Michigan in the early 1920's.

Answer: Eddie Stinson

William Boeing was born in Detroit and established his company in Seattle.
Randy Owen is from Fort Payne and is part of the band "Alabama".
Glenn Messer was co-owner of what is now the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport with Stinson.

Stinson's sister was also a well known aviation pioneer and only the 4th woman to be licensed to fly in the US. She was known as the "Flying Schoolgirl" for her barnstorming act.

9. A number of NASA astronauts are graduates of Auburn University including this Alabama native who became an astronaut in 1969 but didn't make his/her first flight until 1982 as pilot of the final orbital test flight of Columbia.

Answer: Henry Hartsfield

Coats is a former astronaut and test pilot like Hartsfield but is from California.
Jan Davis is another Auburn graduate and astronaut but didn't join the program until 1987.
Ed Long was a test pilot from Alabama who is thought to have been the most experienced ever at the time of his death with over 64000 hours; that's more than 7 years!

10. What is the award that is presented annually to an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization for significant contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the United States? It was originally called the Junior Collier Trophy but was long ago re-named in honor of its Alabama native founder and sponsor.

Answer: Frank G. Brewer Trophy

All of these men lived and/or worked in Alabama and were leaders in aviation and aerospace. The award was created in 1943 during World War II by Frank Brewer.

Mr. Frank Brewer explained why he created the award: "Because of my two boys and the other million and a half like them that this war has put into the air, and because aviation has climbed to America's No. 1 industry and will offer the greatest opportunities to youth in the postwar days, I wanted very much to make some kind of contribution to Youth Aviation Education."

Source: Author bhmbaglock

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

While not well known for it, Alabama has been a leader in aviation since the time of the Wright Brothers, who founded their first flight school here. Play the quiz to learn more!

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