Aviation Trivia | Dorky Geeky Nerdy Podcast #262

Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia

262 | Aviation Trivia

00:00 / 13:59

Ready for some high-flying trivia? For episode 262 of the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast, we have Aviation Trivia. Thirty questions about aircraft of all shapes and sizes.

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Episode Transcript/Quiz

Episode Intro

Ready for some high-flying trivia? For episode 262 of the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast, we have Aircraft Trivia.

If you’re new to the show, welcome. Every week, we have thirty trivia questions on a different topic. We’re winding down our fifth season, so there’s lots of other episodes to listen to.

If you need rules or scorecards, visit DorkyGeekyNerdy.com. And with that, let’s board the plane and take off.

The Dorky Round

What pair are credited with the first “sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight”?
a. The Wright Brothers. Their plane, the Wright Flyer, flew a whopping 120 feet.
First produced in 1967, what is the bestselling aircraft in the world today?
a. The Boeing 737. Over 10,000 have been produced and Boeing has a backlog of over four thousand orders for more.
Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean?
a. Amelia Earhart
Who was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from New York to Paris?
a. Charles Lindburgh. The flight took over 33 hours.
Contrails behind a plane are mostly made of what?
a. Frozen, crystallized water vapor. If your crazy uncle insists it’s something nefarious, it might be time to send him home.
Who was the first person to break the sound barrier?
a. Chuck Yeager
The title aircraft in what 1980s action series was played by a Bell 222 helicopter?
a. Airwolf
Operating from 1981 to 2011 and officially known as the Space Transportation System (or STS), what vehicle launches like a rocket but lands like a glider?
a. The Space Shuttle
What rigid airship infamously caught fire and killed 36 people on May 6, 1937?
a. The Hindenburg. Surprisingly, two-thirds of the people on the aircraft survived.
What was the name of the plane Lindburgh used in his historic flight?
a. The Spirit of St. Louis. Oddly enough, the aircraft was built in San Diego, CA.

The Geeky Round

What is the largest passenger plane?
a. The Airbus A380. It first flew in 2005 and the last one built was in 2021.
In 2009, Boeing introduced what plane, whose frame was made mostly from composite materials?
a. The Boeing 787 or the Dreamliner
In the US, what is the busiest air travel day of the year?
a. The Sunday after Thanksgiving. That’s followed by the Wednesday and Friday before Thanksgiving. In fact, the top 15 days to travel by air are all around that holiday.
What eccentric aviation pioneer was the model for Marvel’s Tony Stark?
a. Howard Hughes
Currently on display in McMinnville, OR, what’s the Hughes H-4 Hercules better known as?
a. The Spruce Goose. It’s mostly made from birch.
A joint British-French collaboration, what supersonic passenger jet operated from 1969 to 2003?
a. The Concorde
What US Navy fighter jet was the “star” of the 1986 film, Top Gun?
a. The F-14 Tomcat
The Harrier jet is a VTOL type of plane. What does VTOL stand for?
a. Vertical Take Off and Landing
Using flapping wings instead of propellers, what aircraft was used in the Dune books and movies?
a. The Ornithopter
The Mongolfier brothers first demonstrated what on September 19, 1783?
a. A hot air balloon flight. In attendance were King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.

The Nerdy Round

What are the four forces of flight?
a. Lift, Thrust, Drag, and Weight
What is the largest aircraft in the world?
a. The Antonov AN-225. This Russian-built plane is almost as long and as wide as football field.
What is the fastest plane in the world?
a. The SR-71 Blackbird. It flew 2,193 miles per hour. It’s held the record for 40 years.
In 1986, a plane called Voyager was the first to do what?
a. Fly around the world without refueling or landing.
According to FAA rules, how quickly must a plane be evacuated?
a. The plane must be able to be completely evacuated in 90 seconds. So, pay attention to where your exits are.
While China, India, Italy, Japan, and the UK have 2 each, the United States has 11 of what?
a. Aircraft Carriers. The first was the USS Langley and the most recent, the USS John F Kennedy, will launch in 2025.
Born in Russia, what pioneer designed the first viable American helicopter and the first mass-produced helicopter in the world?
a. Igor Sikorsky. The company he founded is still around today.
Luke Skywalker claimed to be able to bullseye womprats in what aircraft?
a. His T-16.
Lt. Thomas Selfridge earned what ignominious distinction on Sept. 17, 1908?
a. He became the first airplane crash fatality.
Officially known as the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, thousands of what helicopter saw action over Vietnam in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s?
a. The Huey. Over 16,000 were produced and many are still in use today.

Episode Conclusion

And we’re taxiing in after landing. How did you do? Hopefully, you can listen to this one with your kids and teach them something (or maybe they did better than the adults).

I’ll be back next week with another thirty questions. Here’s a clue to ponder in the meantime:

What Scifi book series kicked off as a serialized story starting 1963 and was published as a novel in 1965?

This one has been on my brainstorm sheet since I first conceived of the show in 2019. It’s about time I did this one. See you back here next Wednesday.

This was episode 262 of the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast. If you’d like to help support the show, become a patron at Patreon.com/dorkygeekynerdy.

The theme music was provided by Jason Shaw of Audionautix.com.

This podcast is written, produced, and hosted by me, Brian Rollins. Come find out what else I’m up to at TheVoicesInMyHead.com. Thanks for listening.