Trivia Testers : Who Takes The Cake?

~ Jeff Pardo

WHO TAKES THE CAKE?
Tornadoes are the most severe weather phenomena. Which country can therefore be said to have the “worst weather in the world” because it has the most tornadoes?

  1. China
  2. the former Soviet Union
  3. the United States
  4. India

Answer: C, the good old USA. As far as the occurrence of tornadoes goes, the US outnumbers China by 500-to-one, and the former USSR by 100-to-one (and note that the former USSR was twice our size).

JUST DUAT
What is the origin and significance of the familiar four-letter FAA-sponsored automated weather and flight planning service with which we have all become so familiar?

  1. The acronym originated when Data Transformation Corporation, the provider which fielded the first version to the FAA in 1986, suggested that it be named the DTC Universal Access Telnet, or DUAT.
  2. An employee at Contel ASC, the predecessor of its subsequent provider, GTE (which was in turn the predecessor of the present one, DynCorp) suggested a name during a software development meeting: DUAT. However, software developers being the way they are, it was actually in honor of Duat, the Egyptian world of the afterlife!
  3. It was a corruption of the expression “Do It!” popularized by Nike, and also suggested by a member of an original development group (perhaps in an overinspired moment of cameraderie and team spirit).
  4. Direct User Access Terminal

Answer: D (pretty boring, huh?)

COLORFUL EXPRESSION
Which color of highlighting marker should you use to mark your routes on flight charts: yellow, green, blue, or pink?

  1. It doesn’t matter. Vary the colors for variety (especially if you have used the same chart for several prior flights).
  2. During the day, it’s irrelevant. At night however, pink actually works best.
  3. Yellow is actually more noticeable than any other commonly used color for highlighting markers (green, blue, or pink). It also shows up better at night.
  4. at night, blue; during the day, yellow

Answer: D. Don’t use yellow or pink highlighters at night; they will not show up well with red cockpit lighting. (If you use white light, you may see your highlighting, but of course, you’ll lose your night vision.) Use blue instead; under red lighting, it shows up as purple. And yellow does catch the eye better during the day. (As far as “color conspicuity” goes, choice “C” is somewhat correct. The preferred color for high-visibility apparel for rescue workers, transportation workers, and others, is a flourescent yellow.)

Published by Jeff Pardo