Pilot Quiz—Aviation Firsts

It is common understanding that the Wright Brothers were first to build and fly a controllable airplane, but in the more than 100 years since that flight there have been many other firsts in flight. See if you can correctly identify these ten.

1. What was the first international body set up for flyers?

a. English Flight Organization
b. American Aero Club of New York
c. Federation Aeronautic Internationale

2. In what and where was the first fully controlled aerial journey from point to point made?

a. Lebaudy airship—France
b. Aerodrome monoplane—Washington, D.C.
c. Zeppelin airship—Germany

3. Who was the first pilot to fly coast to coast in the United States?

a. Calbraith Rogers
b. Harry Hawker
c. Lt. Gordon Ellyson

4. Who was the first woman to officially earn a pilot’s license?

a. Harriet Quinby, United States
b. Elise Deroche, France
c. Helen Dutrieu, Belgium

5. Who was the first person to fly over the North Pole?

a. Roald Amundsen
b. Richard Byrd
c. Howard Hughes

6. Who was the first pilot to win aerial combat in a jet-to-jet dogfight?

a. Wing Commander K.G. Hubbard—RAF
b. Lt. Russell Brown—USAF
c. Major V. Ilyushin—USSR

7. Who was the first woman to fly solo over the North Pole?

a. Judith Chisholm
b. Jackie Cochran
c. Sheila Scott

8. Who was the first black female pilot?

a. Bessie Coleman
b. Shirley Milligan
c. Nia Woodlaw

9. Name the pilot who made the first supersonic flight in an airplane.

a. Capt. James Gallagher
b. Capt. Charles Yeager
c. Capt. Vincent McGovern

10. Who piloted the first airplane to sink a battleship by bombs from an airplane?

a. Capt. Scott Altman
b. Lt. Col. Rob Waldman
c. Gen. William Mitchell

Key to Answers