ASTB: General Knowledge

MIDN 3/C Petska

MIDN 1/C Schmidt
 Table of Contents
 Weather  Flight Operations
 Atmosphere  Airspace
 Clouds  Airports
 Wind  UTC
 Storms

 Navy Knowledge  Aviation History

 Surface Stuff  A brief overview/ timeline
 Terminology
 Weather: Atmosphere
 From lowest to highest
2. Troposphere (20,000 ft at poles, 60,000 ft
at equator)
3. Stratosphere (to 120,000 ft, 20 miles)
4. Mesosphere (to 300,000 ft, 50 miles)
5. Thermosphere (above and beyond)
* The boundary between the troposphere and
stratosphere is called the tropopause
 Air
 Air is a mixture of gases
 Clouds
 High level clouds
 Base at approx. 20,000 ft
 Middle level clouds
 Base above approx. 6,500 ft
 Low level clouds
 Base below approx. 6,500 ft
 Clouds with extensive vertical development
 Clouds: Names
 Cirriform (fibrous) – consisting mainly of ice crystals
 Cumuliform (heaped) – formed by unstable air rising and cooling
 Stratiform (layered) – formed by the cooling of a stable layer
 Nimbus (rain-bearing)
 Fractus (fragmented)
 Castellanus – common base with separate vertical development, often
in lines
 Lenticularis – lens shaped, often formed in strong winds over
mountains
 High Level Clouds
 Base approx. 20,000 ft
 Composed mainly of ice crystals
in the below-freezing upper
atmosphere
 Ex. Cirrus, cirrocumulus,
cirrostratus
 Middle Level Clouds
 Base above approx. 6,500 ft
 Ex. Altocumulus, altostratus,
nimbostratus
 Low Level Clouds
 Base below approx. 6,500 ft
 Ex. Stratocumulus, stratus, fair
weather cumulus, nimbostratus
 Clouds that go high
 Ex. Towering Cumulus, cumulo-nimbus
 Wind
 Land Breeze – at night the land cools faster than the water, therefore
the air above it cools and descends, the air over the sea rises, surface
air moves to sea, higher air moves inland
 Sea Breeze – during the day, more common on hot sunny days, the
land heats, causes the air over the land to rise, the air above the water
is cooler and moves in over land and creates a circular pattern
 Windward – toward the wind, toward the point at which the wind blows
 Leeward – on the side away from the wind
 Storms
 Never fly through a thunderstorm in
peacetime.
 Warning signs
 Thunderstorms  Tornadoes
1. Deep instability, once 1. A strongly growing
air begins to rise it will large cumulus cloud,
continue to rise, warm sucking air upwards
air low, cold air high 2. Funnel clouds
2. High moisture content 3. Flying over or near
3. Trigger action, a front trailer parks
forcing air aloft, terrain
forcing air aloft, moist
air moving over dry air
areas
 Stages of a Thunderstorm
 Cumulus Stage – warm air rises in Cumulus
clouds, strong updrafts
 Mature Stage – precipitation begins,
typically last 20-40 minutes
 Dissipating Stage – downdrafts of cold air
overcome rising warm air, the temperature
in the clouds warm to match that of the
surrounding environment
 General Knowledge
 Mean Sea Level temperature is +15
degrees Celsius
 Mean Sea Level pressure is 29.92 in. Hg
 Sample Questions
 The second stage of a  Cool air pulled ashore by
thunderstorm is: rising thermal air currents
B. Dissipating caused by the air inland
rising as the land heats
C. Cumulus
up is called:
D. Mature
B. Land breeze
E. Downdraft
C. Sea breeze
F. Updraft
D. Radiation fog
E. Advection fog
F. Sea fog
 Flight Operations
 UTC – coordinated universal time, the time
at the Prime Meridian, through the
observatory at Greenwich, England,
longitude 000 degrees
 Airspace
 Class A – 18,000 ft MSL up to FL600
 Class B – surface to 10,000 ft MSL, surrounds
nation’s major airports
 Class C – surface to 4,000 ft AGL, around busy
airports
 Class D – surface to 2,500 ft AGL, surrounds
airports with operational control tower
 Class G – surface to either 1,200 ft AGL or 700 ft
AGL, will be noted
 Class E – everything else
Airports: Lights, Signs, Markings
 Taxiway markings are yellow
– Centerline is one solid yellow line
– Edges are double solid yellow lines
– Holding lines are double solid yellow lines and
double dashed yellow lines across width of
taxiway
– Runway holding position sign, red with white
characters
 Runway markings
 Displaced Threshold – start of landing
portion of runway, white block with white
arrows
 Chevrons – only usable in case of an
emergency
 Large white X – marks an unusable runway
 Chevrons
Displaced Threshold
Threshold Marker
Runway Number
Touchdown Zone Marker
Aiming Point Marker
 Lights
 Taxiway lighting – either green lights on the
centerline or blue lights on the edge
 Runway lighting – threshold (green),
sideline (white), runway end (red)
 Obstructions – red lights
 VASI – Visual Approach Slope Indicators
 VASI
 Red = low
 White, amber = high
 Green = on slope
 Even number of white and red = on slope
 Traffic Pattern
 Normal Traffic Pattern – flown at 1,000 ft
AGL, five legs
1. Upwind leg
2. Crosswind leg
3. Downwind leg
4. Base leg
5. Final approach
 Sample Questions
 Runway 13/31 is aligned in a:  The line in Greenwich
B. NW-SE direction represents the Prime Meridian
C. NE-SW direction of the world, meaning:
B. Longitude 0 degrees, divides
D. N-S direction eastern and western
E. E-W direction hemispheres
F. NNW-SSE direction C. Latitude 0 degrees, divides
eastern and western
hemispheres
D. Longitude 0 degrees, divides
northern and southern
hemispheres
E. Latitude 0 degrees, divides
northern and southern
hemispheres
F. None of the above
 ASTB Brief
 What I’m Discussing:
– General Aviation History
 Not all Navy/military related
– Navy shipboard etiquette
What is a ship’s capstan used for?
A. moving or handling heavy weights
B. navigation
C. communication
D. Refueling at sea
E. steering
What is a ship’s capstan used for?
A. moving or handling heavy weights
B. navigation
C. communication
D. Refueling at sea
E. steering
Aviation History
 The Ader Eole

 primitive steam-powered
aircraft

Developed by Clement
Ader in 1890.

First true aeropplane

What’s this?
 LZ1- First Zeppelin
 July, 2 1900

 First Zeppelin flight

 18 minutes long
LZ1
 LZ127
 Circumnavigated the
globe

 21 days, 5 hours, and

31 minutes
Everyone’s seen this one
Famous photograph
 The Wright Flyer
 First successful
powered, piloted
aircraft.
 Dec. 17, 1903.
 12 seconds, 120 feet
 FW-61
 1936
 Max speed = 66knots
 Range = 124nm
What’s this?
1st nonstop flight across Atlantic
 Tookoff June 14, 1919
 Vickers Vimmy IV
 Alcock and Brown
Who’s this guy
 Lucky Linbergh
 Charles Linbergh, Jr.
 First solo non-stop
flight across atlantic
 May 20th – 21st, 1927

At a a parade in Atlanta
Who is this?
 Amelia Mary Earhart
 Influential early female
pilot
 First woman to receive
distinguished flying
cross,
 Her firsts
 First woman to fly the Atlantic
 First woman to fly the Atlantic alone
 First person to fly the Atlantic alone twice
 First woman to fly an autogyro
 First person to cross the US in an autogyro
 First woman to receive the
Distinguished Flying Cross
 First woman to fly non-stop across the US
 First woman to fly from Hawaii to the continental
United States
 Naval Aviation
 Eugene Ely
 1910

 USS Pennsylvania
 1911
Some Nautical Information

1. The upper edge of a boat’s side is called:

A. the gunwale
B. the chine
C. the transom
D. freeboard
E. draft
The upper edge of a boat’s side is
called:
A. the gunwale
B. the chine
C. the transom
D. freeboard
E. draft
 Questions

Longitude and latitude are used to determine a ship’s:

B. Speed
C. position
D. direction
E. time
F. depth
Longitude and latitude are used to determine a ship’s:
A. Speed
B. position
C. direction
D. time
E. depth
The first controlled, powered airplane flight took place on
what date?
A. December 7, 1941
B. October 29, 1976
C. June 8, 1899
D. December 17, 1903
E. November 11, 1918
The first controlled, powered airplane flight
took place on what date?
A. December 7, 1941
B. October 29, 1976
C. June 8, 1899
D. December 17, 1903
E. November 11, 1918