Ground School Multiple Choice Quiz

• 1) “Always lead with liquid” means always turn on the liquid valve on the flight cylinder first when carrying out a burner test or prior to hot inflation. Why should you lead with liquid? Note that this only applies where the burner has a vapour take-off.
  • a) Leading with liquid reduces excess pressure in the flight cylinder. This ensures there is no “blow back” when lighting the pilot light.
  • b) Getting into the “lead with liquid” habit means that there is no ignition source, so any escaping gas will be harmless.
  • c) You should always operate the flight cylinders and burner in a consistent and systematic way so that it is easier for trainees to understand what to do.
• 2) If you are in a steady slow decent at 100 feet per minute, the air inside the envelope is:
  • a) Cooling to allow the balloon to descend.
  • b) Getting warmer to slow the descent
  • c) Staying at about the same temperature.
• 3) Can you connect a Cameron vapour hose to a Thunder and Colt master?
  • a) Yes, they are interchangeable.
  • b) No, they aren’t interchangeable.
  • c) Yes, but you can’t connect a T&C vapour hose to a Cameron master.
• 4) What simple rule of thumb would you apply for a safe rate of descent at 500 ft when above ground level?
  • a) If you are 300 ft or more above the ground then a safe descent rate is double your height above the ground.
  • b) 500 ft above ground level so 500 ft/minute is safe.
  • c) If it takes longer than a minute to reach the ground your rate of descent is safe.
• 5) What would happen if you hit the ground at a descent rate of 300 ft/minute?
  • a) This is equivalent to about 15 miles per hour and you are likely to sprain an ankle or someone in the basket might injure themselves more severely.
  • b) Landing at this rate of descent is normal.
  • c) This is about three miles per hour. If all basket occupants are fit and prepared for the impact it should be survivable.
• 6) A newly qualified pilot is flying the next morning and refuels his tanks using a propane tank with a pump. When refueling he doesn’t use flight cylinder bleed valves, instead he fills the cylinders until the pump stops. Since it will be frosty the next day he brings the tanks inside his house as he has heard that this will improve the burner pressure. What is likely to happen?
  • a) The propane will expand until the pressure relief valve lifts and liquid propane vents.
  • b) It is unlikely that the safety relief valve will lift as this is set at 375 psi.
  • c) Any heat expansion in the liquid will compensated by compression of the propane.
• 7) You are carrying out a hot inflation with full tanks and you notice that the burner sounds “hollow” and the coil starts to glow. What do you think is wrong?
  • a) The burner crossover valve has been operated by mistake.
  • b) You have a bent dip tube which is pointing up instead of down.
  • c) The wind is lifting the basket so that the dip tube is in the vapour space.
• 8) What is an inversion and what effect does it have as you have as you ascend through it?
  • a) An inversion is a layer of cold air which makes the balloon ascend more quickly.
  • b) An inversion is a layer of air where the temperature increases with altitude (the inverse of normal), this reduces your ascent rate as you climb.
  • c) An inversion is a layer area of high pressure, this pushes air out of the envelope so that you will need to burn more often to climb through the layer.
• 9) There are several quick deflation systems available, all of them allow you to reseat the parachute if you decide to abort the landing.
  • a) True, you will be able to abort the landing
  • b) False, once deployed you are pretty much committed to landing.
  • c) Only one will allow you to reseat the parachute.
• 10) You descend through wind sheer and feel a wind in your face, what is happening and what should you do?
  • a) The envelope is travelling faster than the basket, the speeds normally equalise very quickly meanwhile you need to put a burn in.
  • b) If you feel a wind in the face then you should burn – the reaction should be instinctive.
  • c) Wind shear is due to layers of air travelling at different speeds, the turbulence results in air being knocked out of the envelope, you need to re-pressurise the envelope by putting in a burn.
• 11) You are at 500 ft above ground level and the wind speed all the way to the ground is constant at 7 knots. Approximately what descent rate would you need in order to approach your chosen landing field at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal ?
  • a) 300 ft per minute
  • b) 700 ft per minute
  • c) Couldn’t descend fast enough to achieve this angle of descent.
• 12) You are at 3,000 feet above ground level and in a cold descent of 700 feet per minute, you have already been descending at this rate for 4 minutes. You put in a long burn of about 7 seconds, what happens to the descent rate and why?
  • a) The descent rate will start to decrease as the envelope temperature increases.
  • b) The descent rate will slow markedly as you now have the balloon under control.
  • c) The descent rate will not alter as the air in the envelope isn’t hot enough yet to exert an upward force.

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