Yeager Test

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Dave Druga

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Feb 18, 2010, 1:21:20 PM2/18/10

to seniors-hansc...@googlegroups.com, cap-ma...@googlegroups.com

Good Afternoon,

As promised (decades ago), I am writing to fill you in on the Yeager
Test and our squadron's plan to increase the number of senior members
who have taken it. To begin with, for the new members, Aerospace
Education is one of the three main missions of Civil Air Patrol. CAP
was charged by congress to increase knowledge of air and space history
amongst members and the general public alike to promote continued US
freedom through air and space power.

In the interest of keeping all the information in one place, please
forgive the length of this email. Below, I will explain several
things. First, I will introduce the Aerospace Education Program for
Senior Members (AEPSM). This section explains what is expected of
senior members when it comes to AE. Then, I'll let you know about the
Yeager Test itself and also about Aerospace: The Journey of Flight,
which is the textbook associated with the Yeager. Finally, I will
outline my plan for reading the material and testing. If you have any
questions at any point, be sure to let me know! Thank you, in
advance, for your patience!

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The Aerospace Education Program for Senior Members (AEPSM) is outlined
in CAPR 280-2 (Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Mission) and
consists of five elements:

1) The Yeager Test. CAP has put together a textbook called
"Aerospace: The Journey of Flight." By regulation (surprise!), "all
senior members have the responsibility to read and become
knowledgeable with the content of this text." There is a test over
this material referred to as the Yeager Test, which when passed earns
a senior member the Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager Aerospace Education
Achievement Award and the authorization to wear the Yeager Ribbon on
the blues uniform. Chuck Yeager, as some of you might remember, was
the first pilot to successfully "break the sound barrier" by traveling
faster than the speed of sound in his Bell X-1. Yeager also retired
from the US Air Force as a General, after a long and distinguished
career as a pilot and a military officer. I will get back to this
part of AEPSM below.

2) Aerospace Education Officer Specialty Track. Senior Members have
the option of enrolling in the AEO specialty track as a part of their
professional development requirements. If anyone is interested, let
me know. There is always more AE work to be done, and I would love to
have some assistants!

3) AE Leadership. This requirement falls mostly upon unit commanders
of all levels and their AEOs. The idea to to ensure that effective AE
programs are being carried out at all levels of command.

4) Individual Aerospace Continuing Education. CAPR 280-2 states that
"every member has a personal obligation to sustain a level of
aerospace knowledge that will ensure a professional organization."
We, as a squadron, will meet this requirement through familiarization
with the Aerospace text, passing of the Yeager Test, and discussion of
AE current events.

5) Aerospace Education Outreach. CAPR 280-2's description is
self-explanatory: "This element makes it the responsibility of all
senior members, and not just unit AEOs, to promote aerospace education
within CAP and in their communities. Giving school presentations,
writing newspaper articles and directing a unit hands-on activity are
among those examples that exemplify the fulfillment of this element."
Our pilots may feel more comfortable talking to friends and co-workers
about flying than our non-pilots, but hopefully the process of
completing the Yeager test will allow all members to confidently
discuss aerospace history and current events alike!

So, after this brief introduction to AEPSM, let's talk numbers. We
currently have 104 senior members on the books at Hanscom Composite
Squadron. Out of those 104 people, 38 have taken and passed the
Yeager Test. That represents a completion rate of 37%. I realize
that many of you are no longer "active" with the squadron and that to
expect 100% completion is unrealistic. However, I believe that it is
certainly possible to increase, and perhaps even double, our numbers
over the next few months and end up with 50-75% completion. However,
at the end of the day, I am not as concerned about the numbers.

Instead, I want to make it as easy and straight-forward as possible to
navigate the material and successfully pass the Yeager Test! Whether
you are new to CAP, have been active for a while, or are looking for a
way to become active again, I highly suggest that you take on the
challenge of the Yeager Test. You will be able to study for it on
your own time, and you can even take the test online wherever and
whenever you want!

If you've already taken the Yeager, please take advantage of this
program to review some of the material. None of us is expected to
memorize all of the material, but we are expected to be familiar
enough with it to have intelligent conversations and share air and
space knowledge with our fellow members and the general public.

Also, for those of you who are interested, there are currently 6
seniors enrolled in the AEO Specialty Track. We have 2 Master-rated,
1 Senior-rated, 1 Technician-rated, and 2 unrated seniors. Once
again, if you are interested in working with Aerospace Education in
any capacity, let me know!!!

Now that you've gotten all the background information, let's talk
about the Yeager itself. The test can be taken online (open book) or
in person (open book or closed book). For those hardcore AE fanatics
out there, a high score on the closed book Yeager does come with its
bragging rights!

Through polling at several senior meetings and through individual
discussions, I have learned that many of you are interested in working
at your own pace and taking the test on your own. It is also clear
that many of you would rather take the test open book with a paper
test. In an effort to accommodate these different preferences, I have
come up with the following program:

Phase 1: Gain access to (or buy) the Aerospace: The Journey of Flight text
Phase 2: Weekly Reading Assignments from the text
Phase 3: Online or In-person Testing

Phase 1: AEROSPACE: THE JOURNEY OF FLIGHT

You have two options when it comes to this textbook.

If you prefer to have a hard copy of it, you can order it at Vanguard
for $20.35 plus S&H:
http://www.vanguardmil.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6_2220_387&products_id=6981

If you prefer to download a soft copy of it, you can view/download it
on eServices:
-go to http://www.capnhq.gov/ and log in
-on the left, under "My Favorites" click on "Aerospace Downloads"
-you can download each chapter. Note that there is a separate tab
below for "Aerospace: The Journey of Flight 2nd Edition".

The book is organized as follows:

Part One: The Rich History of Air Power
-Chapter 1: Introduction to Air Power
-Chapter 2: The Adolescence of Air Power: 1904-1919
-Chapter 3: The Golden Age: 1919-1939
-Chapter 4: Air Power Goes to War
-Chapter 5: Aviation: From Cold War to Desert Storm
-Chapter 6: Advances in Aeronautics

Part Two: Principles of Flight and Navigation
-Chapter 7: Basic Aeronautics and Aerodynamics
-Chapter 8: Aircraft in Motion
-Chapter 9: Flight Navigation

Part Three: The Aerospace Community
-Chapter 10: The Airport
-Chapter 11: Air Carriers
-Chapter 12: General Aviation
-Chapter 13: Business and Commercial Aviation
-Chapter 14: Military Aircraft
-Chapter 15: Helicopters, STOL, VTOL, and UAVs
-Chapter 16: Aerospace Organizations
-Chapter 17: Aerospace Careers and Training

Part Four: The Rich History of Air Power
-Chapter 18: The Atmosphere
-Chapter 19: Weather Elements
-Chapter 20: Aviation Weather

Part Five: Rockets
-Chapter 21: Rocket Fundamentals
-Chapter 22: Chemical Propulsion
-Chapter 23: Orbits and Trajectories

Part Six: Space
-Chapter 24: Space Environment
-Chapter 25: Our Solar System
-Chapter 26: Unmanned Space Exploration
-Chapter 27: Manned Spacecraft

Phase 2: WEEKLY READING ASSIGNMENTS

As you can see, there is a lot of material in those 27 chapters. In
an effort to make this test less daunting, I will send out weekly
emails. Each week, there will be several "assigned" chapters. They
are merely a suggestion. If you need to proceed at a slower pace or
if you prefer to burn though the whole book as fast as possible, feel
free to do so!

NOTE: You are probably thinking that, if the test is open book, there
is no point in reading the material ahead of time. Technically, you
are correct. However, I think that we would be missing the whole
point. The true purpose of this test isn't to get a certificate and
earn a ribbon. The idea is to educate senior members about the rich
history of air and space exploration and prepare us all to be informed
and accurate champions of that information.

I have broken up the material as follows:

Week 0 (18 Feb - 28 Feb): Gain access to Aerospace: The Journey of
Flight. I'm giving a little more than a week in case any of you want
to order the book.
Week 1 (1 Mar - 7 Mar): Chapters 1-3
Week 2 (8 Mar - 14 Mar): Chapters 4-6
Week 3 (15 Mar - 21 Mar): Chapters 7-8
Week 4 (22 Mar - 28 Mar): Chapters 9-11
Week 5 (29 Mar - 4 Apr): Chapters 12-16
Week 6 (5 Apr - 11 Apr): Chapters 17-19
Week 7 (12 Apr - 18 Apr): Chapters 20-22
Week 8 (19 Apr - 25 Apr): Chapters 23-24
Week 9 (26 Apr - 2 May): Chapters 25-27

Phase 3: TESTING

We will start discussing testing (online and in-person) during
mid-late April. If you are flying ahead through the material and wish
to test earlier than that, please let me know and I'll help you to
navigate that process.

***If you choose to take the test online, make sure that you print or
save a copy of the completion certificate and give it to me. I need
to keep track of them and forward the information to the Wing DAE.***

SUMMARY

Thank you for hanging on for this whole email! In summary, aerospace
education is a very important part of CAP and is a required activity
for senior members. In this email, I tried to give you a brief, but
meaningful, overview of AEPSM, the Aerospace Education Program for
Senior Members, and what is expect of each of us. The main focus of
this email was to explain the purpose of the Yeager Test and how we
will be preparing for it.

Once again, there is no one to stop you from just taking the test open
book. However, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take the time the read the
material. I can guarantee that everyone will find at least a few
topics of interest. The text covers everything from historical
figures and pioneers to weather to explanations of the aerospace
industry all around us! Even if you have already taken the Yeager,
please use this as an opportunity to refresh/update your knowledge!

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, let me know! There
is a lot of information in the book and some of it may be initially
overwhelming. I'm more than glad to help you figure it out!

V/r,

DAVID A. DRUGA, Capt, CAP
Aerospace Education Officer

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