# Aircraft nicknames - what's your favourite?



## CobberKane (Nov 26, 2012)

Quite a few recent threads have raised the subject of aircraft nick-names. It seems many that were supposedly ascribed by the enemy were actually the invention of friendly propaganda (fork tailed devil for the P-38 for instance). Be that as it may, some of the names were wonderfully descriptive. So what’s your favourite nickname and why? I’m going with “Son of a Bitch, second class” for the Curtiss Helldiver


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## andy2012 (Nov 26, 2012)

I like BUFF for the B-52 myself.


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## meatloaf109 (Nov 26, 2012)

Slow, But Deadly. Douglas Dauntless


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Nov 26, 2012)

The Fw 190 - Wurger - "Butcher Bird"

I also like the B-52 "BUFF"


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## CobberKane (Nov 26, 2012)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> The Fw 190 - Wurger - "Butcher Bird"
> 
> I also like the B-52 "BUFF"


 
Don't know if it referrs to the same critter, but i have a resident butcherbird at my house that comes in through the kitchen window every morning and cleans up anything vaguely edible before I chase it out.

How about these:

Rat
Slim
Varnished flying coffin
Whisling death (propaganda?)
Whispering death (more propaganda?)
flying pencil
Swallow


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## drgondog (Nov 26, 2012)

First and foremost for me is Thud for F105, second is Gravel Gobbler for F-84F, last is SLUF for the A-7D

Honorable mention is Hog for the A-10 and Aliminum Overcast for the C-125


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## Airframes (Nov 26, 2012)

Whistling Wheelbarrow or Flying T*t, for the A.W. Argosy C1.
Flying Flatiron for the Javelin.
Meatbox, for the Meteor.
Cranberry, for Canberra.


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Nov 26, 2012)

Anyone remember Habu? My favorite by the way.


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## GregP (Nov 26, 2012)

Baltimore Whore for the B-26 Marauder (no visible means of support due to small wings).

Budget Bombers for the B-2 Spirit.

Double-Breasted Cub for the Cessna UC-78 Boncat.

Flying Edsel for the Gernal Dynamics F-111 Aardvark.

Flying Speed Brake for the Lockheed Constellation.

FRED for the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy (Fantastic Ridiculous Economic Disaster).


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## N4521U (Nov 26, 2012)

Whispering death.
That was my first mother in law.
Actually both of them!


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## Capt. Vick (Nov 26, 2012)

Always loved "Warning Star" for the Lockheed EC-121. Sadly just found-out in an old AAHS Journal that they were never called that in service. They were just called "Connies"


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## GrauGeist (Nov 27, 2012)

I've always like the "Jug" for the P-47 and of course, you have to love the "Flying Dumptruck" which pretty much nails down the Skyraider's capabilities...

How about "Ensign Eliminator" that the Corsair had hung around it's neck?

And if I remember right, the Marauder was also called the "Widow Maker"


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## CobberKane (Nov 27, 2012)

Capt. Vick said:


> Always loved "Warning Star" for the Lockheed EC-121. Sadly just found-out in an old AAHS Journal that they were never called that in service. They were just called "Connies"


 
Seems that quite a few of the WWII era names were fatuous too, apprently bestowed as propaganda and then attributed to the enemy. "Fork Tailed Devil" for the P-38 is a frequently raised example of this and, as mentioned earlier, "Whistling Death" for the Corsair and "Whispering Death" for the Beaufighter may be similar cases, though I'm open to correction on this. Hey, why not retrospectively create a few names?

1. P51D - "Pegnant Guppy"
2. ME163 - "Luftwaffen Liquidiser"
3. B17 - "Flying Carpet" (collective)


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## silence (Nov 27, 2012)

Wasn't the F-4 Phantom known as the "Double Ugly"?


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## A4K (Nov 27, 2012)

Blunty/ SLUF - BAC Strikemaster
Plastic rat - CT-4B Airtainer
Wokka wokka - UH-1 Iroquois
The bent wing [email protected] from Stratford, Connecticut - F4U Corsair
Oxbox - Oxford
'10,000 aircraft parts flying in close formation' - Anson
Wooden Wonder/ Mossie - Mosquito
Der Luftwaffen Feuerzeug (the luftwaffe's lighter) - He 177

and official names:
Blitz (Lightning)- Ar 234
Spitfire - named by an Air Ministry worker after his quick tempered daughter. Designer R.J Mitchell is quoted as saying: 'that's just the sort of bloody silly name they would give it'


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## oldcrowcv63 (Nov 27, 2012)

_Flying Toaster_ for the F7U Vought Cutlass. (Westinghouse engines put out no more power than one of the company's toasters)


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## Denniss (Nov 27, 2012)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> The Fw 190 - Wurger - "Butcher Bird"


That wasn't a nickname, it was the official byname given by Focke-Wulf.


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## zoomar (Nov 27, 2012)

Here are two I've read in old books, but really don't know the true sources:

G4M (Betty) - "Flying Cigar" (supposedly a derrogatory Japanese nickname reflecting both the fuselage shape and the propensity of the bomber to catch fire due to huge and unprotected fuel tanks)

He-177 - "Luftwaffe's Lighter" (or somethmng similar, my German vocabulary is at a 1st grade level at best - again bestowed by flight crews reflecting the tendency for engine fires)

My personal favorites are those for the SBC-2 Helldiver and LaGG-3, which have already been given - of those, you can't beat the morbid and Slavically fatalistic idea of taking a guaranteed varnished coffin into combat, can you?


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## davparlr (Nov 27, 2012)

T-38 - White Rocket (when it was white)

T-37 - Flying dog whistle and various others because it was so noisy (we had to wear ear plugs AND ear muffs when around them)

C-5 - various names 

-Fat Albert

-A not so nice name based on the fact that when it first came out it often failed and it had a problimatic capability of using hydraulics to lower the fuselage for loading purposes, called kneeling - "Q***r Albert" - every time it kneeled, it b**w something.

F-104 - Missile with a man in it

SB2C - SOB 2nd Class


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## oldcrowcv63 (Nov 27, 2012)

Viggie: North American RA-5C Vigilante

Whale: Douglas A-3D Skywarrior

Station Wagon: Grumman EA-6B Prowler, Derisively by the A-6 Intruder Attack community

Stoof with a Roof or Willy Fudd: Grumman E-1 Tracer based on its S2F heritage or WF-1, its original designation.

Bug Smasher: Beececraft SNB (-18 or AT-11/C-45)


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## zoomar (Nov 27, 2012)

You also can't beat the great double entendre of Ascender ("Ass-ender") for the canard XP-55. Ascender, was an official name, I believe. Was this a deliberate double entendre by the Curtiss design staff or was the double meaning only developed unofficially later?


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## fastmongrel (Nov 27, 2012)

Bent wing bastard for the Corsair. Dont know wether this was a USN, FAA or RNZAF nickname.

Not a nickname but a favourite description of iirc the B52 "It didnt take off it just flew straight and level till the curvature of the Earth took effect"


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## Bernhart (Nov 27, 2012)

like the flying dump truck, how about we include mascots? always liked the phantom guy


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## tyrodtom (Nov 27, 2012)

The C-124, Ole Shaky, or 100,000 nuts and bolts flying in formation. So I guess that makes it the big brother of the Avro Anson.
The Hughes TH-55 , Mattel Messerscmitt, though I never knew why.

The Cessna O-2 Skymaster, at NKP where it was first used, we called it the mixmaster.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Nov 27, 2012)

AC-47D - "Spooky", "Puff the Magic Dragon"


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## ShVAK (Nov 27, 2012)

The Fw 190's is my fave, but someone got that one already. 

Ju 88 = Maid of All Work
F-8/F8U = Last Gunfighter, The Gator (for its low slung intake)
F-100 = The Hun
F-105 = Thud, Triple Threat (it could bomb you, strafe you or fall on you)
Il-2 = Hunchback, Flying Infantryman
Fi 156 = Criquet
Hs 129 = Safe Cracker
F4U = Hose Nose
F-84 = Ground Loving Whore, World's Fastest Tricycle, The Iron Crowbar
I-16 = Mosca (Spanish for fly, common nickname during Spanish Civil War)
F2A = American Car, Flying Beer Bottle (both Finnish nicknames)


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## tyrodtom (Nov 27, 2012)

I think the F-105 might have the most nick names. Thunderthud, Thud, Triple Threat, Hog, Ultra Hog, Squat Bomber, Lead Sled, and, Another Lead Sled from Republic, because the F-84 was also had Lead Sled as a nick name.
My first duty station in the USAF was Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C., in 1966, the TAC sqd. stationed there was transitioning from the F-105 to the F-4 as I got there. Those were some happy pilots. 
They weren't so happy when they got to Nam, and wished for guns.


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## Edgar Brooks (Nov 28, 2012)

A4K said:


> Spitfire - named by an Air Ministry worker after his quick tempered daughter. Designer R.J Mitchell is quoted as saying: 'that's just the sort of bloody silly name they would give it'


Sorry, but wrong (twice,) it was named by the Vickers chairman, and (according to his son) Mitchell said, "Bloody silly, naming it after a failure," meaning that he didn't like it having the same name as the dud Type 224.
B-36 "Aluminium (sorry, but it's the U.K. spelling) Overcast."
Vulcan "Tin Triangle."
E.E. Lightning "Frightening."


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## R Pope (Nov 28, 2012)

Vultee Vindicator-"Wind Indicator"
B26-"One a day in Tampa Bay" "Flying prostitute" (No visible means of support)
B17 "Big ass bird"
Newer, but anyway, F16 "Lawn Dart"
And I like what an ETO pilot called his P47...."Repulsive Thunderbox!"


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## meatloaf109 (Nov 28, 2012)

Another name for the F-8 was, "The Sailor Inhailer"


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## VBF-13 (Nov 28, 2012)

"Speedy D" was a common nickname for the SBD.


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## A4K (Nov 28, 2012)

Post deleted. Irrelevant to thread subject.


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## Bernhart (Nov 28, 2012)

rememeber the 104's being called widow makers


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## fubar57 (Nov 28, 2012)

Dang, all the good ones are gone. Not an aircraft but this still makes me smile. Short conversation overheard on board an LST(Landing Ship Tank) on it's way to Normandy on D-Day..."What's LST stand for anyhow?" "Long Slow Target".....silence.

Geo


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## FLYBOYJ (Nov 28, 2012)

Edgar Brooks said:


> Sorry, but wrong (twice,) it was named by the Vickers chairman, and (according to his son) Mitchell said, "Bloody silly, naming it after a failure," meaning that he didn't like it having the same name as the dud Type 224.
> B-36 "Aluminium (sorry, but it's the U.K. spelling) Overcast."
> Vulcan "Tin Triangle."
> E.E. Lightning "Frightening."





A4K said:


> I just love these f###ing information clashes...
> 
> Ok, probably screwed up re the Air Ministry. My bad. I do remember a committee was formed to name her. On thinking about it, that would more logically be Vickers, so change the 'Air Ministry worker' to 'Vickers worker' and my comment still stands. Maybe it was the Chairman's suggestion that won it, I don't remember.
> 
> ...



OK folks, enough please!


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## meatloaf109 (Nov 28, 2012)

Wow, no kidding, This was just a light-hearted thread on silly aircraft nicknames. Y'all need to step down a bit. It's not like we were debating something serious, like the kill ratio of the '109 vs. the P-51! (Let the fireworks begin!)


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## Edgar Brooks (Nov 28, 2012)

A4K said:


> Ok, probably screwed up re the Air Ministry. My bad. I do remember a committee was formed to name her. On thinking about it, that would more logically be Vickers, so change the 'Air Ministry worker' to 'Vickers worker' and my comment still stands. Maybe it was the Chairman's suggestion that won it, I don't remember.


Excuse me for deleting the (poorly concealed) bad language; it was the Vickers chairman, since he called his daughter a spitfire.


> What I distinctly remember reading was Mitchell's comment on hearing of the decision, because it surprised me so much.
> IF what I wrote is incorrect, then we have (yet another) case of which author got their facts screwed up...


Mitchell's son might have got it wrong, but he was there, while neither of us were, so I give him the benefit of the doubt. One thought, that you might like to consider, if Mitchell disliked the name so much, why didn't he make the same comment about the similarly-named Type 224?
As I've said, elsewhere, I do research, and pass the results on to others, with the idea that those others might find it useful; if you don't wish to receive that information, I can only suggest that you stop reading my posts. 
If the moderators of this site feel that my input is no longer welcome, I'm sure they'll tell me, without resorting to bad language, and, if that happens, I shall go elsewhere.
Finally, please don't call my (deceased) mother a bitch (yes, I do know what SOB stands for.)


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## CobberKane (Nov 28, 2012)

I think the Curtiss Helldiver has a prior claim to that term anyway


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Nov 28, 2012)

Joe said for you both to chill out! Knock it out!


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## A4K (Nov 29, 2012)

All cool from here, said my piece.


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## timmy (Nov 29, 2012)

Well one of the most famous nicknames for a plane, for all the wrong reasons

Has to be 'Spruce Goose' for the Hughes H-4 Hercules

Supposed to be ready for the war... well we all know the story


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## michaelmaltby (Nov 29, 2012)

"Spad" for the Skyraider -- I've always liked that -- and Jolly Green Giant.

MM


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## oldcrowcv63 (Nov 29, 2012)

Common Nicknames:

Vought F7U Cutlass and a number of others: Ensign Eliminator (I expect this is one that surfaces with each generation of naval aviators.)

North American's F-100 SuperSaber and/or Grumman's F9F Cougar and probably others: Lead Sled 

Grumman TBF: Turkey

Mitsubishi G4M: Type 1 Lighter 

Matin PBM: Flying gas tank

Some specific aircraft carrier ship names abused: (No one can outdo the Brit's talent for this category)

HMS Courageous: Outrageous
HMS Furious: Curious 
HMS Glorious: Uproarious

To take all the fun out of this thread I offer: the incomplete lists found at:

Aircraft Nicknames

List of warships by nickname - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## FLYBOYJ (Nov 29, 2012)

Some fun with manufacturers...

"If its Boeing, I ain't going."
"Its a Douglas, god help us."
"Its a TriStar, call a rental car."
"Airbus - Scarebus" Fly by wire, die by fire.
Aircoupe - Scarecoupe


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## soalebm (Nov 29, 2012)

My favorite nickname is Never Satisfied


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## mhuxt (Nov 29, 2012)

Well, if we're going with names of individual airframes, two of my favourites are the B-17 "Pullmadique" and the Mosquito "Shytot" (say them out loud).


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## Feu (Dec 3, 2012)

I don't know how common but:
B-24 - The crate they sent the B-17 in.

SB2C - Espy Duecey ( I actually like the SOB 2nd Class nickname better but somebody got that already)

Did somebody mention the ironic "Speedy D" for SBD?


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## Feu (Dec 3, 2012)

Oh yeah. Somebody did.


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## wuzak (Dec 4, 2012)

zoomar said:


> You also can't beat the great double entendre of Ascender ("Ass-ender") for the canard XP-55. Ascender, was an official name, I believe. Was this a deliberate double entendre by the Curtiss design staff or was the double meaning only developed unofficially later?



I believe that the name of the XP-55 was created from a competition amongst Curtiss employees. So it is quite probable that the double entendre was deliberate, and that Curtiss management either played along or didn't realise.


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## CobberKane (Dec 4, 2012)

wuzak said:


> I believe that the name of the XP-55 was created from a competition amongst Curtiss employees. So it is quite probable that the double entendre was deliberate, and that Curtiss management either played along or didn't realise.


 
Kinda like apocraphyl kids cartoon series Captain Pugwash, starring Master Bates, Seaman Staines and Roger the cabin boy...


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## nuuumannn (Dec 5, 2012)

How about airlines:

SABENA; Such A Bad Experience Never Again, UTA; Unlikely To Arrive...

To add to RN ships, HMS Argus was nicknamed 'the Flat Iron', the RN submarines that experimented with hydrogen peroxide turbines based on Helmuth Walter's work in Hamburg were named HMS Explorer and Excalibur, these quite naturally became HMS Exploder and Excruciator.

Some favourite aircraft ones:

AM-1 Mauler; Awful Monster

B-26 was also known as 'the flying prostitue' because of its stubby wings, as in 'no visible means of support'

R-4 Hoverfly, in fact any helicopter: frustrated palm tree, flying egg beater. A quote; "helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission"

MiG-21 was nicknamed the balalaika by its crews due to its simplicity.

MiG-25 was called the flying restaurant due to its size.

Blackburn Buccaneer; Banana bomber, or 'nana', as in 'Blackburn nana' (say it fast). While the Bucc was still on the secret list before it had flown, employees called it the ARNA, as in 'A Royal Navy Aircraft'.

Republic XF-84 turbo prop; 'Thunderscreech'

B-1 AMSA; Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft became 'America's Most Studied Airplane'

Similarly, Panavia's MRCA; Multi Role Combat Aircraft became 'Must Refurbish the Canberra Again'

X-24 lifting bodies were known as 'the flying potatoes'

F-111 was universally known as 'the Pig' in Australia

CH-47 'S**t hook' or 'Wokka wokka' because of its less than stealthy approach.

Me 323; 'Leukoplastbomber' (Sticky tape bomber)

Do 335; 'Ameisenbar' (Ant eater)

Fw 189; 'Das fliegende auge' (The flying eye)

He 177; 'Luftwaffen feuerzeug' (Luftwaffe's lighter)

Bv 138; 'Holzschuh' (Clog)

Ar 196; 'Das fliegende aquarium' (obvious, really)

Bf 109 Gustav was sometimes called 'Beule' (boil) because of the cannon bumps on the forward cowls

The laconic and war weary Berliners nicknamed the transports during the Berlin Airlift 'Roisin Bombern', or 'Raisin Bombers', another Berlin Airlift one was 'Tarmac smashers'.


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## A4K (Dec 6, 2012)

Good ones Grant.

The 'Rosinen bomber' nickname was an affectionate one, apparently originating from transport pilot Gail Havorsen throwing bags of raisins and sweets out the window to children watching the aircraft landing. After a number of occasions, he was called into his Co's office, and thought he would be reprimanded - instead he was told it was doing wonders for US-German relations, and to keep doing so!


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## nuuumannn (Dec 6, 2012)

Thanks Evan, German school kids learned about the raisin bombers in history class, I used to date a German girl from Berlin who told me this when she found out I was into aeroplanes.

I met Gail Halvorsen once; he did a 'tour' on the 50th anniversary of the airlift in a C-54 and landed at Duxford, where he talked to enthusiasts and since I had spent a bit of time in Berlin my German girlfriend was going to Humbolt Uni there - I showed him a few photos I'd taken at Tempelhof. He was a cheery fella who didn't stop smiling!


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 6, 2012)

nuuumannn said:


> Thanks Evan, German school kids learned about the raisin bombers in history class, I used to date a German girl from Berlin who told me this when she found out I was into aeroplanes.
> 
> I met Gail Halvorsen once; he did a 'tour' on the 50th anniversary of the airlift in a C-54 and landed at Duxford, where he talked to enthusiasts and since I had spent a bit of time in Berlin my German girlfriend was going to Humbolt Uni there - I showed him a few photos I'd taken at Tempelhof. He was a cheery fella who didn't stop smiling!



There is actually several monuments to the "Rosinenbomber" in Germany.


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## nuuumannn (Dec 6, 2012)

Tempelhof's mural is pretty cool, there's a Hastings at the Allied Museum not far from Gatow and there's an ex-RAAF C-47 at Gatow itself. When I first visited Tempelhof - I flew in and out of there before it closed - I found where the Dak that's at the Deutches Technik Museum and the C-54 that Halvorsen flew in for preservation (he told me) had sat outside the terminal, but all that remained were these two signs telling what the aircraft were, although I found the C-54 in one of the hangars at THF. These are the photos I showed him.

Outside the main terminal is this memorial in front of the U-Bahn station Platz der Luftbrucke; lit. "Place of the Air Bridge". The three prongs represent the three routes the Allied aircraft used to fly in and out of Berlin during the Airlift. At the base of the memorial are the names of those who lost their lives on flight ops. That's the terminal in the background.






This one shows the eagle head that was severed from its body at the end of the war, outside the terminal entrance "Central Flughafen". It used to stand on the plinth on the roof between the two flag poles clutching a swastika in its claws in typical Nazi style. Wonder if there's some guy somewhere in Berlin with an enormous bronze swastika in his garage?!






Inside the main entrance of the booking hall. Tempelhof came across as one of the most hassle free airports I've ever flown into; this was before 9/11 though. 






Tucked incongrously under a stairwell, and out of general visibility is this token gesture to the frantic activity that took place in Berlin in 1948 -1949. The balding guy to the left is Halvorsen. When he saw this he smiled a big smile!






Halvorsen said he actually flew that one into Tempelhof for preservation after the Airlift. 






Slight thread drift; I love Berlin, cool city.


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## claidemore (Dec 7, 2012)

Avro Lancaster - paddle steamer
Fairey Swordfish - stringbag
Supermarine Stranraer - whistling shithouse
Supermarine Walrus - shagbat
Yak 1 etc, - Yastrebok (Little Hawk), Ostronosyi (Sharp Nose)
Petlyakov Pe 2 - peshka (pawn)
Hawker Typhoon - tiffie
deHavilland Mosquito - mossie, balsa bomber, wooden wonder
Short Sunderland - flying porcupine
Tupolev SB2 - pterodactyl


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## A4K (Dec 7, 2012)

Great stuff Chris and Grant! 
Never knew there were such monuments there, but no surprise that there are.
And to meet the man himself is something else Grant - good on ya!


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## FLYBOYJ (Dec 7, 2012)

F-111 was also called the "wonderlemon"

Not so much a a name but a joke...

"Beer and airplanes - have one P-3"


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## nuuumannn (Dec 7, 2012)

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley; Flying Barn Door

Handley Page Hampden; Flying Suitcase

F-16; The Electric Jet

Panavia Tornado; The Fin - the first Tornado Air Defece Variants were not fitted with their nose mounted radar and in its place was a lump of concrete for ballast, they became known as the 'Blue Circle Tornadoes' after a cement manufacturing company in the UK.

I vaguely remember reading something about a comment made about Spitfire night fighters, or was it bombers? Someone said that it's like, "...making a sow's ear out of a silk purse"


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## meatloaf109 (Dec 7, 2012)

And a personal one for the 707 that brought me home one time, "You beautiful bird!"


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## NEEBLAMMERS (Dec 8, 2012)

I'm sure I've read that the Hudson also had the moniker 'The Boomerang' not because of its planform , like the B2, but because 'it always came back'?
Also, here's the germination of a propaganda derived nickname:-

Bristol Beaufighter; The Ten Gun Terror


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsUdbzQCm_Y_


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## Geedee (Dec 8, 2012)

Methinks the most bizarre knickname was the 'Shagbat'... the common knickname for the Supermarine Walrus. Not sure where it came from, but its certainly different !!


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## nuuumannn (Dec 8, 2012)

Shagbat... yep, weird one; from what I've read it comes from a mythical creature that flies in ever decreasing circles.


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## mhuxt (Dec 11, 2012)

The Ventura was referred to by RAF crews as "The Flying Pig."


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## model299 (Dec 13, 2012)

A couple that I don't believe I've seen mentioned yet:

B-36 = "Thundering Peacemaker" Because of the incredible noise they made, and the fact they never fired a shot in anger.

Boeing 707 = "Kerosene Queen" Due to the early model's appetite for fuel.


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## stona (Dec 14, 2012)

nuuumannn said:


> Panavia Tornado; The Fin



And related to that is "Norfolk land shark" as the fin was visible at distance across the flatlands of Eastern England like something from jaws.

The most common RAF nick name for the Tornado was "Tonka" after the well known tough kids' toys.

Cheers

Steve


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## Timppa (Dec 16, 2012)

> "At first I didn't like when I heard the nickname "turkey". I thought it was disrespectful, until one day I was in the ready room watching a recovery. When you're in the ready room, everything just stops when an airplane is recovered. Everybody's watching the TV screen to make sure it goes okay. So I'm watching the airplane come in, and it has so many moving surfaces-these huge horizontal stabilators that are as big as an A-4's main wing and they move differentially, and the spoilers rise on the wing, and it's flapping and rocking. And i had to admit: It looked just like a turkey".



Dave Parsons, VF-102, -32, -101


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## tyrodtom (Dec 16, 2012)

Then there's aircraft with official names that were just too close to something else to be ignored. 
Like the CH-47 Chinook, we changed that to **** hook, which was really a better description, because there was no guessing what you might see getting sling loaded from a Chinook. Everything from downed aircraft to a dead elephant.


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## J dog (Dec 16, 2012)

My favorite is the Jug for the P 47 Lightening bolt because that plane could take a hell of beating and still come home!


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## SonofaVBF-13Pilot (Dec 18, 2012)

Don't forget the old "Speedy-D" was also called Slow But Deadly, used affectionately, which is why it is my favorite nickname.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 19, 2012)

tyrodtom said:


> Then there's aircraft with official names that were just too close to something else to be ignored.
> Like the CH-47 Chinook, we changed that to **** hook, which was really a better description, because there was no guessing what you might see getting sling loaded from a Chinook. Everything from downed aircraft to a dead elephant.



We still call it a Shithook today.


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## wuzak (Dec 22, 2012)

Just learned from The Discovery Channel than the B-36 was nicknamed "the aluminium overcoat"! 

I think they meant "overcast".


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL0CpD0YlsU_

(near the end)


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## hedge hopper (Dec 26, 2012)

Hi all, just joined.
One of my favorite aircraft nicknames is; ''Hang The Expense''. This name being used on seven different B-17s mostly from the 100th BG and piloted by Frank Valesh. I was going to have a 1/72nd scale model made of this particular aircraft. Instead I chose one called; ''Our Gal Sal'' another B-17 from the 100th BG.


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