Aircraft nicknames - what's your favourite?

[CobberKane]

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

 

[andy2012]

I like BUFF for the B-52 myself.

 

[meatloaf109]

Slow, But Deadly. Douglas Dauntless

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The Fw 190 - Wurger - "Butcher Bird"

I also like the B-52 "BUFF"

 

[CobberKane]

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

 

[drgondog]

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

 

[Airframes]

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

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Anyone remember Habu? My favorite by the way.

 

[GregP]

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).

 

[N4521U]

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

 

[Capt. Vick]

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"

 

[GrauGeist]

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"

 

[CobberKane]

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)

 

[silence]

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

 

[A4K]

Blunty/ SLUF - BAC Strikemaster
Plastic rat - CT-4B Airtainer
Wokka wokka - UH-1 Iroquois
The bent wing b@stard 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'

 

[oldcrowcv63]

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

 

[Denniss]

The Fw 190 - Wurger - "Butcher Bird"

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

 

[zoomar]

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?

 

[davparlr]

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

 

[oldcrowcv63]

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)