P-47... Origins of the nickname "The Jug" (1 Viewer)

[SaparotRob]

I'd like to see a model of that F-105 in Thunderbird livery. BTW I heard an ex-Air Force co-worker refer to the F-105 as the "Lead Sled".

 

[GreenKnight121]

Here are some photos taken during their Apr 26 1964 to May 9 1964 show career:

 

[GrauGeist]

Yep, "Thud" was certainly not used as an endearing term.

And the F-100 was often called the "Lead Sled" because of the enormous amount of runway it used to get airborn.

 

[fubar57]

​

Yes its Wiki....Thud Ridge - Wikipedia

 

[Admiral Beez]

Remember, the Thud was the only aircraft in Air Force history that had to be withdrawn from combat because nearly half the fleet had been shot down or crashed*, leaving too few to be tactically useful. It also quickly failed as a Thunderbird team aircraft, when one broke in half during practice for only its seventh show.

Reminds me of the Supermarine Scimitar.

 

[SaparotRob]

Here are some photos taken during their Apr 26 1964 to May 9 1964 show career:

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Great pictures! Thanks GreenKnight 121.

 

[SaparotRob]

Yep, "Thud" was certainly not used as an endearing term.

And the F-100 was often called the "Lead Sled" because of the enormous amount of runway it used to get airborn.

I wonder if that counts as a myth busted. He was a B-52 simulator technician (he said "repairman").

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Yep, "Thud" was certainly not used as an endearing term.

And the F-100 was often called the "Lead Sled" because of the enormous amount of runway it used to get airborn.

That's what us Cowboys fans called Drew Bledsoe as well. He never got into the air outside of a hard hit, though.

 

[GrauGeist]

I wonder if that counts as a myth busted. He was a B-52 simulator technician (he said "repairman").

Could have been just a case of mis-quoting or something to that effect.

 

[MiTasol]

One of my favorites, by the way, is for the cold-war era Douglas A3D, often called the "Whistling Sh*tcan"

A3D also called All 3 Dead

 

[Graeme]

From here....

http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/fishlm/folksongs/thud.htm

The WWII P-47 had been nicknamed the Hog, and the follow-on F-84 had become the Super Hog. It was quite natural then that the F-105 would get tagged with Ultra Hog. Transition problems resulting in "controlled flight into terrain" gave rise to the name Lieutenant-eater, but that didn't stick. No one really knows what direction the nickname might have taken but for television, Buffalo Bob Smith, and the Howdy Doody show. Howdy Doody, it was alleged, was the illegitimate son of a Strategic Air Command bomber pilot, and Howdy, assisted by Mickey Mouse, was now writing standardization manuals at HQ, USAF. Buffalo Bob Smith, many others contended, was the role model for any number of Air Force Generals, while Clarabelle the Clown trained USAF stan/eval officers. On the television show, intermittently making mischief with the villainous Mr. Bluster, was a bumbling, drooling, semi-evil Indian named Chief Thunderthud. It had a nice ring to it. Thunder THUD. Thud, as in the noise made by a large heavy object hitting the ground. So, the F-105 became the Thunderthud, and finally, in life and legend, just The Thud.

Whatever the nickname - an amazing machine!

 

[Graeme]

the highest noncombat accident rate of any USAF fighter.

In the early history of the F-100 - that statistic was once held by the F-100A?

 

[SaparotRob]

From here....

http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/fishlm/folksongs/thud.htm

The WWII P-47 had been nicknamed the Hog, and the follow-on F-84 had become the Super Hog. It was quite natural then that the F-105 would get tagged with Ultra Hog. Transition problems resulting in "controlled flight into terrain" gave rise to the name Lieutenant-eater, but that didn't stick. No one really knows what direction the nickname might have taken but for television, Buffalo Bob Smith, and the Howdy Doody show. Howdy Doody, it was alleged, was the illegitimate son of a Strategic Air Command bomber pilot, and Howdy, assisted by Mickey Mouse, was now writing standardization manuals at HQ, USAF. Buffalo Bob Smith, many others contended, was the role model for any number of Air Force Generals, while Clarabelle the Clown trained USAF stan/eval officers. On the television show, intermittently making mischief with the villainous Mr. Bluster, was a bumbling, drooling, semi-evil Indian named Chief Thunderthud. It had a nice ring to it. Thunder THUD. Thud, as in the noise made by a large heavy object hitting the ground. So, the F-105 became the Thunderthud, and finally, in life and legend, just The Thud.

Whatever the nickname - an amazing machine!


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I like this story and it's the one I'm sticking with.

 

[ClayO]

Add to the list:
Mossie, TseTse, Spit, Lanc, Hali, Chippie, Meatbox...

Don't forget Lightning, Mustang, Tomahawk, and many others.

 

[GrauGeist]

Don't forget Lightning, Mustang, Tomahawk, and many others.

I'm aware of the formal names - but was posting British nicknames for their types - which don't seemed to be as colorful as their yankee counterparts'.
Though "Terror Moth" and "Meatbox" seems to be pushing the envelope

 

[SaparotRob]

Meatbox?

 

[fubar57]

Gloster Meteor

 

[GrauGeist]

Yep...

 

[Chuck]

Thunderbolt was too long a name. Thud might fly as a nickname, but Jug does suit.

I believe the name Jug came from the fact that the early marl 47 fastbacks looked lie a huge jug. remember this was the 40s and the us was still fairly rural.

 

[ClayO]

Did the Germans or Japanese invent nicknames for their planes? I know about Emil, Fritz and Gustav for the Bf-109 E, F and G; IJN cadets named their trainer the "Red Dragonfly," but other than that I haven't found any examples..