What's in a name?

[Dac]

The thread on the naming of the F-35 has got me thinking about the designation of military aircraft. Often the official name is all but forgotten to the men flying and maintaning the aircraft on a daily basis. They come up with their own names which often suit the plane much better.

Share some of your favorites here, mine are:

A-4 Skyhawk: Scooter, Heinemann's Hotrod
B-52 Stratofortress: BUFF(Big Ugly Fat ******)
F-16 Fighting Falcon: Electric Jet, Viper

 

[Twitch]

It'll be called the $$$ due to massive cost over runs.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

The F-35 hasn't had cost over-runs YET - the X-35 program did over-run by about 10 billion, but I do Believe that Boeing over-ran their X-32 budget as well. BUT - as the F-35's roll out gets closer don't be surprised to see the the over-runs as well as the delay in schedule!!!

 

[Twitch]

Yet is the operative word.

I seriously can't recall any contract since the late 60s at least that didn't go over. And with the F-22 cost at $339-361 million per plane at this point figuring 183 planes The F-35 should escalate too. although there is a planned build of 2,500 so as cost per unit will be like $60 million per copy when can you remember a contract that wasn't cut? Probably the last one was the F-86!

This is why a $15 million robot UCAV or RPV- remote piloted vehicle is more and more attractive all the time.

Hell I actually personally remember when Lockheed's F-104s were a million each. Then the F-4 came along with an ultimate $3-4 million price tag and the F-111 was a then-staggering $7 million. Bargain F-5s were only $1.5 million. It all went to the crapper from there.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

UH-60 Blackhawk - Lawn Dart

Well not anymore, they fixed that problem...

 

[Dac]

UH-60 Blackhawk - Lawn Dart

Well not anymore, they fixed that problem...

There's some dramatic footage of UH-60s going in.

The Thud got it's nickname for similiar reasons. Combat related tho.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The Blackhawk used to have a problem when flying over High Frequency Radio sites and the Stabilator would do an uncommanded movement and the aircraft would basically fly into the ground so it got that name. They since have installed pin filter adaptors and it has corrected the problem.

 

[Dac]

The 737 had a similiar problem with uncommanded rudder movement that caused the loss of several airliners. It was caused by freezing of a hydraulic valve or something like that.

 

[R988]

The F-111 oddly named the Aardvark is often called the Pig by crews I think.
On that theme I think the EF-111 Raven was nicknamed the Spark Vark.

The SR-71 Blackbird was called the Habu (type of snake common or native in the region where they were usually based) by crews.

Lagg-3 was usually called something in Russian corresponding to it's designation roughly translated as varnished flying coffin.

Another for the Lagg 3 and/or possibly the later La 5s (or maybe even an unrelated aircraft) was nicknamed 'the flying grand piano' or something like that, another reference to the wood based construction.

Il-2 Sturmovik had a few including Iron dog and Gorbatyi (meaning Hunchback)

German WW2 fighters usually got named with the designation, Fw190A = Anton, Fw190D = Dora, 109E = Emil, 109F = Frederick, 109G = Gustav etc
I think this is after the german phoenetic alphabet?

DC-3/C-47 Skytrain = Gooney Bird, Vomit comet

That Blomn and Voss flying boat was nicknamed the Flying Clog (looked like a shoe)

AD1 Skyraider = Able Dog

A3D Skywarrior = All Three Dead

Most very large aircraft like B-36 or C-5 = Aluminium Overcast

Many large transport aircraft like C-130 or C-5 are sometimes called Fat Albert

Many stripped out and lightened fighters in WW2 like the L model of the P-40 were called Gypsy Rose Lee after a famous stripper of the time.

Do17 - Flying Pencil

U2 - Dragon Lady

B-26 Marauder - Baltimore Whore or flying prostitute (no visible means of support, ie short wings) also Windowmaker

P-47 - Jug

F-117 - Bat Plane, wobblin goblin

B1B - Bone (B One, geddit?)

Double Ugly - EA-6B (twice as ugly as the A6), sometimes F-4 Phantom is called this

B-29 - Dreamboat

Ju-88 - Dreifinger (german for three fingers, due to appearence with fuselage and engines)

F4U - Ensign Eliminator, due to torque roll, poor vision and large prop

Handley Page Hampden - Flying Suitcase

A7 Corsair - man eater, after the large intake, or more commonly SLUFF similar to the BUFF but with the Sl meaning Short little, instead of Big.

Sikorsky R-4 - Frustrated Palm Tree (I love that one )

AC-47 gunship - Puff the magic dragon, or spooky

Vickers Wellington - Wimpy, after a cartoon character of the time

F-84F - Ground loving whore (I think this might be due to needing a lot of maintainence rather than crashing a lot, but I'm just guessing on this one)

F-4 Phantom - Old smokey (J79 was quite smokey), also Rhino amongst others

B-239 (Buffalo) - called the Pylly Walteri in Finland, meaning bustling walter, i ahve no idea why, crazy Fins... in the west it was also called the flying barrell or beer barrell

Gloster Meteor - meat box

F-86K - In Dutch service nicknames the Kaasjager which means, cheese fighter, apparently the letter K is associated with cheese in Dutch or something like that.

F-18 - Plastic bug (due to composite construction being fairly new at the time)

Lysander - Lizze

Avia S-199 - Mule (due to difficult flying characteristics)

Supermarine Walrus - shagbat (another brilliant one)

Yak 3U - Ubiytsa from the U designation, meaning Killer

Sea harrier - SHar (shortening of Sea Harrier obviously), harriers have also been called Scarrier after they crashed a lot in the US

CH-47 Chinook - **** hook.

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver - Son of a ***** 2nd Class

P-51 - spam can (due to it falling apart when pilots over stressed the airframe

C-141 - Star lizard, or mountain magnet

F-15 - Tennis Court (due to large upper surface area and large radar cross section)

F-105 - Thud (already explained) and also triple threat (it could bomb you, shoot you or fall on you)

F-14 - Turkey, also Bombcat in the later versions when they fitted bombs

Vought SB2U Vindicator - Vibrator, wind indicator

Found some more here for military aircraft
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/fltline2/nickname.htm

and some for civilian aircraft
http://www.chris.brady.ukgateway.net/aircraftnicknames.htm

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeap thats what took down the Alaska Airlines 737 I believe.

Frozen Hydraulic valve is not what caused the problem though. Aircraft Hydraulic fluid is mixed with ethyl and other anti freezing agents. The cause was defective design flaw in the 737s rudder-pedal fasteners that could cause uncommanded control movements of the rudder.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

German WW2 fighters usually got named with the designation, Fw190A = Anton, Fw190D = Dora, 109E = Emil, 109F = Frederick, 109G = Gustav etc
I think this is after the german phoenetic alphabet?

That is exactly what it is the German phonetic alphebet, however the F was a Friedrich (which actually is Frederick in German). All D models no matter what kind of aircraft were Doras. For instance as you said the Fw-190D and the Bf-109D were all Doras. No one really called them Doras though, but the name has sort of stuck around today.

CH-47 Chinook - **** hook.

Us Blackhawk guys also like to effectionatly call it: A Dumptruck being ****ed by 2 Palm Trees.

 

[Dac]

Yeap thats what took down the Alaska Airlines 737 I believe.

Frozen Hydraulic valve is not what caused the problem though. Aircraft Hydraulic fluid is mixed with ethyl and other anti freezing agents. The cause was defective design flaw in the 737s rudder-pedal fasteners that could cause uncommanded control movements of the rudder.

I should have used siezed instead of freeze. I thought the problem was caused by a hydraulic valve that siezed under certain pilot inputs causing a control reversal with the rudder.

Us Blackhawk guys also like to effectionatly call it: A Dumptruck being ****ed by 2 Palm Trees.

 

[pbfoot]

Cf 100 -clunk
Twin Otter -Twotter
T33 -Tb one rd
F 89-Lead sled
F 104 is the original German lawn Dart
EA6 Prowler - the Queer ( unnatural for four guys to sit that close together)

 

[evangilder]

FYI, the F-111 was never officially called the aardvark until it was retired because the word basically meant "ground pig". At Lakenheath they called them 'varks and Harleys. Harleys after Red Flag because with all of the other airplanes there, you could easily spot where the 111s were by the oil and hydraulic stains on the tarmac, like a leaking Harley.

 

[Dac]

EA6 Prowler - the Queer ( unnatural for four guys to sit that close together)

And from the gaudy gold tinted canopy.

 

[pbfoot]

even the f5 has the gold tint

 

[Dac]

even the f5 has the gold tint

Some EA-6Bs had heavy gold tint to protect their electronic compared to other planes at the time.

 

[Smokey]

F 100 Super Sabre:- "Notso" (Super Sabre)

I 16:- Flea, Donkey, Rat

P 400:- P40 with a Zero on its tail

 

[pbfoot]

Some EA-6Bs had heavy gold tint to protect their electronic compared to other planes at the time.

most modern military aircraft have the gold tint

 

[Dac]

Most do now, but it was introduced in EW aircraft to protect their sensitive electronics from radiation. At the time the "Queer" got it's name it was one of the few to have this feature.