Stupid names for aircraft...

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capercaillie
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by capercaillie »

DerekF wrote:I have to say I agree. I haven't much time for most nicknames or spotters names. Piggy, Lump, Tonka etc. I also have a dislike for the phrase "affectionately known as " such as "affectionately known as the Widow Maker". That sort of thing.


What's your take on 'Hog or 'Vark? Especially as in service neither are official names - I appreciate Aardvark was officially adopted on retirement of the F-111 (or should I say Swinger?), and also generated the nickname Sparkvark for the EF-111 Raven. Yet both were widely used, not just in the "spotter community".
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DerekF
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by DerekF »

Same as all nicknames.. not much really.

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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by FTS »

I've never been a fan of the name Martlet. I much prefer the manufacturers name, Wildcat.
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by AlexC »

FTS wrote:I've never been a fan of the name Martlet. I much prefer the manufacturers name, Wildcat.


The Royal Navy seems to have agreed with you, as the name was changed to Wildcat in RN service in January 1944. A Martlet is a heraldic charge, a bird without legs.
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by FTS »

AlexC wrote:
FTS wrote:I've never been a fan of the name Martlet. I much prefer the manufacturers name, Wildcat.


The Royal Navy seems to have agreed with you, as the name was changed to Wildcat in RN service in January 1944. A Martlet is a heraldic charge, a bird without legs.


I never new they did that. I'd heard the one at Duxford called the Martlet on a number of occasions so I never thought it was changed at some point.
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by AlexC »

Extract from British Naval Aircraft by Owen Thetford -

'Unlike the earlier Martlets delivered to the F.A.A. in 1940 and 1941, the Martlet IV and subsequent fighters in the series were not bought by the British Government, but were supplied under lend-lease arrangements. Both the Martlet IV and V were known as such until January 1944, when the name was changed to Wildcat to conform with U.S. Navy nomenclature.'
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Ian G »

Just been catching up on some pilot magazines and they cover a flight in a Pipistrel 'Sinus' . . .
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Mad Dan
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Mad Dan »

Ian G said:
Just been catching up on some pilot magazines and they cover a flight in a Pipistrel 'Sinus' . . .

Is that the one with the nosewheel?
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Timc »

I'll add one to the mix....Known to the aircrews as "Daffy"....It's the Boulton-Paul Defiant.

Designated as a "turret fighter" sadly under powered compared to, by then contemporary fighters it had initial success before being withdrawn to training and target towing duties during the war.

Just edited the post as I'm curious to the fact that the modern day Typhoon is known as a "Tiffey/Tiffie" so the question is was the "original" Hawker Typhoon known by the same nickname?

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Mad Dan
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Mad Dan »

Not that keen onn nicknames myself either - but Tiffie doesn't strike me as being too dreadful an example and does indeed hark back to the original Typhoon of WW2 fame, so there is a tenuous historical link there.

As for the Boulton-Paul Defiant, I would never classify that as a stupid name. 'Daffy' perhaps, but I think Defiant is a rather fine name, although regrettably and tragically the aircraft proved vulnerable when tested in combat and played little part in the Battle of Britain and was soon relegated to second-line duties.
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Hosky »

TomG wrote:Overstrand and Sidestrand always had me scratching my ................. head.


Just like the village names up the road from me
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Craig »

Mad Dan wrote:Not that keen onn nicknames myself either - but Tiffie doesn't strike me as being too dreadful an example and does indeed hark back to the original Typhoon of WW2 fame, so there is a tenuous historical link there.

As for the Boulton-Paul Defiant, I would never classify that as a stupid name. 'Daffy' perhaps, but I think Defiant is a rather fine name, although regrettably and tragically the aircraft proved vulnerable when tested in combat and played little part in the Battle of Britain and was soon relegated to second-line duties.

I couldn't help but think Defiant became almost tragically prophetic, trying to defy the odds with awful results :sad:

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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by silver fox »

Fleet flyer wrote:
[I have to say I did'nt get to experience that "pleasure", Born in the wrong age me. Although I did hear that it could give it's pilots a shake up!!


Thinking about it (ok I know that's dangerous) Shorts had a penchant for strange aircraft and names, what would you imagine a Shorts Sperrin to be?

Actually thrown together as some sort of backup should the Valiant, Victor and Vulcan not prove successful, most peculiar looking thing.

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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Martin the Martian »

FTS wrote:
AlexC wrote:
FTS wrote:I've never been a fan of the name Martlet. I much prefer the manufacturers name, Wildcat.


The Royal Navy seems to have agreed with you, as the name was changed to Wildcat in RN service in January 1944. A Martlet is a heraldic charge, a bird without legs.


I never new they did that. I'd heard the one at Duxford called the Martlet on a number of occasions so I never thought it was changed at some point.


And for completeness the Avenger was named the Tarpon, while the Hellcat was the Gannet. The names were changed back to avoid confusion.
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Martin the Martian
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Martin the Martian »

It's worth remembering that the Air Ministry decided what the names of RAF aircraft would be, even changing them from the maker's name (the Hawker Fury had been named Hornet by Hawker Aviation, to fall in with their alliterative policy, but the Air Ministry decided otherwise). According to Names With Wings by 1939 the system was as follows:

Fighters -general words indicating speed, activity or aggressiveness, eg Gladiator;
Bombers -place names -an inland town of the British Empire or associated with British history, eg Blenheim;
Army co-operation -classical words, eg Lysander;
General purpose torpedo and general reconnaissance land planes -British historical names, eg Anson;
Transports -counties or districts of the British Empire, eg Bombay;
Flying boats -coastal towns and seaports of the British Empire, eg Sunderland;
Trainers and target tugs -words indicating tuition and places of education(but not Air Force training establishments), eg Dominie;
Gliders -historic military leaders, eg Hengist;
Naval aircraft -as proposed by the Admiralty.

US- and Canadian-built aircraft would generally follow the same rules, but would adopt names with a North American flavour, such as Harvard or Hudson.
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by SPLAT »

capercaillie wrote:
DerekF wrote:I have to say I agree. I haven't much time for most nicknames or spotters names. Piggy, Lump, Tonka etc. I also have a dislike for the phrase "affectionately known as " such as "affectionately known as the Widow Maker". That sort of thing.


What's your take on 'Hog or 'Vark? Especially as in service neither are official names - I appreciate Aardvark was officially adopted on retirement of the F-111 (or should I say Swinger?), and also generated the nickname Sparkvark for the EF-111 Raven. Yet both were widely used, not just in the "spotter community".


I know my beloved A10 is called the Hog , but at least thats more realistic , even better with the Hogs mouth painted.
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by ericbee123 »

Always wondered why the Vulcan was named after Spock's home planet from Star Trek ?

Is it because the shape of it is similar to the Live Long and Prosper hand sign ? That would be logical.

:snack: :whistle: :whistle:
Disclaimer-I have spell/grammar checked this post, it may still contain mistakes that might cause offence.

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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by parsley »

Spiny Norman wrote:
rdchawk wrote:
capercaillie wrote:
rdchawk wrote:Gannet?? Gnat??

:dunno:
A naval aircraft that folds its wings like a seabird and something small that flies, both really stupid?


Blimey - Didn't realise we were going to be judged on our thoughts.

Gannet = Fat Bird and Gnat = small fly




Gnat - wee thing that buzzes around I can see but a Gannet's mode of operation is to plunge at great speed into the sea!



Perhaps with the initial fighter version of the Gnat (which was developed from the Folland Midge) as well it was the idea of a small thing that could inflict a bite out of relation to it's small size

As far as the spotter names go when the cars were seen as the hallmark of bad and naff the nickname for the Bae ATP of "Skoda" allways amused me

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Martin the Martian
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by Martin the Martian »

ericbee123 wrote:Always wondered why the Vulcan was named after Spock's home planet from Star Trek ?

Is it because the shape of it is similar to the Live Long and Prosper hand sign ? That would be logical.

:snack: :whistle: :whistle:


I'm assuming a fair bit of irony in your question, which is appropriate as the Vulcan is shaped like an iron, particularly as Star Trek did not appear until 14 years after the Vulcan was named :wink: .

Interestingly, following the Avro 698's first and very aerobatic appearance at Farnborough in September 1952, Flight magazine ran an article suggesting the names Apollo, Assegai, Avenger and Albion for the new bomber. The Air Ministry had already shortlisted Artemis, Arqus, Arcturus, Aries, Arthur, Agravaine, Apollyon, Alcock, Acendant, Adamant, Attila, Bowland, Drake, Grenville, Ottawa (Avro's favourite), Raleigh and Sidney. The decision to create the 'V-class' came after the Valiant had already received its name. The name for the Handley Page H.P. 80 would be picked from a shortlist of Vanquisher, Victor, Vulcan and Vehement, with the Avro 698 receiving its name from the same shortlist in October 1952.

Vulcan of course is the Roman god of fire, so quite an appropriate name for a nuclear bomber.
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AlexC
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by AlexC »

Mad Dan wrote:Not that keen on nicknames myself either - but Tiffie doesn't strike me as being too dreadful an example and does indeed hark back to the original Typhoon of WW2 fame, so there is a tenuous historical link there.


If the aircrews, or groundcrews themselves choose to gave their aircraft nicknames such as Lanc, Wimpy or Tiffie etc now, or in the past that's one thing (and I personally don't feel comfortable using 'Lanc' myself for instance because I don't really feel entitled to do so) but spotters nicknames are something else entirely.
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Re: Stupid names for aircraft...

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Craig wrote:
Mad Dan wrote:Not that keen onn nicknames myself either - but Tiffie doesn't strike me as being too dreadful an example and does indeed hark back to the original Typhoon of WW2 fame, so there is a tenuous historical link there.

As for the Boulton-Paul Defiant, I would never classify that as a stupid name. 'Daffy' perhaps, but I think Defiant is a rather fine name, although regrettably and tragically the aircraft proved vulnerable when tested in combat and played little part in the Battle of Britain and was soon relegated to second-line duties.

I couldn't help but think Defiant became almost tragically prophetic, trying to defy the odds with awful results :sad:


According to Derek Robinson in Piece of Cake it was because it defied belief. Makes sense to me - the same power as a Spit or Hurricane but the drag and weight of that turret and gunner in addition. The suggestion has the flavour of reporting rather than invention!

John