west6008

Ever heard of Piper Trauma-hawk instead of Tomahawk?
Or Scare-coupe instead of Aircoupe?
Or Lockheed Cancellation instead of Constellation?

I heard an old guy back in the 50's refer to the Constellation as a tri-motor.
...."three turning, one burning"

I wonder if these nicknames are just the result of too much BS at the airport coffee shop.
Flying airplanes has so much down-time that there's nothing better to do than talk-
-about all the bad pilots and bad airplanes

Taildragger726

Ever fly a "Trauma-hawk"?

normgoyer

There were reasons for those nicknames. The Piper Tomahawk had a whole series of problems not only with their vertical stabilizer but also with dragging the tail on take off. Then there was the problem of not coming out of a spin automatically. I operated four flying schools and we had a small fleet of Tomahawks and Cessna 152s. The pilot trained in the Piper were far better pilots than those trained in the Cessna. The reason; you had to fly the Piper and the Cessna could fly itself.

The Scare coupe name for the Ercoupe was earned by three control pilots flying the two control Ercoupe for the first time. It wasn't a bad airplane it was a different airplane. You landed in a cross wind in a completely different manner than in a conventional control aircraft. Also the first batch of them had a very weak nose strut and many snapped on landing and the plane would flip over on its back.

The Constellation had very large and complex multi stage recip engines that required huge amounts of maintenance. Also these planes were flown on super long cross country trips often in not so great conditions. Like all Lockheeds the airframes were superb and they flew better than any other transport but the engines at the time had reached the end of the line. There was no way they could get any more power out of them. It was time for the airlines to enter the jet age which they did and the engine problems ceased.

Norm

Robinaire

My Feedback: (23)

Hi Norm, and all. Mentioning the Ercoupe brings back memories! It took me a long time to get used to landing in a crab, and letting the gear straighten you out!! But something else: I took my commercial flight test in a 3-control Alon Ercoupe. Ever do a chandelle or lazy 8 in a plane where only one rudder works at a time,and only OUTWARD???!!! If you don't learn coordination, speed control and timing there, you never will!! I had a "curnudgeon" (actually a fond term!) named Charlie Skinner, an old ex-FAA man, and civvie instructor to military pilots 'way back when! One of the best "teachers" I ever had! I learned a tremendous amount from that little bird, that has helped me a lot over the years. Incidentally guys, I've been acquainted with Norm for maybe longer than either of us might admit, (I think right after he soloed the Wright Brothers!), so pay attention to him. Lee Robinson W. Palm Beach, FL

normgoyer

Hi Lee, thanks for the kind words. I didn't solo the Wright Brothers, it was Lindberg. The Ercoupe has had another shot in the arm. The early ones with the small engine that hasn't been modified qualifies for the new LSA (light sport aircraft) designation meaning you can fly it with a passenger under Sport Pilot rules without a medical and only a driver's license. The Cub, Champ, and Tcraft are also within the specs of the new rules. The only problem is that if you have ever been denied an FAA medical you can not fly as a Sport Pilot. If you never had an FAA medical or simply didn't renew it you qualify. Norm

The Ercoupe with its two control is a naturual for Sport Pilots.

jjglennon

The Diesel Eight.
The Three-Holer.
The ScareBus.
John

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

Cessna Mixmaster, or the Push-Me, Pull You (337 Skymaster)

Four-Fan Trash Can (C-130) multipurpose trash hauler

Flyin' Lizard (C-141B) if you've ever seen one, you know why

Vultee Vibrator (BT-13)

Thud (F-105 Thunderchief) named for the sound they make when they hit the ground

Scooter-(A-4 Skyhawk) that's what it did, small and quick

6 turnin', 4 burnin' (B-36 Peacemaker) 6 P&W R4360's spinning props and 4 P&W J47 turbojets

Wind Indicator (Vought Vindicator)

Medevac Cadillac (DC-9 Nightingale) dedicated medevac transport, everything was built in.

This is fun, keep it going............................

Ray S.

My Feedback: (1)

Don't forget that many of the "common names" that we use were not "official" names. The US military did not name aircraft.

We may need to start with the generic light plane nickname: bug smasher

Beech Bonaza aka fork tail doctor killer
Piper J-3 (O-59, L-4) aka Grasshopper
Piper J-3 (L-4) aka Maytag Messerschmitt
Beech Sundowner aka Slowdowner
Cessna 337 aka Cessna Suck and Blow
Navy N3N aka Yellow Peril
Cessna Citation aka NearJet

yellerchamp

My Feedback: (42)

aeronca champ or chief aka air knocker if you ever heard fly over it went knocka knocka knocka

normgoyer

The military surely did. Every single one of the Japanese aircraft were given names.

Fork tail was the name of the P-38 Lightning, the Bonanza was the V tail Dr killer, the reason was that many doctors could afford one but did not have the time to stay current and many lost control while flying on instruments and entered spirals and when they pulled out the tail sometimes broke in two then the rest of the airplane would self destruct.

Check out the Japanese aircraft really interesting names, almost all of them from English first names

Norm

LowFlyBye

Beech Mouskateer
Beech 18 = Twin Bone
Cessna Chickenhawk
Cessna Slowtation
Queerjet
North American AT-6 = Pilot Maker
Vaught F-4U Corsair = Whistling Death
B-1 Bomber = Lawn Dart
B-52 = BUFF
T-37 = Tweet
DC-3 = Gooneybird
737 = Guppy
MD-11 = Mad Dog

fender822

Back in the late 70's early 80's I was a flight engineer on the U.S. Coast Guard "Thunder Pig" C-131 or Convair 240.
We replaced those with the "Whisper Pig" Falcon 20, HU-25
We also had the HU-16 "Goat" back in the day.


Dan

normgoyer

Hi Good ones, The Corsair was built by Vought and Goodyear, the C-47 was called the Gooney Bird the 737 was also called Fat Albert and the Cessna training jet was also called the Tweeety Bird. Norm

keep 'em coming

cjtyped

My Feedback: (1)

B-52...BUFF...Big Ugly Fat Fella ( or something like that
A-7...SLUFF...Short Little Ugly Fat Fella

Wayne22

My Feedback: (2)

Baby boeing............737
All 4 dead ...............A4D (skywarrior ?)
Ford........................F4D(skyray)
Death cruiser 10.......DC-10
Albert......................HU-16 Albatross
Clunk.......................CF-100
Stringbag..................Fairey Swordfish
Sword.......................F-86 Sabre



and some airlines:

United.........................Un-tied
Flying Tigers................Crying Tigers
CP Air.........................Sleepy Air
Air West......................Scare West

jjglennon

The Thud, as someone already mentioned
Rhino F-4
Aardvark F-111
Viper F-16
Warthog A-10
Hun F-100

The MD-88 is the Mad Dog, the MD-10 or 11 is the Mega Dog
L-1011 is the Tri-Tanic

John

jetace11

Don't forget the Short Little Ugly Fella.......Vought A-7 Corsair

BillyGoat

Beech Twin Bonanza - T Bone

normgoyer

Here's an unusual one. The USAF had some twin Cessna 310s and they were painted air force blue, their nickname "The Blue Canoe." Norm

fender822

There has always been a friendly rivalry between the fixed wing guys and the helo guys in the U.S. Coast Guard. As a “starched wing guy” we had some of our own nicknames for the helo community.

HH-3 Pelican = Shuddering S**t House
HH-65 Dolphin = Plastic Fantastic or Tupper Wolf

We also called the C-130 a Bleed air Blimp

Ever notice that helicopters have a warning on them “Danger Keep Away”


Dan
USCG Retired

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

Electric Lawn Dart---F-16

Sled--SR-71

Missile with a man in it---F-104

Leo

Cessna UC-78 Bobcat / AT-17 / T-50:

Flying formation of Cessna parts - San Joaquin Beaufighter - Wichita Wobbler - Bamboo Bomber - Rhapsody in glue - Useless 78

LowFlyBye

Don't forget the other Cessna twin (337) also known as the "Oscar Duece" in it's military configuration.

jjglennon

The One Oh Wonder F-101
The Deuce F-102
Six Pack F-106
Spad A-1
Loach OH-58
Snake AH-1

John

MajorTomski

Back up the thread to the Connie

Do you know why the Connie was with drawn from service?

Three pieces of tail was too much for any man to handle!