'Pet' names for aircraft types?

[ffuries]

F-4 Double Ugly
F-4 Bent Wing Broken Tail Coal Burner Ace Maker
F-4 Mig Killer
SR-71 Habu (Term used in Okinawa)
EF-111 Spark-Vark
F-111 Wonder-Eleven (It's a wonder it flies)
F-15E Mud-Hen
AC-130 Fabulous Four Engine Fighter
F-100 Lead-Sled
F-104 Man on a Rocket

[Dan K]

Shame on all of you for missing a classic:

The Curtiss XP-55 Ascender (Ass Ender)

Several "Sleds". I think F-84 was probably the original Lead Sled, as the saying used to go: Build the world's longest runway, and Republic will design an airplane that will use every inch of it to take off."

Last edited by Dan K on Wed Aug 26, 2015 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[phil65]

Hose Nose...

[wyocubdriver]

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner: San Antonio Sewer Tube

[wendovertom]

U-2 : Dragon Lady
A-26 : flying coffin

Tom P.

[ffuries]

Shame on all of you for missing a classic.

The Curtiss XP-54 Ascender (Ass Ender)

Several "Sleds". I think F-84 was probably the original Lead Sled, as the saying used to go: Build the world's longest runway, and Republic will design an airplane that will use every inch to take off."

My father use to say "The F-4 is proof, that given enough thrust anything can fly". He spent the majority of his 26 year USAF career working on the F-4.

[airnutz]

F-104 Man on a Rocket

Also, Missile With A Man-In-It....a play on Minute Man Missile.

[JohnB]

F-104 Man on a Rocket

Also, Missile With A Man-In-It....a play on Minute Man Missile.

The 104...and I believe that press-agent style nickname was bestowed early in its career (if not in testing)...predated the Minuteman ICBM by a few years.
(Probably thought up by the same PR guy who first called P-38s "Fork-tailed devils".
Remember, Burbank is awfully close to Hollywood.

Speaking of "Sleds"..
I recall reading the F-105 was sometimes called "Ultra Sled" to differentiate it from the F-84 "Sleds".

Last edited by JohnB on Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[JohnB]

U-3 - Blue canoe
UC-78 -Useless 78 (because of its small payload for a transport).
Any T-50 variant (AT-8, AT-17, UC-78) - "Bamboo bomber'
PT-22 - Maytag Messerschimitt...its Kinner sounds like a washing machine.

Ensign killer...It seems many Navy fighters were called that at one time or another. Another was McDonnell Demon, the F3H.

For you guys who are older or know/care about something that pre-dates WWII..
F3F "The Barrel" (also Saab J-29).
Grumman FF..."Fifi"

And since we're on a Navy/Grumman roll....
Grumman S2F "Stoof"
Grumman WF/E-1..."Stoof with a roof"...(the rotodome). Also "Willy Fudd".

Personally, I'm not a fan of many of these derogatory nicknames..
It's okay for a pilot or crewman to use them to badmouth the type...they've earned the right.
But for a book-bound "enthusiast" to do so reeks of a "wannabe". ..or some guy who wants to sound like a big league player.
You know, the guys who wore a fake A-2 and Ray Bans to see Top Gun.

Last edited by JohnB on Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:26 pm, edited 5 times in total.

[ffuries]

A-1 Spad
A-1 Super Spad
A-1 Sandy (Don't recall if that was a nickname or a call sign)
B-52 BUFF Big Ugly Fat Fella (PC version) of Big Ugly Fat F--ker
HC/MC-130 with the radar hump Humpy or Hump-Back
HC/MC-130 with the radar hump removed Scar-Back

[Stoney]

Pilot Maker = any NAA NA-16 variant

[Clifford Bossie]

KC-135 "Strato-bladder"

When the KC-135s and KC-10s were first being camoflaged in the 1980s the 135s were called "Flipper" and the 10s were"Shamu"

CH-46 "Phrog"

[wyocubdriver]

Also Bird Biplanes are often referred to as B1RD's.

[JimH]

P-51C Razorback
B-25 Valdez
B-24 Big Ugly

[rwdfresno]

CH-53 Sea Stallion is referred to as a "sh**ter" in the USMC.