Strange aircraft names
Discussion
LotusOmega375D said:
Most aircraft are named after things like animals, inanimate objects or weather events etc, but some are really odd. For example, what’s the origin of:
Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
"Growler" - replaced the Prowler and continues the long tradition of USN aircraft being named after fish species. Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
"Persuader" - What's strange about that? No odder than a lot of other military aircraft with 'forceful' names. Quite a good name for a maritime patrol/interdiction aircraft really, given that it's mostly about discouraging incursions by its mere presence rather than offensive action.
"Rivet Joint" - that was the programme name. RIVET is the prefix used for a lot of USAF aerial reconnaissance programmes, and JOINT was a random suffix assigned to that particular project. The name outlasted the development project and became attached to the resulting aircraft (see also: the Pave Hawk helicopter).
"Packet" - the C-82 was a transport aircraft. A 'packet route' or the 'packet trade' was maritime trade by a ship carrying a mix of cargo, mail and passengers to a fixed timetable (as opposed to tramping, charter or pure cargo), and a 'packet' became a term for a type/design of ship intended for this trade. A perfectly decent name for a cargo aircraft.
Edited by 2xChevrons on Thursday 9th January 10:46
LotusOmega375D said:
Most aircraft are named after things like animals, inanimate objects or weather events etc, but some are really odd. For example, what’s the origin of:
Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
"Growler" is a nickname as far as I know. Nicknames are always a bit odd as they usually reflect some comedic aspect of the aircraft rather than values that the manufacturers might want to extol. They are usually created by the users of the aircraft rather than the manufacturer. For example, the Rockwell B-1 was called the Lancer by Rockwell but is only ever called The Bone by its crews.Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
"Rivet Joint" is more a "Programme Name" rather than the name allocated by the manufacturer.
"Packet" was the correct name for the Fairchild C-82 as given by its manufacturer Fairchild. There is nothing wrong with it as the word "Packet" has been used for centuries for ships that carry cargo or mail. For example, the company that runs ferry services between Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man is called the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company - even today. Therefore "Packet" makes sense for what was essentially a cargo aircraft.
So, ignoring "nicknames" or names that were never intended by the manufacturers, there are genuinely some odd or strange names that have been allocated to aircraft by their builders over the years.
Miles Libellula (a tandem winged design that looked a bit like a dragonfly. Libellula is a form of dragonfly - which the aircraft vaguely resembled.
Handley Page Gugnunc
Beardmore Inflexible -
Tarrant Tabor
And that's only the Brit ones.
Worth remembering that the Soviet/Russian names are not 'native'. No one in the VVS thought of themselves as flying a Fagot or a Fishbed. They are unusual and often a little bit derogatory precisely because they're for NATO use - it's more important they're distinctive, not otherwise going to arise in radio chatter and fit the letter/syllable ID system.
Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
2xChevrons said:
Worth remembering that the Soviet/Russian names are not 'native'. No one in the VVS thought of themselves as flying a Fagot or a Fishbed. They are unusual and often a little bit derogatory precisely because they're for NATO use - it's more important they're distinctive, not otherwise going to arise in radio chatter and fit the letter/syllable ID system.
Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
Such a shame that NATO didn't listen to Reddit and change the reporting name for the SU-75 to 'Femboy'.Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
bergclimber34 said:
Flying Boxcar was a great one.
Nicknames and NATO names don't really count. I am more interested in strange names given to aircraft by the companies that built them. Here's another one
Bellanca Citabria -
Bellanca built a plane called the Airbatic (because the Americans struggle with "aerobatic"
). The Citabria is a non aerobatric version of the Airbatic and "Citabria" is just "Airbatic" spelled backwards.2xChevrons said:
Worth remembering that the Soviet/Russian names are not 'native'. No one in the VVS thought of themselves as flying a Fagot or a Fishbed. They are unusual and often a little bit derogatory precisely because they're for NATO use - it's more important they're distinctive, not otherwise going to arise in radio chatter and fit the letter/syllable ID system.
Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
More confusion in Naval circles where the NATO code Akula was assigned to the Project 971 Shchuka-B and the NATO code Typhoon was assigned to the Project 941 knows as Akula by the Soviets. Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
As correctly stated above NATO reporting names are designed to be easily understood F for fighters, H for helicopters, B for bombers, C for transport, M for miscellaneous & reconnaissance. The TU-95 started life as a bomber yet retained it’s Bear designation in later life.
Passenger airliners also got NATO names under the C or M lists depending on how NATO analysts felt about that platform’s utility.
Stick Legs said:
More confusion in Naval circles where the NATO code Akula was assigned to the Project 971 Shchuka-B and the NATO code Typhoon was assigned to the Project 941 knows as Akula by the Soviets.
As correctly stated above NATO reporting names are designed to be easily understood F for fighters, H for helicopters, B for bombers, C for transport, M for miscellaneous & reconnaissance. The TU-95 started life as a bomber yet retained it’s Bear designation in later life.
Passenger airliners also got NATO names under the C or M lists depending on how NATO analysts felt about that platform’s utility.
It followed on from a similar system that had been used in World War 2 for Japanese aircraft - As correctly stated above NATO reporting names are designed to be easily understood F for fighters, H for helicopters, B for bombers, C for transport, M for miscellaneous & reconnaissance. The TU-95 started life as a bomber yet retained it’s Bear designation in later life.
Passenger airliners also got NATO names under the C or M lists depending on how NATO analysts felt about that platform’s utility.
Boys names for fighters (Zeke, Frank, Oscar etc)
Girls names for transports and bombers (Betty, Mavis, Emily etc)
Ironically, the name Zeke was assigned to the Mitusbishi A6M Zero fighter, the most famous Japanese warplane of that era but it was hardly ever used. Americans preferred to refer to it using the official Japanese name, Zero.
Stick Legs said:
2xChevrons said:
Worth remembering that the Soviet/Russian names are not 'native'. No one in the VVS thought of themselves as flying a Fagot or a Fishbed. They are unusual and often a little bit derogatory precisely because they're for NATO use - it's more important they're distinctive, not otherwise going to arise in radio chatter and fit the letter/syllable ID system.
Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
More confusion in Naval circles where the NATO code Akula was assigned to the Project 971 Shchuka-B and the NATO code Typhoon was assigned to the Project 941 knows as Akula by the Soviets. Very few of the NATO codes were ever retrospectively adopted by Russia - iirc the Bear and the Fulcrum were the only ones that were picked up by their own crews.
As correctly stated above NATO reporting names are designed to be easily understood F for fighters, H for helicopters, B for bombers, C for transport, M for miscellaneous & reconnaissance. The TU-95 started life as a bomber yet retained it’s Bear designation in later life.
Passenger airliners also got NATO names under the C or M lists depending on how NATO analysts felt about that platform’s utility.
EG
The Soviets have got a new MIG! The last one was a 21 and one before a 19 so this must be the 23. Let's call if a a Foxbat.
But they've just sold MIG23s to someone they would never sell Foxbats to, what's going on?
Ah, what we thought was the MIG23 was actually the MIG25, so what is the MIG23 and should we call that the Foxbat and call the MIG25 something different?
No blow, it, we'll keep calling the Foxbat the Foxbat and call the new one the Flogger. What they call it is their problem.
Though I was quite amused by the 'Mikoyan Project 1.44, their 'Multifunction Frontline Fighter. The initials were also MFI in Russian so NATO called it the Flatpack.
LotusOmega375D said:
Most aircraft are named after things like animals, inanimate objects or weather events etc, but some are really odd. For example, what’s the origin of:
Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
One of the first British airships was called the Mayfly, that's definitely odd. Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
Given the veil of secrecy the USSR operated under the whole NATO reporting system was very clever.
I believe that there was a list of names drawn up and they were simply used in turn.
The name could, as said above be assigned to a project & if more info came out later it just remained the same NATO name while the record was corrected.
The limitation was that if something that looked the same but was fundamentally different appeared they NATO name wasn’t changed, so a Mig 23 (Flogger A) is a completely different adversary to a Mig 27 (Flogger D) one is a supersonic interceptor with capabilities at all altitudes & the other a ground attack platform which discarded the variable intake ramps required for supersonic performance at altitude, and no track & search radar.
The Soviets had no need for an equivalent system as the names of all NATO aircraft were published. Soviet pilots & ground controllers would have known what aircraft they would most likely encounter & would just call an F-14 an F-14 for instance.
My favourite story was a Western observer at a May Day parade leaned over to his Soviet counterpart & aaked what that aircraft was called.
The reply was along the lines of ‘this is the one you call ‘Bison’’.
The Soviets were aware of the NATO system, and its a clever answer as it gave nothing away.
I believe that there was a list of names drawn up and they were simply used in turn.
The name could, as said above be assigned to a project & if more info came out later it just remained the same NATO name while the record was corrected.
The limitation was that if something that looked the same but was fundamentally different appeared they NATO name wasn’t changed, so a Mig 23 (Flogger A) is a completely different adversary to a Mig 27 (Flogger D) one is a supersonic interceptor with capabilities at all altitudes & the other a ground attack platform which discarded the variable intake ramps required for supersonic performance at altitude, and no track & search radar.
The Soviets had no need for an equivalent system as the names of all NATO aircraft were published. Soviet pilots & ground controllers would have known what aircraft they would most likely encounter & would just call an F-14 an F-14 for instance.
My favourite story was a Western observer at a May Day parade leaned over to his Soviet counterpart & aaked what that aircraft was called.
The reply was along the lines of ‘this is the one you call ‘Bison’’.
The Soviets were aware of the NATO system, and its a clever answer as it gave nothing away.
Austin Prefect said:
LotusOmega375D said:
Most aircraft are named after things like animals, inanimate objects or weather events etc, but some are really odd. For example, what’s the origin of:
Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
One of the first British airships was called the Mayfly, that's definitely odd. Growler
Persuader
Rivet Joint
Packet?
Any more you can think of?
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