Plane nicknames
Discussion
OK like the other thread, I thought a nickname thread was a starter especially for all those who worked on planes over their lives. I only know a few like Buff, Dollar thirty, Tonka etc.
I have no idea why Tornado was called Tonka, can anyone explain?
Not military only there must be loads of civvy stuff that has the same "honour" applied to it!
I have no idea why Tornado was called Tonka, can anyone explain?
Not military only there must be loads of civvy stuff that has the same "honour" applied to it!
Lots and lots of aircraft acquire nicknames during their working lives. Sometimes the nickname becomes more famous than the name allocated by the manufacturer. Quite a few have been mentioned in the thread about strange aircraft names already.
The Douglas DC-3 and its many variants have had all sorts of alternative names allocated to it - both official and unofficial.
The official US military name was "Skytrain" - which was very rarely used. The British name was "Dakota" which even the Americans adopted. This was inevitably shortened to "Dak". In Vietnam, gunship variants were known as "Spooky" or "Puff the Magic Dragon".
When the Boeing B-17 first flew it had no official name but was described in some US newspapers as a veritable "Flying Fortress" so it was quickly adopted by Boeing as the official name.
The Sopwith F1 fighter originally had no name but the hump in the cowling just in front of the pilot led to it being referred to as the Camel - which was the name by which it became universally known, although never officially allocated to it.
The Douglas DC-3 and its many variants have had all sorts of alternative names allocated to it - both official and unofficial.
The official US military name was "Skytrain" - which was very rarely used. The British name was "Dakota" which even the Americans adopted. This was inevitably shortened to "Dak". In Vietnam, gunship variants were known as "Spooky" or "Puff the Magic Dragon".
When the Boeing B-17 first flew it had no official name but was described in some US newspapers as a veritable "Flying Fortress" so it was quickly adopted by Boeing as the official name.
The Sopwith F1 fighter originally had no name but the hump in the cowling just in front of the pilot led to it being referred to as the Camel - which was the name by which it became universally known, although never officially allocated to it.
bergclimber34 said:
OK like the other thread, I thought a nickname thread was a starter especially for all those who worked on planes over their lives. I only know a few like Buff, Dollar thirty, Tonka etc.
I have no idea why Tornado was called Tonka, can anyone explain?
Not military only there must be loads of civvy stuff that has the same "honour" applied to it!
Named after Tonka Toys, they weren't particularly reliable when first in service or throughout it's life some might say. I have no idea why Tornado was called Tonka, can anyone explain?
Not military only there must be loads of civvy stuff that has the same "honour" applied to it!
bergclimber34 said:
OK like the other thread, I thought a nickname thread was a starter especially for all those who worked on planes over their lives. I only know a few like Buff, Dollar thirty, Tonka etc.
I have no idea why Tornado was called Tonka, can anyone explain?
Not military only there must be loads of civvy stuff that has the same "honour" applied to it!
I was on Tornados from 1982, and the nickname of Tonka had already been adopted and used as a well humoured insult. Tonka as in tough, do anything, go anywhere. And a toy. I have no idea why Tornado was called Tonka, can anyone explain?
Not military only there must be loads of civvy stuff that has the same "honour" applied to it!
Compared to Buccs and Phantoms, for example, it was quite lightly built and few thought it was tough enough to last.
It did. And it did well.
Sometimes individual aircraft attract nicknames, such as this much-loved Jodel D9 at White Waltham.
Generations of budding young commercial pilots did their hour-building in Noddy. Uber-cheap flying, if you don't mind hand-swinging it to start. There used to be a notch in the trailing edge of one of the prop blades matching the shape of a mate's thumb from where it kicked back when starting, many years ago.
Generations of budding young commercial pilots did their hour-building in Noddy. Uber-cheap flying, if you don't mind hand-swinging it to start. There used to be a notch in the trailing edge of one of the prop blades matching the shape of a mate's thumb from where it kicked back when starting, many years ago.
Austin Prefect said:
Bone for Rockwell B1.
Apparently started with a reporter misreading 'B one'.
Gunbus for VC10, don't know where that came from. Something to do with an older Vickers product perhaps.
Belslow for Belfast.
Wimpy for Wellington. From a cartoon character,
A real Gunbus - which was most likely a nickname for this aeroplane tooApparently started with a reporter misreading 'B one'.
Gunbus for VC10, don't know where that came from. Something to do with an older Vickers product perhaps.
Belslow for Belfast.
Wimpy for Wellington. From a cartoon character,
The Supermarine Walrus biplane flying boat was more often referred to as the "Shagbat" by its crews.
And of course, the Fairey Swordfish was called the "Stringbag".
One I like from more recent years (well, the 1960s and 70s) was when BEA converted some of their Vickers Vanguard passenger airliners into freighters, they were formally known as the "Merchantman". However, BEA (and later BA) crews liked to call them "Guard's Vans".
The Republic XF-84H was nicknamed "Thunderscreech", because of the noise from its supersonic propellers.
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff