Common nicknames that weren't/aren't really used after all

[VADM Fangschleister]

Jackwagon.....

.....Never heard jackwagon while in the military.

[Murph]

How about in SH-60B's when we got the AGM-119 Penguin. Who names an anti-ship missle after a small, flightless waterfowl??

Since it was a Norwegian design, I always thought that

Regards,

Murph

[C-130CrewChief]

C-130's are almost never called Hercules.

They are called Herks, or 130's.

I have never heard of MC-130P's being called Combat Shadow.

They are called Shadow or King.

The HH-60G's are called PAVE Hawk though.

I think it's funny that the Navy just throws a "Sea" into the name, and BAM it's Navy.

Curt

[ElectroSoldier]

I know that they widely embraced both "Flanker " and "Fulcrum" as names for the Su-27 and MiG-29.

It is my understanding that the Su-25 was called "Rook" by the Russians. The presence of a fair bit of artwork incorporating the rook on Su-25s would seem to back that up.

I also understand that the Tu-160 is frequently refered to as "White Swan" or just "Swan" by the Russians. I don't know how true that is, but bearing in mind theaircraft are painted overall white and their wings flex up a fair degree once flying; you can see where that name would come from.

Yes to both, white seems unlikely, just swan, yes.

I dont know any Tu-160 pilots to ask them though.

NATO code names are just that, NATO code names, they are not the names of the jets... with the exception of the Flanker and Fulcrum

[Steve N]

Never heard jackwagon while in the military.

Only place I've ever heard it was the Geico Insurance commercial. I suspect it may be another "Gunneyism." During a talk show appearance R. Lee Ermey claimed that he made up the now universal term "reach around" during one of his rants in "Full Metal Jacket," most of which were ad-libbed. He said even he didn't really know what it meant..it just sounded dirty.

SN

[David Hingtgen]

Re: Slammer. I always wondered/worried about confusion with the SLAM-ER.

[Aaronw]

:D, I know that the Japanese did actually call the Beaufighter 'Whispering Death' and that was because of its sleeve valve engines, much quieter than poppet valve types. Apparently they couldn't be heard until they were right on top of you, regardless which side you were fighting for. My Dad and his mates told me that many years ago and it was especially so at low altitudes. I started going to the Williamtown airshows towards the end of the Beau's service life when they were being used as target tugs and I seem to remember that Dad and his mates were right about that one. There used to be a man at the end of our street who had a Willys Knight car with a sleeve valve engine and I can remember seeing it often as I walked to school and I remember it being the quietest car on the road around these parts, certainly a lot quieter than Mum and Dad's FJ Holden which wasn't exactly the noisiest car on the road back then.

,

Ross.

I'm going to start a new trend of calling the Toyota Prius Whispering Death. There are a couple of them in the neighborhood and the are creepy silent at residential speeds, only a crunch of gravel under a tire giving them away.

[Fishwelding]

I'm going to start a new trend of calling the Toyota Prius Whispering Death. :) There are a couple of them in the neighborhood and the are creepy silent at residential speeds, only a crunch of gravel under a tire giving them away.

I had a C-17 sneak up on me when I was hiking. I just got this vague feeling that something large was in the air over my shoulder, and when I turned to look, there it was, a blue-gray, near-silent transport plane, quite low, passing over South Mountain. Having been overflown by C-130s all my life, it was an odd, even disturbing experience.

[ikar]

And we all know a five-ounce bird simply can't carry a one-pound coconut, no matter where he grips it.

That depends on wether it was a mediterranean or English Sparrow.

[Nicholas1969]

In the Canadian Forces, we called CF-5's, "5's". Singles or duals/duallie's, or recce bird/jet.

CF-18's are "18's" or "Hornets" (Sometimes referred to by CF-5 personnel as "Twin-tailed, plastic f*g jets". LOL

Pilots are 'stick actuators', or stick-rudder interface.

Some names:

Army types are grunts or pongos. Navy types are navy-wogs or fish heads.

Air Force types are wedge-heads.

I could go on....

Nick

[aim9xray]

Sponge, E-2s are called 'Hummers' in the Community, right ?

Fully embraced. There's also the "Hummer dance" which is when shooting a night approach to the ship, you get vectored off of final and all over Timbuktoo while the Hornets try to quit boltering. Wise advice is to not dump gas until you're done dancing.... (or you can end up spending a night in a tent at a fine desert location).Spongebob

...available from a squadron on the West Coast...

[Jennings]

I had a C-17 sneak up on me when I was hiking. I just got this vague feeling that something large was in the air over my shoulder, and when I turned to look, there it was, a blue-gray, near-silent transport plane, quite low, passing over South Mountain. Having been overflown by C-130s all my life, it was an odd, even disturbing experience.

I had one sneak up on my in my back yard. They are amazingly quiet airplanes. I wonder what's been done to the nacelle to make it quieter, since it's noticeably quieter than a 757 which has half as many of the same basic powerplants attached. He was doing low level circuits over the Blacksburg area during a VT football game, and kept coming right over the house on the outbound leg.

[Karl Sander]

In over 10 years in the community I've never once heard anyone, in or outside of the community, refer to the Prowler as "queer."

But, I've heard people who served before me swear up and down that's what they called it because it looked like a queer A-6. Perhaps the name fell into disuse after the A-6 went away and with it the comparison. Or perhaps the rising tide of political correctness