The American “system” seems relatively straightforward. Would any of you from the Land of Shakespere care to explain how the British name their aircraft? Seems pretty mystifying to my Yankee sensibilities…
I don’t know if you realize this Tri, but the British named some of our aircraft names we later adopted during WWII, since they often had them in use in front-line service first. This was as well as collaberating as to which aircraft would be named what.[:-^]
One example is the PBY Catalina, which had no official “handle” until the British named it. [;)]
In fact, it was not until we got into WWII, and began to emulate the Brits that the Navy cared much for names beyond the letter/number designations.
For example, there were no officially adopted monicers for the BF2-C, the F3F, the F3F, or the F4B-4.
Tom [C):-)]
In America the military favors asigning a number to ever piece of equipment no matter how big or small. Then they apply a suffix letter when it is updated or modified. Such as P-51 A then B C and so on. The English seem to prefer asigning a name and then adding roman numeral suffix as it is modified or updated such as Spitfire Mark I MarkV. Both systems seem to work pretty good. I do not see where one is better than the other. The British I beleive are responsble for the majority of the names actually applied to alot of American equipment during WWII. Unless the G.I.'s beat then to it. Probally because the American military did not have official names for hardly and of the tanks or planes. Even the press names some planes like the B-17 Flying Fortress. A reporter is responsable for that name not the US military.
Soulcrusher
Yes, Tom, I’m aware of those things. What I want to know is how the British come up with the names. Why “Catalina,” or “Kittyhawk,” or “Tomahawk,” or “Hudson,” or “Halifax” for example. Who assigns these names? Some secret cabal meeting on moonless nights in the depths of the Tower? A harried bureaucrat buried in the basement of Parliament? The PM? HRH?!
Even my beloved Devastator was simply referred to as the TBD-1 until the war. then someone decided that we needed some nice, aggressive names for our aircraft - heck, we needed every morale-boosting scheme we could lay our hands on back in those dark days.
The best names for aircraft are those lovingly, and accurately given by the men that were around them. SB2C is my favorite: “SonnuvaB$#th, 2nd Class.”
So like the A-7 (SLUF Short Little Ugly F… you can figure that one out)
A-10 = Warthog
F-14 = Turkey
Those are just a few off the top of my head, all unofficial names.
Some American aircraft nicknames are appropriate:
B-52 : BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fellow) That’s the “G” rated version, AC-47 : Puff the Magic Dragon (With those GE Miniguns going it looks like Dragon fire), SR-71 : Blackbird (Big Black and Menacing), F-15 : Eagle (Strong, Fast and a true bird of prey).
Some make no sense at all:
B-1 : BONE (Come on. That’s lame), F-4 : Phantom (An F-4 is neither quiet or invisible, and it couldn’t sneak up on anything), finally the B-24 : Liberator (What is that all about? Didn’t ALL US bombers help to “Liberate” Europe?)
These are just a few examples. I hope I did not offend the B-24 community, but I just don’t get the nickname.
The B-24 helped liberate the Pacific more that Europe. Besides the B-17 already had a name.
Hi again Triarius,
Possibly the reason things like Catalina Kittyhawk etc found a use is the native deviousness of the Brits at war. Gulf War, USA calls it Desert Storm, cool, but kinda obvious what it’s going to be, Brits, Operation Granby !! Figure out what that is going to be lol. WWII Germany radar, Freya, hmmm one eyed seeing god or something, Brit radar Huff Duff. See a pattern here ? As to the originators ?? Well maybe the same mob that named a massive floating concrete harbour Mulberry [:)] Did the German’s seriosly think they were going to win ?
Bf 109A/B/C ‘Anton’ - Bf 109D ‘Dora’ - Bf109E ‘Emil’ !! Supermarine SPITFIRE, I rest my case.
Happy Modelling boys and girls.
Mick C.
Apparently they succumbed to British whimsy…
I can see where Wellington came from: named after Lord Wellington; the Halifax, after Lord Halifax, I presume. But why name aircraft after famous land warriors? Tanks, yes. But aircraft? The British names for fighters are fairly obvious: Spitfire, Hurricane, Tempest, Typhoon, Tornado, Mosquito, Swordfish, etc.
But then you have the “Fairey Gannet.” Doesn’t sound very potent…
And the bombers are almost a complete mystery. You have the Wellington, Halifax, Lancaster (which Lancastrian is it named for?) But then you have the Vulcan.
Whimsy, that’s what it is… (I’d insert a laugh smilie here if they were working…)
I had to laugh out loud over your com,m,ent about the F-4 Phantom. It is my favorite aircraft of all time since I worked on them, but a Stealth it definantly was not!
Sort of like the guy who invented a new musical instrument, but wasn’t sure what to call it. His friend said “Call it a banjo.” When he asked why, his friend stated “Because it sounds like one.”.
Skipper74134,
The F-4 is my favorite Vietnam Era Aircraft. I found several other F-4 nicknames in some of my reference material: Rhino (due to its long nose and strong airframe), Double Ugly (Because of its oddly angled wings and tail), Big Iron Sled (That one is self explanatory), Triumph of Thrust over Aerodynamics (How original), or my favorite, World’s Largest Distributor of MiG parts! Oh Yeah!
Actually Lancaster, York, Manchester, Halifax, Stirling, Sunderland, London are all named after towns/cities, in the U.K. I know Wellington is capital of New Zealand, but there are three, more, here. The gannet is a seabird, and is anything but cuddly, if you ever see a gannet colony. “Spitfire” was chosen by Vickers’ chairman, because he said that his daughter was a real little spitfire.
Edgar
Hi Ross
I believe that the bombers are named after towns , cities and counties. Boston, Hampden, Blenheim Stirling Lincoln Manchester etc. But why no Eckellthwaite?
As for Vulcan
Roman mythology, was the god of fire and volcanoes, and the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, and armor for gods and heroes. from Wikipedia and I believe like Thor he had a big hammer.
Sorry dont drink tea, cant stand the stuff.[yuck] Coffee thats me Born to be wired[:-^]
gary[8-]
EDIT Edgar you just beat me there, obviously great minds think alike.
Eckellthwaite…now there’s a fierce name for a bomber—probably kill a German just by his trying to say it… (Alle Deutsche, entshuldigen sie mir, bitte! [swg])
And yes, Gary, Vulcan was the Roman equivalent of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, volcanoes, smithing, and a few other odd things. He was also a cripple, and married to Venus.
As mentioned in the other thread “BONE” is an unofficial name and comes from “B-One” (Come on, it could have been worse, I understand the name “Excalibur” was once considered for the B-1)
Phantom - From a line of “supernatural” names used by McDonnell - Phantom, Banshee, Demon, Voodoo
There is some system behind the British naming. Supermarine Southhampton, Scapa, Stranraer, (oops, Walrus!), Spitfire, Seafire, Sea Otter, Spiteful, Seafang, Swift. Hawker Horsley, Hart, Hind, Hardy, Hector, and Henley; then Fury, Demon, Hurricane, Typhoon, Tempest. The V-Bombers all began with a V, Valiant, Victor, Vulcan. Bristol Bulldog, Bagshot (it looks just like it sounds!), Blenheim, Bombay, Beaufort, Beaufighter, Blenheim, Buckingham, Buckmaster, Brigand, and Britannia. So there is some order to the UK naming, and I think the Air Ministry makes the call, though I can’t name the written order that set it in motion. Sometimes you have to search for the connection, as in deHavilland, where there is the Mosquito, Hornet, Vampire, and Venom, all things that bite. Don’t know where the Chipmunk fits in, but most were DeHavilland Canada anyway. The Comet sort of fits but not in a happy way, and surely not intended. As to how strict, though Vickers owned Supermarine, Vickers proper aircraft are VW’s, never S (but did someone slip with the Walrus given the ownership connection?): Vimy, Vernon, Virginia, Victoria, Vildebeest,Vincent,Valentia, Valetta, Varsity, and Valiant; Wellesley, Wellington, and Warwick. As for the Halifax, well, it fits with the other HP products, from 1923: Hyderabad, Hinaidi, Heyford, Harrow, Hampden and Hereford, Halifax, Hastings, oops, now we have the Marathon and Victor.
Aha! A method to the madness! That’s what I was looking for!