Not for nothing, but “Huff-Duff” was just a vocalization of the acronym HFDF - High Frequency Direction Finder.
I would imagine that the Wellington was named after the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Of course, Wellington New Zealand was also named after the Duke of Wellington, so it’s all one, so to speak.
Yes, it’s encouraging to have your madness in orderly rows! [8-]
Back in the 1930’s the RAF had rules for the naming of aircraft.
Fighters were to be given powerful, aggressive names hence Spitfire, Hurricane etc
Bombers were to be given names of inland towns and cities in Britain and the Commonwealth such as Lancaster, Halifax, Stirling, Wellington and Canberra
Seaplanes and amphibians were to be named after seaports in Britain and the Commonwealth like Sunderland, Southampton and Singapore
Triainers were to be given names with educational connections such as Master,Tutor and Oxford.
I think Army co-operation aircraft got names from Greek mythology such as Hector Lysander etc
When the UK purchased aircraft from abroad - mainly the USA - then they were given American names in accordance with the rules above so that a US fighter would be given a powerful aggressive American name like Mustang (P-51). A bomber would be named after an American city such as Washington which was given to the B-29 and the T-6 Texan was given the name of an American educational establishment and became the Harvard.
The system began to be discarded in the 1960’s and these days anything goes.
RAF bombers were named after towns and cities, Manchester, Lancaster, Halifax, Stirling etc. Both aircraft and the Duke took their name from the town of Wellington in Somerset.
Hello Ross.
Have you seen a Fairey Gannet ? Adorably ugly, only we Brits could fix up something only a mother could love and fly it, mind you gannet’s are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic and their name has been added to the Lexicon as an indication of glutteny, ie: they’ll have your fish too LOL
Lancaster was the re-worked version of the Manchester, named after the city, but some wag decided to make it so it fitted the already available RAF hangers, 2 engines and not enough lift, a dog in other words. Whacked two MORE Merlins on it and made the wings the right size, and hey preto a classic !!
Vulcan, Valiant and Victor ahhhh the good old days. Take a look at a Victor head on and tell me it’s not like spooky as heck, and from the 23rd century.
Regards
Mick C.
Agree with the futuristic look of the Victor. The forward fuselage makes me think of Buster Crabbe & the ships in the 1936 Flash Gordon series.
It seems that the only American aircraft that had names prior to WWII were those assigned by the factory, like the Curtiss Hawk series.
IMHO, I think that we should still let the Limeys assign names to our aircraft.
I like the Sepecat Jaguar, and the Panavia Tornada, as well as the English Electric Lightning.
They would do a heck of a lot better then “Bone”, for instance, and look at the SR-71, known to its pilots as the “Habu”.
Do any of you Brits know if UK forces butcher the monikers given to your aircraft as our guys do?
Tom [C):-)]
[quote Sometimes you have to search for the connection, as in deHavilland, where there is the Mosquito, Hornet, Vampire, and Venom, all things that bite. quote]
So where does the Tiger Moth fit in then?
Well, tigers bite, and moths freak some people out, so… [:-^]
I’ve always believed that American aircraft are named by two little 70 year old female GS-14s who work in a small office in the Pentagon basement- they’re right next to the office of the two 85 year old GS 15s who think up code names for US military operations.
The McDonell Douglas F-4 Phantom II (nee F-110 Spectre) inherited it’s name from the McDonnell Aircraft series of “occult” themed names (IIRC an interest of Mr McDonnell?). Examples:
The De Havilland light aircraft were almost all Moths of one sort or another. Moth, Moth Major, Moth Minor, Open Faced Moth, Giant Moth, Puss Moth, Leopard Moth, Fox Moth, etc.
Hey, you asked…
I would add that the final iteration of DeHavilland’s twin-boom fighter series, the Sea Vixen also doesn’t fit the mould.
And it goes sometimes goesoff in a completely unexpected direction:
Hereford, Halifax, Hastings,
Hurricanes hardly ever happen. (My fair Lady) If any of you saw the movie.
Venom, Vixen (Sea, one each)? Works for me. [:o)]
ROFL! So it does… (Ouch - thats a really nasty bite) [(-D]
[tup]
Yes I did. And now I know. Thanks[tup][tup]