What's In A Name??

[nasa]

A rose by any other name

I realise that this may sound somewhat pedantic to some; however, I’d like to hear the opinions of the gathered throng as it were.

How do you refer to an aircraft? Do you call it a plane, aero plane or aircraft?? I personally get a shiver down my back when I hear or read plane/aero plane!!!

For mine, it’s a bloody aircraft and as the words suggests, an AIRcraft.

Bring it on


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"Second Place is First Place for Losers"

[Buster Hyman]

Glorified Bus if you ask me....:hmm:

[maxgrad]

Iplydatmotaplane!

[Chadzat]

you wouldn't be any relation to a guy from the Geelong Aero Club, whom if he heard you use any other word for an 'aerial vehicle, with wings and an engine' he would bite your head off and immediately request you rephrase your sentence to include the word 'aircraft'. :}

I realise that this may sound somewhat pedantic to some

Yes it does!:p

[sprocket]

A helicopter is an aircraft as well. But I guess it dont matter to some. ;)

[Woomera]

Interesting question nasa. My dictionary explains the difference between the two terms, just as I suspected:

Aircraft: A machine or device, such as an airplane, helicopter, glider, or dirigible, that is capable of atmospheric flight.

Airplane: An aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets.

So, an aircraft is any thing capable of defying gravity; whilst an airplane is specifically a powered machine with fixed wings.

I suspect – without any proof – that the word or term “aircraft” may be of American origin, whilst “airplane” could be of British origin.

Woomera

[Fantome]

. . . sitting out on the aerodrome, a perfection of aerodynamics. . . all in her thrall, avid readers of 'The Aeroplane'.

'The Aeroplane', the British weekly, launched in 1910 and edited for decades by the esteemed CG Grey, was, along with 'Flight', it's contemporary, an information staple for readers at all levels in the industry, on both sides of the Atlantic, and further afield.

('Airplane' is OK Stateside, but as alien as 'Mom' in the cradle of the English language.)

[Arm out the window]

Aeroplane and/or aircraft are tops in my view, but I don't like to see airplane spelt that way by Aussies; must date back to when I had a big argument with the American teacher we had at high school who wouldn't let us say 'aluminium', it had to be 'a-loo-min-um'!
But back to the topic....

[OzExpat]

I suspect – without any proof – that the word or term “aircraft” may be of American origin, whilst “airplane” could be of British origin.
I suspect - without any proof - that you are incorrect on this occasion W. :} It's the other way around. In any event, the word "aircraft" is generic, referring (as has already been said) to anything that is capable of flight, while an "aeroplane" is, as has also already been stated, a fixed wing flying machine.

I personally abhor the word "airplane", but recognise that this is the way Americans refer to an aeroplane.

[Woomera]

Well, at least I said "I suspect – without any proof........."

The thing that grates my nerves is when the citizens of your country, Oz (and Asians) use the plural "aircafts"!

"Aircraft" is already plural.

[OpsNormal]

That Woomera, you are hereby prescribed one large red wine, a cheese platter and a session sitting of the 1956 B+W classic "Reach For The Sky" (think - tin legs and Spitfires), starring none other than Kenneth Moore as Douglas Bader.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004CYY5.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

That answer is contained within....;) ;)

[Binoculars]

Da plen! Da plen! :ooh:

[Arm out the window]

'Aircrafts'...now that's unforgivable!

'Hanger' for 'Hangar', though; that really gets me for some reason - I swear I'm not usually a spelling nazi.

[nasa]

Woomera

Your answer got my juices going, so I did a little research.

Aircraft (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Aircraft)

I was too lazy to go thru it all, I'll leave that up to you guys to do.

Plane:

Word History: The plane in which we fly is properly named for a very important element of its structure the wing that keeps it in the air. But the story behind this name is slightly complicated. To begin with, plane in the sense of “winged vehicle,” first recorded in April 1908, is a shortened form of aeroplane. In June of that year plane appeared in a quotation from the London Times that mentioned one of the Wright brothers. Aeroplane, first recorded in 1866, is made up of the prefix aero-, “air, aviation,” and the word plane, referring to the structure designed to keep an air vehicle aloft. Originally the plane in such contexts was imagined as flat, hence the choice of the word plane; in practice this surface must curve slightly in order to work. The word aeroplane for the vehicle is first found in 1873. The first recorded appearance of the form airplane in our current sense, which uses air- instead of aero-, is found in 1907. An American flies in an airplane while a Briton still travels in an aeroplane, but both can catch a plane.

Chadzat No I'm not and yes I am pedantic :ok:

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Second Place is First Place for Losers"

[SkySista]

Woomera,

the "aircrafts" thing drives me insane as well!

I do recall seeing it used once on the recruitment web site of a well-known airline... can't for the life of me remember which one though!! :} (Think big, like QF or BA.. I was tempted to send off an email to their marketing/PR department and point it out!!) ;)

[Fantome]

. . . . . . Some English dictionaries still in use in schools in the 1950s had . . . .

. . . .. Handley Page, a kind of large aircraft.

(Sir Frederick Handley Page - 1885-1962 - incidentally a renowned humourous after dinner speaker and RAeS lecture giver - built some of the biggest aircraft of the First World War. The largest was the V/1500 - four 375hp RR Eagle V12s, AUW 12,400lbs.)

[Woomera]

And the Handley Page Herald - I'm sure it inspired a whole generation of Dutch aircraft inventors.......... :}

[Arm out the window]

It's a wonder the Americans don't study 'airdynamics' as well.