Paraffin Budgie

[rsqfd]

Is the term 'Paraffin Budgie' strictly a British term for helicopters or is it something used all over? How did the term originate?
Thank you
Richard

[B.U.D.G.I.E]

Oh steady..............

[MightyGem]

So, what's your tipple then, BUDGIE?

[wiganairways]

The late Captain George Muir at Clyde Helicopters called his mounts 'Iron Budgies'.

[Senior Pilot]

Budgies? I think that Miss Ferguson has a lot to answer for there, we always referred to angry palm trees as Paraffin Pigeons: certainly not 'budgies' :p

To answer the OP, I haven't heard either term used much outside Brit circles. As to the origins, I suspect it to be a UK military inspired bit of slang especially as paraffin involved!

[Bertie Thruster]

Went uk mil in '75 and rotary in '80. Never heard the term 'Paraffin Budgie' 'til I started working on the yellow SAR Wessex in '85,

MRT slang ISTR.

[Non-PC Plod]

I was UK mil from 87 to 03, as both pongo and junglie. I've never heard the term before - is it a crab thing?

[TRC]

I think that Miss Ferguson has a lot to answer for there


I can't remember when I first heard the term, but it was certainly before the (then) DoY got involved. I recall it being connected with the 748 too.

(I prefer 'Steam Chicken' aka Shorts Sunderland)

[Bertie Thruster]

Definitely MRT.

mountain rescue paraffin budgie - Google Search (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mountain+rescue+paraffin+budgie&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a)

[J.A.F.O.]

No, Plod, it's not a crab thing.

[rsqfd]

I also googled it where I did find the SAR (RAF mountain rescue team their pet name for the yellow helicopter was a "Paraffin Budgie") and 748 mention plus this one, "Paraffin budgie (slang) Helicopter that serves an oilrig" on a North Sea oil site. Kind of covering all bases.
My friend called the G-LFBA helicopter (trials in 1995) the term as well.
Appreciate all the comments, interesting.
Richard

[Pandalet]

I've heard the term used in South Africa, FWIW: while wandering around a small airfield looking for someone to pay landing fees to, having parked up my R22, I was asked, "oh, is that your paraffin budgie?".

[merch]

The term is used in the MN, when waiting for the helicopter off Cape Town, there is sometimes talk of using bread crumbs to attract the parrafin budgie

[John Eacott]

Delving back through the mists of time, RN slang for helicopter was definitely Paraffin Pigeon pre 1970's. Google reference shows Jackspeak to be paraffin pigeon, so I would surmise that the morphing into Budgie sometime in the 80's may have been an RAF move.

Since North Sea references also tend toward P.Pigeon, and early NS crewing was predominantly ex RN, I would suggest that somewhere this got bastardised into P.Budgie and remains a term mainly used by UK Mil and in areas influenced by ex UK Mil aircrew.

We also used to refer to the jet jockey's mounts as aluminium death tubes, just to go a little bit OT ;)

[Agaricus bisporus]

Never heard the expression in 25 years.
Paraffin pigeon, yes, but budgie. No.
The only aviation "budgie" I ever heard of was the 748.

[oldgrubber]

I agree with SP, although the commonly used term is "Petrol Pidgeon" these days, but I remember as a young lad that my father was the SMR of the Whirlwind at Old Sarum, named the "Iron Chicken" after the clangers character. She still exists at an aero museum somewhere I believe

[BobbyBolkow]

Definately used in the Army in my day (71 - 87).

The Army Air Corps display team :ok: then, the Blue Eagles,were nick-named 'The Blue Budgies' (possibly where SF got the idea?).

Anyway, that was in the dim and distant past when the team flew Siouxs (Bell 47G's). When the team reformed with Gazelles, the old timers called them 'paraffin budgies'.

May not be the definitive explanation of the origin but, hey, it works for me :D

[jimgriff]

There is the (in)famous story of a 22 sqdn Whirlwind (or was it a Wessex?) running out of motion lotion whilst heading north back to Boulmer. It landed on the hard shoulder of the A1 and was "towed" (pushed?) into a petrol station where the boss put 100 gals of Esso Pink (Parafin) and a quart of Castrol GTX (oil) into the fuel tank and offered a "Big White Queen will pay the bearer" chit to the bemused gal on the desk. He is alledged to have asked for the green shield stamps too! :ok: