Aircraft Slang Names

[Cautious Optimist]

Hi all

Over the years, I've heard several slang terms for different aircraft types, I'm not sure whether these names are limited to the enthusiast community or if they get used by the industry as well? I'd like to compile a list, here are the ones I'm aware of, feel free to throw some others in to the mix:

Boeing 737 "pig"
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (and / or DC-10) "scud"
Embraer ERJ-135/140/145 "Jungle Jet" (also heard "bullet" and "dart")
Boeing 747 "lump"
Airbus A380 "whale"
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (and / or DC-9) "mad dog"
anything with a CFM engine "hair dryer"

Don't know the stories behind some of these nicknames or if I'm spelling some of them correct, but I find these names quite fascinating and would like to learn more about them!

[TowerDog]

The B-737-600 has been called the "The Pig" at certain airlines, otherwise the 737 family is known as the "FLUF"

The MD-80= "Long Beach Lawn Dart"

Bunch of names for all types. This could be a long thread...:sad:

As for the 747 being called "lump"? Nah, never heard that, been around them for ages and heard it all.

[Dash8driver1312]

Pretty sure I see this query come up annually. Have you tried the search function already?

[Mooncrest]

Embraer 135/145 = Barbie jet

Short SD330/360 = Shed

Those are the only two I know.

[Airbanda]

Spotter slang for 737 was 'Pig' right back to the 100/200 series - IIRC only Lufthansa flew the 100 in Europe.

A well as 'Jungle Jet' I've heard the Embraer 135/145 referred to as the Sao Paolo Sewer Pipe'.

[finncapt]

I flew the "budgie" (HS748) and we usually beat the "stick insect" (757) to the runway from the same distance out and 10000 feet.

I also flew the "death jet" (DC10) and the "iron duck" (VC10).

Trident was the "ground gripper" and I've heard the Tristar called the "tritanic".

[Airbanda]

I'd forgotten 748/budgie (though I think that was applied to machines too) and the 757's resemblance to a stick insect or praying mantis.

[Mechta]

Was the Short Skyvan ever known as a budgie? This Aifix Magazine advert from the 1970s has always stuck in my mind:

http://img4.hostingpics.net/pics/182893Airfixskyvanok9.jpg

[Airbanda]

The Skyvan was the other machine I had in mind. I'm sure there was a Budgie thread on here quite recently but I can't find it right now.

[DaveReidUK]

Pretty sure I see this query come up annually. Have you tried the search function already?

Yes, it was done to death in this thread, among others:

http://www.pprune.org/biz-jets-ag-flying-ga-etc/235384-aircraft-nicknames.html

[Hotel Tango]

As for the 747 being called "lump"? Nah, never heard that, been around them for ages and heard it all.

Obviously not Tower Dog ;) The "lump" was used mainly by British planespotters for quite a while.

[TURIN]

Boeing 737 "pig"
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (and / or DC-10) "scud"
Embraer ERJ-135/140/145 "Jungle Jet" (also heard "bullet" and "dart")
Boeing 747 "lump"
Airbus A380 "whale"
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (and / or DC-9) "mad dog"
anything with a CFM engine "hair dryer"

Thirty five years in the industry and the only one I recognise there is The A380/Whale.

Here's a few well known around our place.

A380-Fuglybus

Concorde-Bent Nail

ATP-Avros Taking the P**s

B787-Nightmareliner/Screamliner

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Concorde - Pocket Rocket

Any light/GA aeroplane - Twitcher or Clockwork Mouse.

[TowerDog]

. Obviously not Tower Dog The "lump" was used mainly by British planespotters for quite a while.

Aha, that explains it: Neither British, nor a plane spotter. :ooh:

[Hotel Tango]

Aha, that explains it: Neither British, nor a plane spotter

You haven't lived life to the full then :);)

[DaveReidUK]

From the previous thread, to save time: :O

A10: Warthog
A319: Microbus
A320: MiniBus, NintendoJet, ScareBus, Chainsaw, Deathjet, Freddie Kruegers wet dream, Toulouse Grasscutter, The Strimmer
(What's the difference between an A320 and a beaver? 4000 trees per hour.)
A320 is known as 'The John Wayne' Because they 'Chop down trees, move mountains and kill Indians!!'
A380: Double Decker Bus, Megabus ("super-jumbo" is stupid and unoriginal)
Alouette: Chicken chaser
AT6 Harvard: Halfard.
AW62 Argosy: Whistling Wheelbarrow, Whistling Tit
BAC 111:Pocket rocket.
BAe146: Viscount 900, Smurfjet with 5 APU's, The Gas Chamber, Bumble-et, Baby Jumbo, Bring Another Engine, 1-4-Sick, submarine- low slow and out of sight, Airborne Auschwitz, Tonka Toy, 4 oil leaks connected by an electrical fault, The Quadra-Puff, Lead Sled, Mini Galaxy, Sky Dozer, Fisher Price 747, "1 aeroplane, 4 engines, needs 6", The Slug, Toxic Terror, Muffler (Because all the noise is on the inside), Fruit Bat, Flying cockroach.
BAe ATP: Advanced/Another Technical Problem, The Parrot (cos it's just a big Budgie), Ancient Technology Perpetuated, Bat Pee, Skoda, 80p, Wigwam (A TeePee).
BAe Harrier: Leapin'Heap
BAe Jetstream: Junkstream, Wetdream, Soda-stream.
Bristol Beaufighter: Whispering Death
Beech 18: Flying snag
Beech 99: 99-Liner
Beech Baron: Ball tearer
Beech Bonanza: Doctor killer (its reputation as such is ubiquitous)
Beech 200: Super K
Beech 1900: Flipper, Dolphin, Stonefish
Beech T-34: Radial Interceptor
Bell 206: Deathranger, Hydraulic palmtree
Beverly: Flying Longhouse
Bristol 188: The Mayfly
Bristol Britannia: The Whispering Giant (Was this the original WG?), Freighter version: The Whispering Warehouse
Bristol Freighter: Freightener
B707: Slush bucket, Water wagon
B727: 3 holer, Tri-jet, Trisaurus, Triple crome-plated stovepipe
B737: Tin mouse, Maggot, Pocket Rocket Socket, FLUF (Fat Little Ugly F**cker), Light Twin, Baby Boeing, Fat Freddy, Guppy, Pig, Bobby (BOeing BaBY).
B747: Jumbo Jet, Whale, The Valiant, Upstairs and Downstairs, Lump.
B747SP: Short Plane, Stupid Purchase.
B757: Stick Insect, AtariFerrari, Slippery Snake
B767: Dumpster, Slug
B777: B737 on steroids, Cripple Seven (I.F.E. Problems??), Bigfoot
B24: The Crystal ****house
B52: BUMF (Big Ugly Mother f***er) or BUFF. (Big Ugly Fat F****er)
BN 2 Islander: 225 - 2 wings, 2 engines(?) 5 Wheels, Slander, Bongo
BN 2A Trislander: Try Harder, Bloody Nice Aircraft (!), Clockwork TriStar
CA-15 Winjeel: The Ginwheel
Casa: Christ A Sh***y Aeroplane
Cessna 150: One Filthy, the buck and a half, Cesspit
Cessna A150 Aerobat: Aerosplat
Cessna 172 Cutlass: Strutless, Gutless
Cessna 177 Cardinal: The Pontif
Cessna 207: Crowdkiller, Slug, Moneymaker
Cessna 210 Centurian: Coffin
Cessna 337 Sky Master: Sky Maggot, Push-me-Pull-you, Mix Master, Bug Smasher, Push-me-Pull-me, Blow-me-Suck-me.
Cessna 402 Utiliner: Undyliner.
Cessna Citation: Levitation, Crustacean, Mutation, Slowtation, Nearjet, Bugjet
CF100: The Lead Sled
CT-4A: (which was painted bright yellow and green in Oz Air Farce service) - the Plastic Parrot
DC 3: Dakotasaurus Rex, Gooney Bird.
DC 6: Douglasaurus Rex.
DC-8: DC Late, Old Smokey, Greasy8, Death Cruiser, Whiney Bird
DC 9: Greasy 9, Diesel 9, Pocket Rocket (series 10/15 only), DC3-GT
DC 10: Diesel 10, Death Cruiser 10, Crowd Killer
MD 11: More Death 2, I also like 'Scud' for the MD-11, once you launched it, you were not sure were it was going to land.
DH 82 Tiger Moth: Terror Moth.
DH Comet: Vomit
DHC 1 Chipmonk: Chippie, Chukmonk.
DHC 4 Caribou: The Gravel Truck ("The only aircraft known to man that could suffer a birdstrike from behind".)
DHC 6 Twin Otter: Tin Otter, Twin Rotter, Twotter, Stoneboat
DHC 8 Dash Eight: Dash Late
DO 328: Dork
DO 328J: Dorkjet
EMB110 Bandierante: Bandit, Randy Banty
EMB120 Brasillia: Garbage Can, Brakillya
EMB145: Jungle Jet, Barbie Jet, The Windows 98 Plane (seems like you spend more time rebooting the aircraft than actually flying it), Bendy Jet, Emb180 (taxi to the runway, then 180 for taxi back to ramp)
F27: The Dutch Dog Whistle, Whistle Pig, The Converter - (ie, it converted fuel into noise). F50: F**kin' Fifty
F28: WhisperJet
Fokker 100: The Scud Because they point them at Europe and they don't come back!, Dutch Oven (lousy air conditioning)
FA 18: Bug, Rhino
F-100 Hun
F-102 Deuce
F-105 The Thud
F-111: Aardvark, The Pig
Fouga: Dog-whistle, Converter
HS125: Pocket rocket
HS748: Paraffin Budgie, the Draggie, The Twenty Ton Dog Whistle.
HS Trident: Rodent.
Gloster Meteor: Meatbox
Gulfstream I: G-String, G-Once
Gulfstream IV: Fourskin
IAI Westwind: Lead Sled, Jew Canoe, Heebjet, Bagel Bomber, Yom Kippur Clipper
Katana DA20: Flying sperm
Lake Amphibian: Doctor Killer
LearJet: FearJet, Noisemaker
L Jetstar: Lawn Dart
L1011 TriStar: Bistar (Had so many RB211-22B failures), El-10-Elemon, FrightStar, Tritanic, Swamp Eater, Swamp Buggy
C130 Hercules: Fat Albert, Trash hauler, Herkybird
MD 11: Mad Dog
MD 80: Mad Dog 80
MD 95: John Holmes condom
Metroliner: San-Antonio sewerpipe, Texas Sewer Pipe, Death pencil, The Screamin Weenie, Texas Lawn Dart, Swetro (in the summer), Baltimore Whore (no visible means of support, skinny lil 'ol wings), Terror Tube, "That noisy ******* thing", Widow maker, Kerosene Crowbar.
Mohawk 298/Nord 262: Pteradactyl
MU-2: Widow Maker, Hiroshima Screamer, Rice Rocket, Kill You - 2
N24 Nomad: Go-mad, Gonad
Partenavia: Part-of-Mafia, Partial Aviator, Part Banana
PA-18 Tri Pacer: Pie Chaser
PA-23 Aztec: Az-Truck
PA-28 Arrow: Sparrow
PA-28 Cherokee: Cherry Tree
PA-28 Warrior: Worrier
PA-31 Navajo: Never-go, Have-a-go
PA-38 Tomahawk: Traumahawk, Terrahawk, SpinMaster
PA-44 Seminole: Semenhole
PA-60: ScareOstar.
PC12: Platypus.
PBY 5 Catalina: Pigboat, Dumbo.
RJ70/100: Real Jet
SAAB J29: Flying Barrel
S3 Viking: Hoover
Shackleton: Shacklecaster
Shorts Belfast: Belslug
Shorts Sandringham: The Triple Decker Bus
Shorts Skyvan: The Whispering Nissan Hut
Shorts 330: The Two Tailed Shed, Horse Float, Milk Carton, Winnebago, Box Car, Short Van
Shorts 360: Box, Shoe Box, Barn, Shed, Long Short, The box that the Skyvan came in.
Sikorsky S61N: "Miss Piggy", (fat and ugly)
Strikemaster: Constant speed - variable noise machine.
Supermarine Stranraer: Whistling ****house
T-33: T Bird
T-37: Tweet
TB-10 Tobago: Toboggan - because they only perform downhill!
VC-9 Vanguard: Vickers Vibrator
VC-9 Vanguard Merchantman: The Guards Van
VC-10: Iron Duck, Vickers Knickers

[groundhogbhx]

ATP's were always called Skoda's when I worked on them. Most of the BMA staff where unaware of the name until Bish sent out a memo saying they were not to be called that, then everyone did!

737-200's were Scuds and 500's were pocket rockets.

TU154's were 24hr bombers.

74's were always lumps.

330's and 360's were Sheds.

Metroliners were Death Tubes.

Can't remember any others that haven't already been mentioned.

[SpringHeeledJack]

I recall hearing people refer to the B747SP as the 'Super Pig' on account of it's shape and super performance. :8


SHJ

[fireflybob]

After Gulf war B737-200 known as the Scud - you never knew when and where it was going to come down

[TowerDog]

. Quote:
Aha, that explains it: Neither British, nor a plane spotter
You haven't lived life to the full then

Not too late, I could still quit my flying gig, buy the anorak and seek asylum in the U.K.:)

[PC767]

Yes, we referred to our B737-200s and second hand 500s as scuds because we were never certain where they would actually land.

The B757 was the flying snake. Very obvious if you wondered to the rear galley on a positioning flight. See the flight deck door and now you don't, see it again and off it goes to the right this time. Amazing flexibility.

The B747 is simply the Queen of the skys.

The BAE 146/RJ100s were hair dryers.

NB, forgot to mention the dear old B767 which was referred to, unfairly, as the coal burner.

[PlymouthPixie]

We refer to the Embraer 175/195 as "kneeshine" due to the horrendous textured carpets in the hold!

[Herod]

Ref the long list posted by DaveReidUK. One error. It wasn't the Beverley that was the flying longhouse. It was Bristol's finest helicopter the Belvedere. Just take a look at it and place it among the natives in Malaysia/Borneo.

[THE AIRBOEJET]

Embraer 170/190 also known as wombles to British spotters as they cleaned up the market

[Mister Geezer]

The 380 is known as an intimate piece of female anatomy beginning with 'V'. The reasoning behind this is that the 380 is not very much to look at from the outside but it's pleasant after you have entered.

It is also referred to as the Dugong, which is a large marine mammal.

[Una Due Tfc]

"Screamliner" has caught on amongst a few of my colleagues after they had a few 787s divert with electrical issues early on.

There was a very unflattering name I heard comparing the A340s shocking climb performance to a certain dysfunction, I can't remember the exact phrasing so I won't ruin it by trying.

I always thought the 757 was the scud, because of it's low level climb performance.

[tdracer]

At least around Boeing, the 737-100 was known as "Fat Albert" (after a certain Bill Cosby character).


How in the world did the 767 get known as "Coal Burner"?

[Una Due Tfc]

Before my time TD but I would guess because it was so slow compared to other long haul jets when it first arrived (747, DC10, L1011 and DC8), and as such was seen as backward (far from it in reality).

It's still known as the slug by a few of my colleagues.

[groundhogbhx]

Another one just come back to me, 747SP's were Sleepy Pilots due to the range.

[Shytehawk]

CL-44 The Edsel.

[pppdrive]

Shorts 330/360 I knew as the Irish Concord

[EEngr]

I've heard the 787 referred to as a firebird or Phoenix.

[Doug E Style]

Within the only UK airline to fly them, the A380 is apparently known as the Tw@t magnet. Don't know why though.

[CSman]

Best laugh I have had for ages,It has not changed since I left 21 years ago
CSman ex 747

[vctenderness]

The Ilyushin Il-62 known as the VCtenski for obvious reasons.

[Sandy Boots]

"ATP's were always called Skoda's when I worked on them."

I once flew from LHR to LBA on a BM ATP and looking out of the window some wag had written SKODA in the dust on the black panel behind the engine :O

[Dairyground]

I'm sure I've seen the SD 330 and 360 referred to in print as the Shoebox and Super Shoebox, respectively.

[con-pilot]

They sure got this one correct.

MU-2: Widow Maker, Hiroshima Screamer, Rice Rocket, Kill You - 2

[Stanwell]

Years ago, a mate who was in the freight-forwarding business used to hitch a ride in MU-2s on the run between Sydney and Perth, W.A.

He'd ensconce himself in amongst the cargo with thermos, sangers and sleeping-bag for free trips to and from the other side of the continent to see his family on weekends.

If only he knew... :cool:

[thing]

Surprised the F4 hasn't come up yet. 'Double Ugly' or 'Duff', a ref to the B52 but meaning 'Double ugly fat f*****.'

[El Bunto]

In the troubled past of NI we had the company of Muppet and Wugga ( Wessex and Chinook ). The former because of its head-on likeness to the character Beaker and the latter due to its approach noise, heard for miles ahead.

Gazelles were usually just 'Gaz' but occasionally 'Drumstick' ( why?! ).

I don't remember any nicknames for Lynx or Puma, presumably those were short enough not to merit contraction.

[Newgen Jock]

DH Vampire:
Termite Taxi (balsa/plywood sandwich fuselage remember?):}

DC3:
Vomit Comet:O

[DaveReidUK]

Gazelles were usually just 'Gaz' but occasionally 'Drumstick' ( why?! ).

Think chicken, rather than Dave Grohl, and it will make sense.

[kaitakbowler]

Tristar--Timmy/Tommy (depends on version, on the MPA run)

Varsity--Pig

VC10--FunBus

PM

[xtypeman]

Always knew the 330 as Shed and 360 as Super shed. A couple of names for Dan Airs first two 146's Hatfield Trash (G-BKHT) and Mechanical Nightmare (G-BKMN).

1-11-200 Pocket Rocket.

Shakelton and Shorts Belfast 40,000 rivets flying in formation.

[wiggy]

Having spotted this thread belatedly (see what I did there ;)) I have to say "lump" for the 747 is a new one on me, even though I flew the thing for the best part of 20 years. Unlike Tower Dog I am a Brit, and a (lapsed) spotter :eek: but never heard the nickname once.

Then again I guess there might be alternative words for spotters that don't cross the boundary fence....

As for the F-4 - sometimes referred to as the "Rhino".

[Una Due Tfc]

Smaller Citations (C25A/B/C, C525, C550 etc) known as "Nearjets", because they are considered nearly a jet. Plenty of controllers have been caught out expecting them to climb like a Gulfstream. Heard an interesting story about a C525 being outclimbed by a Dornier 328 off an intersecting runway almost leading to a loss of separation from a colleague a few years ago, he turned the Nearjet back almost 180 degrees to cross the departure path of the Dornier below, expected it to climb way faster than it did....

[El Bunto]

Think chicken, rather than Dave Grohl, and it will make sense.Doh! Thank you for solving that particular ( decades-old ) mystery! I actually groaned when I read that, it seems so obvious now.

One other that occurred to me this morning was 'Mouse' for the AAC Sioux. Though they weren't anything as quiet as mice, clattering overhead...

'Robbo' for anything in the Robinson helicopter brochure. 'That Bloody Robbo Again' after a couple of hours of spotting.

'Belslow' occasionally encountered from ex-service personnel for the Belfast though the Shorts people I know boringly just called it 'Belfast' or 'her'.

'Bag' reportedly for RN Sea King AEW but I never encountered that one personally.

'Tiff' and 'Tiffie' rather unimaginatively for Typhoon.

[thing]

'Belslow' occasionally encountered from ex-service personnel for the Belfast

Reminds me of a story, possibly apocryphal, of a Belfast on a long ocean leg to parts East. Upon making radio contact with the next zone controller they were asked what their ETA was. 'About five days with a good tide' was the laconic reply.

Light aircraft of the Piper/Cessna range are invariably known as Spamcans or Driller Killers. Driller being dentists.

Not a nickname but I'm reminded of the old Buccaneer joke,

'Where are my Buccaneers?'

'On the side of your Buccin' head sir.'

[AtomKraft]

DH Comet. coffin.
F-104, Zipper, Dusenjager, missile-with-a-man-in-it,
U-2 Dragon, Dragon Lady, Deuce.
B-1 Bone
F-105 Thud, Polish Glider
Trident, GroundGripper
VC-10 Duck
Lightning. Frightning
Aeronca, aero knocker

[treadigraph]

Gazelle = drumstick: hadn't heard that one before, perfect!

[LadyL2013]

757-300 = Flying Pencil

[Stanwell]

Lady L,
The Swearingen-Fairchild Metroliner has prior claim to that moniker.


BTW, I'd also heard it called, by an unimpressed pax, 'an economy-size toothpaste tube'.

[Tu.114]

In German-speaking Europe, the Metroliner carried the not-too-flattering name of "Angströhre", loosely translated as "pipe of fear", which doubles as an old slang name for a stovepipe hat that seems to have been associated with unpopular situations.

[DevX]

Another for the 787, 'Doomliner'.

[treadigraph]

Lady L,
The Swearingen-Fairchild Metroliner has prior claim to that moniker.

Dornier 17 was an early claimant on that moniker..

[Stanwell]

You're right, now that I think about it, treadi.


BTW, which aircraft got the wonderfully evocative nickname - 'shagbat'?

[AtomKraft]

The B-26 Marauder was know by two nicknames.
'Murderer' and 'The Baltimore whore' due to its short wings, ie no visible means of support.

[treadigraph]

BTW, which aircraft got the wonderfully evocative nickname - 'shagbat'?

Shagbat is the Walrus as I recall... Wonder if the Dick Melton restoration will ever fly...

[FantomZorbin]

Vampire - Clockwork* Mouse


* Apparently due to the timing mechanism for engine start(?)

[DaveReidUK]

Shagbat is the Walrus as I recall...

"The time has come" the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things -
Of pusher screws and 'Shagbats'
And strutted, swept-back wings.
I'm an aeronautical wonder
And if that is not enough,
Then I've wheels that I can land on
When the sea's a bit too rough."


Attributed to E A Wren

[pithblot]

Thanks for that extensive list DR.

Stoneboat, DHC3 Otter, the original piston version, usually on floats.

Partenavia, Musolini's Revenge.

[ConstantFlyer]

I've long referred to any unidentified single-engined light aircraft chugging overhead as an "LFJ". This has been accepted by friends and family, who just assumed that, me being a plane bore, I knew the type. Until one day, when someone asked me what it stood for: "Little Farty Job". Now they all say it!

[compton3bravo]

A couple I don´t think have been mentioned:
ATP - Yugo - You go and tell them it is not flying today.
Airbus A321 - Ted Rogers - this for people of a certain age remembering the Yorkshire Television Programme of the 1980s 3-2-1 hosted by Ted Rogers.
Plus an individual machine - Scibe Air B707 ´´the roach coach´´ because of a certain type of insect prevelant in the cabin!