What do you call what you fly?

[Whirlybird]

Something lighthearted for the bank holiday weekend. But I'm curious, as there's a bit of aviation snobbery here I think. How many of you hate the word "plane" for instance? And why? And did you before you became a pilot?

Apologies to rotary pilots etc; the poll won't let me include any more options. :(

[AerBabe]

Usually 'aeroplane', but the odd 'plane' sometimes slips out... which may or may not cause death threats, depending on who's within earshot (sorry Stik :o )
And there has been the odd occasion when 'you b@stard' has seemed more suitable. ;)

[Evo7]

Aeroplane, definitely, but an individual aeroplane is a she or her... :)

[mattpilot]

first to vote AIRPLANE!

sounds wierd if slip an "o" into the pronounciation - at least it does over here :)

[Doudou]

airplane, avion, avionetta...
but that's true, I never say aeroplane

[stiknruda]

Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane, Aeroplane,

and sometimes

you beauty

and when the bills come in:

expensive bitch!


Stik

:D

[Cough]

As my flying instructor used to say, 'she 'aint no woodworking tool'. Still, the odd 'plane' still slips through...

[kabz]

A I R P L A N E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the American way !!!

:D

[Holloway]

I like Plane. But I guess im young and different to a lot of you:rolleyes:

[Grim Reaper 14]

Plane. I've got no aviation background, didn't know it was 'wrong'. Can anyone tell me why?:confused:

[FlyingForFun]

I fly a plane, the same way as I keep my food in the fridge, and my next door neighbours push their baby around in a pram. As soon as people start talking about refrigerators and perambulators I'll start talking about aeroplanes (but never airplanes!)

But, just the same as I usually watch the tv, but sometimes I watch the television, I do sometimes fly an aeroplane. Just depends what mood I'm in I suppose!

FFF
-------------

[tomahawk1673]

Aeroplane, but again, plane still comes out now and again.

How many call their aeroplane/plane/airplane/aircraft "she", "her" etc.?

[poetpilot]

I dont mind what it's called, in the same way that I dont mind what colour or sex people are, where they come from and what language they speak.

I suppose I'm just darn lucky or priviliged to be able to understand all those terms for a Flying Machine.... what does it matter, us aviators are a small enough band as it is !!!

..scuse me, just off to fly my aerial-whizz-banger.....

[djk]

I usually say "Aeroplane", occasionally if I'm lazy then I'll say "plane" or sometimes use "aircraft"

and my dear little susie, bless her little cotton socks always calls it a "putt-putt plane" :D

[Whirlybird]

Stik,

Should I deduce from your post that you have just a teeny weeny ever-so-slight preference for the word aeroplane ?

And if so, why?

[Genghis the Engineer]

Aircraft.


Or occasionally "Jet", but only if it isn't.

G

[dublinpilot]

Heavier than air flying machine!!!

Only joking....I use a plain old ......"plain"

[Who has control?]

Its my 'Gentleman's Aerial Conveyance' of course.

[EI_Sparks]

Am I the only one that refers to the aircraft by type then? What do I call it? "Cub" or "Cessna" (or spamcan) or "Rallye" or "Traumahawk" or whatever.
Or is that just the aftermath of a long time spent spotting? :)

[skydriller]

To be honest I guess I use Aeroplane, Aircraft and Plane about equally - but NEVER AIRPLANE:rolleyes:

However, She is always female.....

Why? Because like all women although she is great fun to play with, she is also temperamental and expensive to run:D :D

Regards, SD.


Oh, forgot, I also say avion....when in Rome (or France!) and all that...:)

[stiknruda]

Whirly - I was indoctrinated at RAFC Cranwell! I do refer to the Pitts as a biplane, as well.

Bernard Chabbert, the French airline pilot who writes for one of the American flying comics, wrote a lovely article about flying his Waco. In it, he analysed the difference between avion and aeronafe (sp?).

Anyone else seen said article?

Stik

[mattpilot]

Let me give you guys two definitions as defined by the FAA :cool: :


Aircraft: means a device that is used or intended to be used for flight in the air

now this can be anything - from a balloon to a helo to a airplane


Airplane: means an engine-driven fixed-wing aircraft heavier than air, that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its wings

Notice, it doesn't say "aeroplane" :D :D

[AerBabe]

My English ;) dictionary says:
Aircraft - collective name for flying machines; aeroplane :p

[BEagle]

You will learn the difference between 'aircraft' and 'aeroplane' when you do JAR-FCL ATPL Aviation Law. But either are infinitely better than the totally inaccurate word 'airplane' used by some. The same people who spell 'manoeuvre' as 'maneuver'........

'Planes' come in various forms. But they are all woodworking tools.

[mattpilot]

@beagle

it aint inaccurate on my side of the pond :cool:

[Keef]

Usually, and especially when I want her to start promptly and behave herself, I call her Lulubelle. No idea why - must be lost in the depths of my subconscious. But she seems to like it, and treats me well.

And she's an AEROPLANE.

AIRPLANE is a device for shaving slices off the atmosphere.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Out of interest, is there anybody out there, of either (any?) sex, who regards their aircraft as anything other than she?

G

[Haul By Cable]

I always refer to "it"

I never attach gender.

Referring to "her" or "she" makes you sound like Captain Birdseye! :rolleyes:

(Only my opinion)

[Baily]

My heli (note not Helo) is an aircraft

[LowNSlow]

I usually use aeroplane but have been known to use bitch, as in if you don't start this time you bitch, I'm selling you. :D :D

[DB6]

Well I climb into my KITE every morning and take the old MACHINE for a spin, what? And love annoying people who get tetchy when I call it a PLANE :D .

[sr562]

I call it whatever it wants, as long as it stays aloft and only comes down when i ask it to.

Seriously though i usually call it an aircraft.:p

[Eliason]

Usually call it an airplane - but use a/c in writing ... (aircraft - not airconditioning! :D )

Most planes are "it" - there are only 2 or 3 around who I call "she" :p

[Lowtimer]

"Aeroplane" normally, but I've recently noticed that if I'm not involved in the operation and am therefore thinking of it as a place rather than a flying machine, i.e. as SLF on an airliner, then I sometimes refer to it as a "plane", as in, "It's OK, I had some food on the plane". Weird.

[TheKentishFledgling]

Since knowing Stik, it's been "aeroplane". But like AerBabe, the odd "plane" does slip out, especially when talking to non-flyers about "plane crashes" etc etc.

But for some very silly reason "aeroplane" sounds almost more professional :rolleyes:!

Also from time to time I call the wing the "plane", which I spose isn't wrong as that's what it is!

tKF

[Deeko01]

pure wee mad mental hing that goes up and doon

[stiknruda]

DB6 - having watched you at very close range for the past 48 hrs, I suppose that you'll be referring to that bitch aircraft when you see her back at work on Monday.

So you didn't win a medal then at the Nationals? (Neither did I!!)

Stik

[stiknruda]

There was a Douglas Bader film on terrestrial telly yesterday early evening.

Once the long awaited spares eventually arrived at Duxford, Bader asked his Engineering SNCO if he now had sufficient.

"I've got enough for all the planes in Fighter Command, Sir!", said the chap.

"It is an aeroplane, never call it a plane!", said Bader.

And if it is good enough for Douglas, then it should be good enough for the rest of us!

Stik:D

[chilleruk1]

Airplane - doesn't sound like a proper word

Aeroplane - sounds too much like 'airplane' when you say it quickly and too much like baby talk when you say it slowly

Aircraft - sounds far too general

and

Plane - sounds too......well plain

At the moment if having an argument that I'm not winning I say..."Yeah, but I can fly planes!"

....works for me right now!

[nonradio]

Aeroplane (or airplane) never plane (clearly for wood working) but occasionally 'plane (the apostrophe makes ALL the difference)
Not to mention 'plank' or 'seized wing'
Can't stand the ex Navy use of 'aeroplane' for 'helicopter', Duh..

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

"The Chippy" (not a reference to fish suppers), or "SL". And it's an aeroplane, not a plane, as has been rightly pointed out out by Stik re Douglas Bader.

Never 'Airplane'; but then I always use the Railway Station when travelling by train, never the 'Train Station'.

SSD

[sennadog]

Aircraft - dunno why, I just do. And it's always a HE whether it's an aircraft, boat or car. It just works better that way for me.

[G SXTY]

It’s an aircraft, and it’s an ‘it’, except for the extremely rare occasions when I grease one, whereupon it becomes ‘you beauty’, and the much more frequent occasions when it oils its plugs up, at which point it becomes ‘a dog’.;)

[Trislander]

I tend to call it an aircraft. Basically because it is easier and less long-winded to say than aeroplane or 'airplane' which just doesn't sound like a proper word.
OK- so we've heard that someone calls it a jet, so who calls it an airliner?!

Regards Trislander

[ppl(a)]

India Juliett, to anyone else in our group or at our base field.

And (although that base name includes the word "aerodrome"), very occasionally IJ may be called a plane - not an aeroplane and certainly not an airplane - it's G registered you know.

[planepsycho]

When I first saw this forum, I thought you meant the nickname of the contraption........boats have names, airplanes should too. Since the last two letters of the tail number are "Delta Sierra"....I affectionately call "it" "Dog S**t".....and it's an airplane.