Soldiers, Sailors and ...?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
You could just refer to crew - as in aircrew, ground crew, supernumerary crew etc.
It has a suitable naval ring - “the officers and crew prepared for battle”.
It has a suitable naval ring - “the officers and crew prepared for battle”.
My mother married an RAF Pilot, and from that day on my maternal grandfather invariably referred to the British air force as "that rabble".
I offer this as the very obvious collective noun that the OP is looking for.
I offer this as the very obvious collective noun that the OP is looking for.
That, dear BEags, is coz we Navy types have been using that phrase routinely (and most effectively) to refer to anyone in the RAF for, well, probably since the RAF was dreamed up out of the RNAS, so there is really no need for any further discussion. 
On that basis, we rather fail to see the point of this Thread..........
Toodle pip! H 'n' H
On that basis, we rather fail to see the point of this Thread..........
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Soldiers, Sailors and Guardians of the Atmosphere has a nice ring to it... we can move onto the Galaxy in a few light years...
we can move onto the Galaxy in a few light years...
Ah, the joys of Anglo-Saxon exceptionalism - in other parts of the world feminists campaign for feminine titles to avoid being obscured by the masculine ones. In France there was a drawn out debate was whether female doctors should be la docteure or la doctoresse earlier it was common to use la docteur. Being a grumpy, older, ex-dark blue, white male I should probably exclude myself from this debate.
However: not wanting to disappoint BEagle and very much in jest...
Army - Solidier derives ultimately from the latin solidus (aka shilling) referring to their pay
Navy - Sailor derives from sailer i.e. someone or thing that sails
So,
Airforce - my ideas are Geographer - someone who uses maps to their own service's advantage, Boaster - someone who celebrates their own achievements, PPensioner - someone who uses PPrune to discuss pension schemes and PVR... other suggestions welcome.
However: not wanting to disappoint BEagle and very much in jest...
Army - Solidier derives ultimately from the latin solidus (aka shilling) referring to their pay
Navy - Sailor derives from sailer i.e. someone or thing that sails
So,
Airforce - my ideas are Geographer - someone who uses maps to their own service's advantage, Boaster - someone who celebrates their own achievements, PPensioner - someone who uses PPrune to discuss pension schemes and PVR... other suggestions welcome.
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If man as a suffix to crafts or midship is non-PC, then surely male as a suffix to fe is equally inappropriate? Perhaps even worse?
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So a lot of discussion ongoing about finding a collective noun to equate to soldiers and sailors. I agree that ‘officers, airmen and airwomen’ is somewhat clunky but what to use instead?
‘Aviator’ seems the favourite at the moment, but before you all start quoting dictionaries, you do have to then accept an interpretation of the word that is:
a. Gender neutral by discounting the word aviatrix (in the same way the term actor now applies to women rather than actress).
b. Applicable to all those involved in the business of aviation (ie in the RAF), rather than just those who actually fly.
Or is there a better term?
The second issue revolves about the rank of Aircraftman (and LAC and SAC) which officially applies to women too - I believe their rank is not, bizarrely Aircraftwoman. It’s the only rank we have that is gendered, so how about changing that too, in the same way that the RN moved away from Able Seaman to Able Rate. One proposal is to change the term to ‘Specialist’ (or for the techies, ‘Technician’)
Now this is Pprune, so I fully expect the usual suspects to tell me that this is Political Correctness gone mad and how in the 80’s even the women were real men, but FWIW, my view is that it is both an easy thing to change and something that we ought to do. The test to me is that, as a bloke, would you want your rank to be ‘Aircraftwoman’?
‘Aviator’ seems the favourite at the moment, but before you all start quoting dictionaries, you do have to then accept an interpretation of the word that is:
a. Gender neutral by discounting the word aviatrix (in the same way the term actor now applies to women rather than actress).
b. Applicable to all those involved in the business of aviation (ie in the RAF), rather than just those who actually fly.
Or is there a better term?
The second issue revolves about the rank of Aircraftman (and LAC and SAC) which officially applies to women too - I believe their rank is not, bizarrely Aircraftwoman. It’s the only rank we have that is gendered, so how about changing that too, in the same way that the RN moved away from Able Seaman to Able Rate. One proposal is to change the term to ‘Specialist’ (or for the techies, ‘Technician’)
Now this is Pprune, so I fully expect the usual suspects to tell me that this is Political Correctness gone mad and how in the 80’s even the women were real men, but FWIW, my view is that it is both an easy thing to change and something that we ought to do. The test to me is that, as a bloke, would you want your rank to be ‘Aircraftwoman’?
