There's nothing to say the MRA4 was going to be a bad aircraft, in fact it was to going to be one of the most advanced MPA around, it's just BAE were way behind schedule and hence probably over budget (not sure about that)

Tiffie's been referred to as Tiffie here since 2002.

In any case, one must be incredibly pompous to object to such nomenclature. I'd opine a 'spotter' is more likely to use the full name, no doubt with FGR4 included too.

Just doesn't sound very, well, tough or hard does it?

It has always sounded like a name given to it by the spotter types rather than serving RAF. Whilst I was in, and since when I have been out, I have never heard it referred to by anyone serving as Tiffie.

Tiffie, just sounds distinctly soft.



S-D

White mans problems abound in the Mil History forum ;):E

'Tiffie' is a pretty terrible nickname. I'd imagine those who had/have anything to do with the Tornado, don't call it a 'Tonka', either.

Why would we want to do aircraft design? It's all about systems these days. We would plough billions of public cash into r and d and end up with little if any profit.

No your right, we call it the grey, swept wing, bringer of death.

Abbreviated to Tonka.

:ouch:

It was certainly `tonka` at Laarparts in the early eighties...that, or maybe `the perpetual hanger queen` ;)

Tornadoes have been known as Tonkas by those that fly and maintain them for as long as I can remember. The allusion to chunky 'toys for the boys' is quite apt!

I've heard some pilots call Typhoon the 'Phoon, but typically only when wishing to make a derogatory statement (sometimes lengthened to Buffphoon for clarity). Most of the time it's plainly and simply Typhoon.

Staff officers who've never flown either sometimes call them "Ty" and "Tor" - because that's how they often appear in documents. Tiresome.

I'm pretty sure that the people involved with the F35 probably don't call it Dave but Dave it is

It's a nice little test to discriminate between flyers and spotters.

Spotters fantasists and flight sim heroes call them Dave, Tonka and Tiffie.

Flyers don't.

Tourist wrote: Quite right! Some non-aircrew members of the service used to refer to the 'Tonka' and 'Timmy' for the TriStar seems to have been an RAF Mount Pleasant thing, but I doubt whether anyone in the armed forces uses the name 'Tiffie'.... Which is incorrect in any case; the wartime nickname for the Hawker Typhoon was 'Tiffy'.....

Neither was the Buccaneer ever referred to as the 'Brick' nor was there ever any such beast as the 'Phantom F Mk 3' except in spotters' circles!

The Tornado was Tonka at T.T.T.E., I think Dave is a pprune thing as it's the only place I've seen it, no idea about the Typhoon.

Ah yes, Thomas the Tank Engine can still remember the dayglo zaps that [kept] appearing on the road signs back in the day [and ever since]..

Tourist, wow! what could one say indeed.

Actually Tourist has unwittingly hit upon a truism there.

The generic name for mil fj from a groundcrew perspective was CABS as they spent 99.9999% of their life flying about with little purpose, well, apart from breaking themselves.......


:E

touché

Quite agree, I have always called my aircraft a "cab", though it is more a rotary thing in my experience.

Didn't the expression come from the FAA back in proper carrier FW days and has since been adopted generally?

I'm certainly not either an ex-Typhoon driver nor a spotter. But a friend of mine who was a Typhoon driver (now peacefully flying tourist day-trippers) refers to them as Tiffie and to Tonkas as Tonkas. He left before Leuchars closed.

So no one thinks w could ever produce a Lightning again? We'd always have to ask the Americans or the French/Germans "please can we use our aeroplanes to shoot something down?"

Presumably we can't hot wire the F-35 to use as we wish, when we wish.....

The Swedes can do it, so why can't the UK?

The Swedes did it, as did we all. No longer.