abeam

en-adv

abeam (comparative more abeam, superlative most abeam)

more abeam (comparative)
most abeam (superlative)

From a- (“in the direction of”) + beam (“keel”).

prefix

We were heading S.S.W., and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “'”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), page 83:

[…] waves striking the ship abeam pushed her always south of their new course, and rolled her, and filled her with water so that bailing must be ceaseless […]

1968, Ursula K. LeGuin, chapter 2, in A Wizard of Earthsea, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, published 2012, page 36:

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(nautical, aircraft) On the beam; at a right angle to the centerline or keel of a vessel or aircraft; being at a bearing approximately 090 Degrees or 270 Degrees relative.

otstrani, perpendikuljarno na kila na koraba

отстрани, перпендикулярно на кила на кораба

(nautical, aircraft) Alongside or abreast; opposite the center of the side of the ship or aircraft.


abeam

The island was directly abeam of us.

The sound shifted its place markedly, but without coming nearer. It even grew a little more distant right abeam of the lighter, and then ceased again.

1904, Joseph Conrad, chapter 8, in Nostromo, New York: Harper, page 311:

The attack on the abeam ship, Louisville, killed Commander Cruiser Division Four […]

2005, William Thomas Generous, Sweet Pea at War: A History of USS Portland, →ISBN, page 178:


helicopter

→ Amharic: ሄሊኮፕተር (helikoptär)

→ Cebuano: helikopter

→ Malay: helikopter

→ Tagalog: helikopter

/ˈhɛlɪˌkɑptɜɹ/

Borrowed from French hélicoptère, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “spiral”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”). Doublet of helicopteron. By surface analysis, helico- + -pter. The dragonfly sense is from a dragonfly's ability to hover and fly in any direction, like the flying machine.

af

We flew over the city in a helicopter.

(aircraft) An aircraft that is borne along by one or more sets of long rotating blades which allow it to hover, move in any direction including reverse, or land; and typically having a smaller set of blades on its tail to stabilize the aircraft.


basket

en-noun

basket (countable and uncountable, plural baskets)

→ Irish: bascaed

From Middle English basket, from Anglo-Norman bascat, of obscure origin.
One theory is that it derives from Late Latin bascauda (“kettle, table-vessel”), from Proto-Brythonic (in Breton baskodenn), from Proto-Celtic *baskis (“bundle, load”), from purported Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (“bundle”), but this is now widely viewed as a substrate word for phonetic reasons. Related to Latin fascis (“bundle, package, load”) (whence English fasces), Albanian bokshe (“bundle”), Breton bac'h (“bundle, load”), Ancient Greek φάκελος (phákelos) and βάσκιοι (báskioi) (“bundle (of sticks)”); see also faggot (“(originally) bundle of sticks”).

unk

obscure

buslo

a large, deep basket used especially in marketing

pangnan

a small basket used by fishermen or to hold flowers or fruit

Don't smoosh the basket.

(military, aircraft) A drogue (or para-drogue) in the probe-and-drogue refueling method


buzzard

From Middle English bosart, from Anglo-Norman buisart, from Old French busart, busard, a derivative ( + -ard) of Old French buison, buson (French buse), possibly from Latin būteō (“hawk”).

(US, military slang, World War I) A fighter plane.


fighter

From Middle English fightere, fyghtor, feghtere, feghtare, fiȝtare, fiȝtere, from Old English feohtere. Equivalent to fight + -er.

Little weapons / Over the phone / They like to threaten / The life that I know / They say "Get over here and get into the ring" / But I'm not really much of a fighter

2011, Lenka, Ben H. Allen (lyrics and music), “Roll with the Punches”, in Two, performed by Lenka:

(eulogistic) A person with a strong determination to resist protracted or severe adversity, especially illness.

A class of fixed-wing aircraft whose primary purpose is to shoot down other aircraft, sometimes accompanied by a secondary purpose of attacking ground targets.

Task Force 42 consisted of almost two dozen main line spinships, including the carriers Olympus Shadow and Neptune Station. Each of these can launch more than a hundred fighters or ALRs.

1990, Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion, New York: Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 32:

I toss around [37,654 tonne] dreadnoughts like they were fighters; dimly aware of the former crews being crushed to liquescence.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Six (Legendary):

(science fiction, by extension) A starfighter

A participant in boxing or any martial art.


aeroplane

[ˈɛə̯.ɹə.pleɪ̯n]

Borrowed from French aéroplane, from Ancient Greek ἀερόπλανος (aeróplanos, “wandering in air”), from ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”) + πλάνος (plános, “wandering”). First used by Joseph Pline in an 1855 patent.https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Aircraft_Design/NeHoahlhCGMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Joseph+Pline+glider&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover;https://books.google.at/books?id=fSQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA768&dq=Joseph+Pline+brevet+1855&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgk5Cz_a_wAhXZhf0HHdjNAJwQ6AEwAnoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Pline%20brevet%201855&f=false

(aviation, Commonwealth) Synonym of airplane. A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings.

airplane

(aeronautics, archaic, obsolete) Synonym of airfoil. An aerodynamic surface.


aeroplane

en-verb

aeroplane (third-person singular simple present aeroplanes, present participle aeroplaning, simple past and past participle aeroplaned)

aeroplanes (present singular third-person)
aeroplaning (participle present)
aeroplaned (participle past)
aeroplaned (past)

[ˈɛə̯.ɹə.pleɪ̯n]

The rod was discarded, and then, hand over hand, the prize of them all was aeroplaned to the top of the cliff.

1919, The American Angler, volume 4, page 221:


aircraft

/ˈɛə.kɹɑːft/

/ˈɛː.kɹɑːft/

/ˈɛəɹ.kɹæft/

/ˈɛːɹ.kɹæft/

light aircraft

aircraft manufacturer

aircraft licence

6.2.3.2.2. For aircraft having pressurized cabins, the disinsection of cabins and annexes, cockpit and annexes, is to be carried out after the embarkation of passengers and crew and the closing of the doors and windscreen[.]

1949, World Health Organization, Report on the 1st- Session May 10-15, page 19:

A vehicle capable of atmospheric flight due to interaction with the air, such as buoyancy or lift.


airplane

airplane (third-person singular simple present airplanes, present participle airplaning, simple past and past participle airplaned)

airplanes (present singular third-person)
airplaning (participle present)
airplaned (participle past)
airplaned (past)

/ˈɛːˌpleɪ̯n/

/ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/

/ˈɛɚˌpleɪ̯n/

Alteration of aeroplane (Borrowed from French aéroplane, from Ancient Greek ἀερόπλανος (aeróplanos, “wandering in air”), from ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”) + πλάνος (plános, “wandering”). First used by Joseph Pline in an 1855 patent.https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Aircraft_Design/NeHoahlhCGMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Joseph+Pline+glider&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover;https://books.google.at/books?id=fSQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA768&dq=Joseph+Pline+brevet+1855&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgk5Cz_a_wAhXZhf0HHdjNAJwQ6AEwAnoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Pline%20brevet%201855&f=false)


Vulcan

(aircraft) The Avro Vulcan, a type of jet-powered British bomber aircraft built by Avro during the Cold War.


plane

The plane is travelling impossibly slowly – 30km an hour – when it gently noses up and leaves the ground. With air beneath them, the rangy wings seem to gain strength; the fuselage that on the ground seemed flimsy becomes elegant, like a crane vaunting in flight. It seems not to fly, though, so much as float.

2013 September 6, Tom Cheshire, “Solar-powered travel”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 13, page 34:

plane

originally in Wisconsin Walloon community


drone

→ Asturian: dron

→ Spanish: dron

→ Italian: drone

→ Punjabi: ਡ੍ਰੋਨ (ḍron)

→ Polish: dron

→ Portuguese: drone

From Middle English drane, from Old English drān, from Proto-West Germanic *drānu, from Proto-Germanic *drēniz, *drēnuz, *drenô (“an insect, drone”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrēn- (“bee, drone, hornet”).
Cognate with:
* Dutch dar (“male bee or wasp”),
* Low German drone (“drone”),
* German Drohne, dialectal German Dräne, Trehne, Trene (“drone”),
* Danish drone (“drone”),
* Swedish drönje, drönare (“drone”).
The etymology of the sense of "remote-controlled aircraft" is disputed; theories include early military UAVs dumbly flying on preset paths.

inh

Several images of the compound were obtained via a drone overflight.

One team member launched a camera drone over the Third Pole.

An atomic tested Flying Fortress will make a nonstop flight from Florida, and from the time the first engine kicks over until the last propeller stops spinning at Bolling, no hands will touch the controls. A radio controlled drone, it will make the journey with its mother ship, another Fortress, as part of the Experimental Guided Missiles Group contribution to the demonstration.

1948 September 30, “Air Force Day”, in U.S. Air Services, page 6:

The United Nations is setting up a unit to investigate American drone strikes and other targeted killings of terrorist suspects, Ben Emmerson, the United Nations special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, said Thursday.

2012 October 25, Scott Shane, “Drone Strikes to Be Investigated”, in New York Times:

A farmer could place an order for a new tractor part by text message and pay for it by mobile money-transfer. A supplier many miles away would then take the part to the local matternet station for airborne dispatch via drone.

2012 December 1, “An internet of airborne things”, in The Economist, volume 405, number 8813, page 3 (Technology Quarterly):

In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:

In April, as an Air Canada Jazz flight was landing at Trudeau Airport, a drone came so close the pilot was able to identify it as a quadcopter.

2017 October 17, Christina Caron, “After Drone Hits Plane in Canada, New Fears About Air Safety”, in New York Times:

NR made extensive use of drones, helicopters and a team of divers to inspect the flood-damaged section of embankment that forced the closure of one of the lines into Drax from February 6-April 20.

2020 May 20, Paul Stephen, “NR beats floods to secure tracks to Drax”, in Rail, page 58, photo caption:

Indeed, referring to his drone murder extermination campaign Obama bragged: "I'm really good at killing people!" Those are Obama's own words!

2021, Francis A. Boyle, World Politics, Human Rights, and International Law, page 9:

(metonymically): An aircraft operated by remote control, especially an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).


glider

From Middle English glider, glydare, equivalent to glide + -er.

Any heavier-than-air aircraft optimised for unpowered flight; a sailplane.


blimp

Origin not entirely certain. However, most historians believe that it is onomatopoeia for the sound a blimp makes when thumped. Although there is some disagreement among historians, credit for coining the term is usually given to Lt. A.D. Cunningham of the British Royal Navy in 1915.
There is an often repeated, but false, alternative explanation for the term. The erroneous story is that at some time in the early 20th century, the United States military had two classes for airships: Type A-rigid and Type B-limp, hence “blimp”. In fact, A. D. Topping reports on the “Etymology of ‘Blimp’”, in the AAHS Journal, Winter 1963, that:
: “there was no American ‘A-class’ of airships as such—all military aircraft, heavier or lighter-than-air were designated with ‘A’ until the appearance of B-class airships in May 1917. There was an American B airship—but there seems to be no record of any official designation of non-rigids as ‘limp’. Further, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the first appearance of the word in print was in 1916, in England, a year before the first B-class airship.”
J.R.R. Tolkien speculated that the word was a portmanteau word deriving from 'blister' and 'lump': 'the vowel i not u was chosen because of its diminutive significance -- typical of war humour'

onom

onomatopoeia

2004 February 16&23, The New Yorker

(aviation) An airship constructed with a non-rigid lifting agent container.


balloon

→ Assamese: বেলুন (belun)

→ Bengali: বেলুন (belun)

→ Japanese: バルーン (barūn)

→ Maori: parūnu

→ Welsh: balŵn

→ Zulu: ibhaloni

1570, "a game played with a large, inflated leather ball" (possibly via Middle French ballon) from Italian pallone (“large ball”) from palla (“ball”), from Lombardic *palla. The Northern Italian form, balla (“ball-shaped bundle”), today a doublet, likely derived from Old French balle, from Frankish *balla (“ball”), and may have influenced the spelling of this word. Both Germanic words are from Proto-Germanic *ballô (“ball”), *balluz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoln- (“bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”). Akin to Old High German ballo, bal (“ball”), (German Ballen (“bale”); Ball "ball"). Doublet of ballon. More at ball.

der

We immediately threw out all the little things we had with us, ſuch as biſcuits, apples, &c. and after that one of our oars or wings; but ſtill deſcending, we caſt away the other wing, and then the governail ; having likewiſe had the precaution, for fear of accidents, while the Balloon was filling, partly to looſen and make it go eaſy, I now ſucceeded in attempting to reach without the Car, and unſcrewing the moulinet, with all its apparatus; I likewiſe caſt that into the ſea.

1786, John Jeffries, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, A narrative of the two aerial Voyages of Dr. J. with Mons. Blanchard: with meteorological observations and remarks., page 45:

Such an object designed to transport people or equipment through the air.

balonë

inflatable object to transport people through the air


balloon

en-verb

balloon (third-person singular simple present balloons, present participle ballooning, simple past and past participle ballooned)

balloons (present singular third-person)
ballooning (participle present)
ballooned (participle past)
ballooned (past)

The plane ballooned into the air about 20 feet, banging down again for another good-sized hop.

1961, Flying Magazine, volume 69, number 3, page 86:

(aviation) Of an aircraft: to plunge alternately up and down.


chopper

chopper (third-person singular simple present choppers, present participle choppering, simple past and past participle choppered)

choppers (present singular third-person)
choppering (participle present)
choppered (participle past)
choppered (past)

From the onomatopoeia for the "chop-chop" sound emitted by the main rotor blades of the Bell 47 'OH-13 Sioux' "Angel of Mercy" helicopter, encountered by troops during the Korean War.

They lifted Catholics. Civil Rights guys, mostly. Low-level nationalists. Choppered them off to some interrogation centre outside Belfast.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 288:

(informal) To travel or transport by helicopter.


bomber

(aviation, military) A military aircraft designed to carry and drop bombs.

chidí naatʼáʼiʼtsoh beeʼeldǫǫh bikǫʼ neiyéhé


whirlybird

... and then this whirlybird that I headed for, I had my goggles off...

1988, R.E.M. (lyrics and music), “Orange Crush”, in Green:


Manchester

→ Finnish: Manse

From Old English Mameċeaster. The first element may be from a word related to Breton mamm (“mother; female animal; womb”), in reference to a breast-shaped hill.
The second part is known to be from Old English ceaster, from Latin castra (“camp”).

der

(aircraft) A type of twin-engined British bomber aircraft built by Avro during the Second World War, the forerunner to the Lancaster.


Antonov

Borrowed from Russian Анто́нов (Antónov).

Any of the Russian or Ukrainian aircraft designed by the Antonov bureau, typically large cargo planes.

Антонов

any of the Russian aircraft designed by the Antonov bureau


fighter plane

(aircraft, military) A military aircraft primarily designed to attack enemy aircraft. Frequently shortened to fighter.


aircrew

The aircrew ran to the bomber.

A group of two or more trained individuals, formed as a team that operates an aircraft.


heckler

[…] the usual gap between the time the last strike of the day departed and the first night hecklers arrived was closed with "zippers" — night fighters who, using day fighter tactics, proceeded to the target in daylight in time to relieve the last day blanket patrol.

(US, military, slang) An aircraft flying attack missions at night.


airship

From air + ship.
* (jocular British sense): is in imitation of worship "form of address for magistrates et al., possibly also an oblique reference to Colonel Blimp.

Airships are posited to be cheaper to operate over time than fixed-wing aircraft, but as there are no large fleets, this is hard to prove in practice.

(aviation) A lighter-than-air aircraft that can be propelled forward through the air as well as steered.

(US, law enforcement, aviation) A police air unit, a police helicopter.

On weekends, I liked to spend my time at the airport watching the various airships take off and land.


airship

en-verb

airship (third-person singular simple present airships, present participle airshipping, simple past and past participle airshipped)

airships (present singular third-person)
airshipping (participle present)
airshipped (participle past)
airshipped (past)


dirigible

/ˈdɪɹɪdʒəbəɫ/

From French dirigeable, from ballon dirigeable (“steerable balloon”).

On the opposite wall, the R101 tragedy is recalled by the airship's tattered ensign in a glass case, a plaque from the Royal Airship Works and a photograph of the dirigible at her moorings.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 101:

People had time to think up some questions, including reporters who shouted “Are you going to shoot down the balloon?” at President Biden shortly before the dirigible came down.

2023 February 4, Katie Rogers, “Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a … Chinese Spy Balloon?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(aviation) A self-propelled airship that can be steered.

lugskip

a self-propelled airship that can be steered


hot-air balloon

en-noun

hot-air balloon (plural hot-air balloons)

A balloon-shaped aircraft whose bag is inflated with hot air, carrying passengers and crew in a gondola slung underneath.

warmlugballon

balloon-shaped aircraft filled with hot air


jumbo jet

(informal) A large transport aircraft, especially the Boeing 747.


Gnat

(historical) A type of jet fighter aircraft.


Hurricane

Hawker Hurricane
Hurricane (disambiguation)#Places
Hurricane, Utah
Hurricane, West Virginia

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Hurricane.wav

(historical) A British fighter aircraft used during World War II, especially during the Battle of Britain.


Zeppelin

Borrowed from German Zeppelin. Named after Ferdinand von Zeppelin, whose surname derives from the German town name Zepelin. Doublet of cepelinas.

(aviation) A type of large dirigible rigid airship of the early 20th century, built by the German Luftschiffbau Zeppelin and designed to carry passengers or bombs.

zepelín

a type of large German dirigible airship of the early 20th century

(aviation, by extension, informal) A rigid airship dirigible, not restricted to Germany nor the early 20th century.


empennage

From French empennage (“feathers of an arrow”).

bor

The feathers of an arrow or the tail fins of a bomb or rocket used to stabilize the longitudinal axis of the projectile parallel to the flight path.


puddle jumper

The flight across country was not bad, but the ride in the puddle jumper between Boston and Connecticut was a little rough.

(idiomatic) A small passenger airplane, typically used for shorter connecting trips to smaller airports.


airliner

A passenger-carrying aircraft, especially one of a fleet operated by an airline.


air taxi

A small aircraft that makes short passenger flights, especially to destinations not serviced by airlines.


fuselage

/ˈfjuːzəˌlɑːʒ/

/ˈfjuːsəˌlɑːʒ/

Etymology tree
French fuseler
French -age
French fuselagebor.
English fuselage
Borrowed from French fuselage. Ultimately from Latin fūsus (“spindle, spinning wheel”).
For the meaning development, compare rocket, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rukkô (“spinning wheel, distaff”) (whence also English rock (“distaff, the flax or wool on a distaff”)).

m+

(aeronautical) The main body of an aerospace vehicle; the long central structure of an aircraft to which the wings (or rotors), tail, and engines are attached, and which accommodates crew and cargo.

hull

the body or frame of a vessel, such as a ship or plane


flaperon

(aviation, aeronautics, aircraft) An aircraft control surface at the trailing edge of a wing that acts as an aileron (controlling movement around the longitudinal axis) and a flap (changing the chord line of the wing, thus affecting the angle of attack).


ultralight

The last time I was at Victoria Falls, ultralights and hang gliders, small planes and helicopters, hot-air balloons and bungee jumpers, gorge swingers and rappelers and cable sliders were jostling for air space above the falls and the canyons that slice through the black basalt below them.

2006, Peter Godwin, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa:


Lancaster

From Middle English Lancaster, Loncastre, the name of the Roman fort on the River Lune, from Lune + the Old English suffix ceaster (“town”), found in many placenames.

(aircraft) A type of four-engined British bomber aircraft built by Avro during World War 2.


seaplane

(aircraft, nautical) Any aircraft capable of taking off from, and alighting on the surface of water.


nuclear aircraft

en-noun

nuclear aircraft (plural nuclear aircraft)

A proposed aircraft that would be powered by nuclear energy.


hydroplane

(aircraft, nautical) A seaplane; any aircraft capable of taking off from, and alighting on the surface of water.


ghetto bird

Had to pull a strap on a fool named Louis the Third
Cuz I'm getting chased by the ghetto bird

1993, Ghetto Bird, Ice Cube, Lethal Injection

(slang, US, idiomatic) A police helicopter, specifically in the context of patrolling or searching impoverished, high-crime urban areas (the ghetto).


autogyro

From auto- and gyro-, from latinized forms of Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-, “self-”) and γῦρος (gûros, “circle, gyre”), a variant of earlier Spanish autogiro, from the same roots, coined by Juan de la Cierva c. 1920.

(aircraft) An aircraft in which lift is provided by unpowered rotating wings and thrust is provided by a conventional propeller.


autogiro

From Spanish autogiro, coined by Juan de la Cierva c. 1920.

(now uncommon) Alternative form of autogyro.


buzz bomb

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-buzz bomb.wav

The Second World War was reaching fever pitch, with the entire Allied effort in top gear for the imminent invasion of Europe, while later that month buzz bombs would start falling on London.

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

(historical) The V-1 flying bomb; the doodlebug.


hang glider

Calque of German Hängegleiter, from hängen (“hang”) + gleiten (“glide”).

An unpowered aircraft resembling a large kite from which a rider is suspended in a harness.


warbird

(chiefly poetic) A crew member of a warplane; airman.

An aircraft formerly operated by the military, but now owned privately.

Any aircraft decorated in military livery for display at airshows etc.


paraglider

A lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure.

The complete equipment used for paragliding, consisting of a paraglider wing and a harness.

The wing used for paragliding, which can be separated from the harness.


monoplane

From mono- + plane. The aviation sense was formed by analogy with biplane; compare French monoplan, as well as the earlier English aeroplane, multiplane, and triplane.

By the mid-1930s, designs for new fighters and bombers were almost all monoplane designs.

(aviation) An airplane that has a single pair of wings.


biplane

a biplane rudder

(aviation) Having, or consisting of, two superposed planes, aerocurves, etc.


biplane

(aviation) An airplane that has two main wings, one above the other and supported by struts.


triplane

(aviation) An airplane that has three pairs of wings, one above the others


sailplane

(aircraft) A glider that is optimised for soaring and is equipped with fixed wings and fuselage.


Spitfire

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Spitfire.wav

(historical) A single-seat fighter used by the RAF and allies during World War II, especially during the Battle of Britain.


flying brick

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-flying brick.wav

(aviation, colloquial) An aircraft which is too heavy and lacks sufficient power to be maneuvered easily.


fighter bomber

(military, aircraft) Alternative spelling of fighter-bomber


skyhook

A helicopter that lifts and transports heavy objects suspended by a heavy cable.


air tanker

Coordinate term: waterbomber

In this, the airliner made contact with an air tanker and "topped up" its incompletely filled tanks with fuel enough for the contemplated journey.

1945, Sydney E. Veale, To-morrow's Airliners, Airways and Airports, page 254:

Sometime later, they made a rendezvous with a Victor air tanker for a top-up of fuel and then resumed patrol while the tanker headed back.

1989, Julian Jay Savarin, Trophy, page 157:

If the only air tanker available is 300 miles away, it can still be over your fire in a fairly short period of time.

2002, Robert W. Klinoff, Introduction to Fire Protection, page 188:

An aircraft used to deliver liquids (or powders) from the air, usually either fuel, fire-retardants, or water.


heli

HERE’S A GREAT shot of our author Dave Ramsey, who seems to be doing the impossible—flying two helis simultaneously! Actually, he isnt’t; a flying buddy maneuvered his machine into the shot, just to create the illusion.

1990 September, “Helicopter section”, in Model Airplane News, page 91:

‘We saw two helis flying north a few weeks back,’ John offered. ‘An Apache and a Chinook. We figured they were hunting al-Qaeda.’

2010, Bob Shepherd, M. P. Sabga, The Infidel, Simon & Schuster, published 2011, →ISBN, page 175:

Two helis, both coming in sharp and from a great height. One looked like a Puma; the other, smaller and hovering just above and behind in a chaperone position, was clearly an Apache.

2011, Chris Ryan, Killing for the Company, Coronet, →ISBN, page 308:


tailfin

(automotive) A fin-like projection at the rear of a car, common on American cars of the 1950s.

stjärtfena

fin like projection at the rear of a car


Concorde

Named for French concorde (“concord”), due to the collaboration of the UK and France in developing the aircraft.

(aviation) The Aérospatiale-BAC supersonic airliner, previously used commercially.


rocket plane

(aviation) A winged aircraft that is propelled by a rocket engine.


bush plane

A light, propeller-driven aircraft, with a high wing, designed to land on, and take off from grass airstrips or rough ground


spaceplane

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A rocketplane designed to pass the edge of space, combining certain features of aircraft and spacecraft.


UAV

(aviation) Initialism of unmanned aerial vehicle or initialism of uncrewed aerial vehicle: an aircraft with no onboard pilot, and sometimes completely unpiloted, that is capable of controlled, sustained, level flight.


aerobus

aerobus (plural aerobuses or aerobusses)


superjet

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Raymond H. Dietrich, assistant to the preisden of Checker Bab Mfg. Co., told the styling session that "elegant simplicity" means that cares should look like "something meant for the highway, not like ocean liners, motor boats or superjet pursuit planes.".

1947, Mr. Yorick, Automotive News: Volume 23, Issue 3106, Crain Communications, Incorporated, page 2:

My souped-up superjet blew a gasket just as I was ready to take off, so I took it to a highly recommended repair shop known as "Mourdock's Murderous Mechanics".

1953, Haskins High School, Crigo, Middleton Local High School, page 14:

The President rightly suggests that this money come, not from the general taxpayer, but from the users of the service — from the airlines and their passengers. In the long run, this means that the economies promised by the new superjetswill be offset by higher landing fees, taxes on Jet fuel, and the like. The new planes will enable the airlines to absorb some higher costs, but expected cuts in air fares probably will not materialize, and higher fares may be required.

1967, United States Congress, Congressional Record, page 4829:

A jet aircraft with some superior quality, such as large size or high speed.


jet fighter

A fighter aircraft with one or more jet engines.


carplane

Outside Bedrock headed for a carplane stop in a meditative mood.

1951, Alfred Elton Van Vogt, The weapon shops of Isher:

Unlike some other fictional portrayals of future family life — which simply place traditional family structures in a high-tech futuristic setting of carplanes, fully automated appliances, interplanetary civilizations, and robot servants […]

2002, David M. Newman, Elizabeth Grauerholz, Sociology of families:

The sides of the carplane will open by moving slowly down under the floor of the car. There won't be any maps and we'll never get lost because carplanes will always know where to go.

2009, Caroline Nixon, Michael Tomlinson, Kid's Box 6 Pupil's Book, Volume 6:

(science fiction) A vehicle that can drive on land like a car or fly like an aeroplane.


cropduster

If Cary Grant ran by, chased by a malevolent cropduster, you might not be surprised.

2007 May 27, John Anderson, “Blood and Crashes? Sounds Like Lynch”, in New York Times:

An aircraft that carries out crop-dusting.


dive bomber

(aviation, historical) A bomber aircraft that dives directly at its target in order to drop a bomb with greater accuracy.


torpedo bomber

(aircraft) A bomber plane designed primarily for assaulting naval targets with torpedoes.


dust-off

(military, Vietnam War) A medical helicopter.


flying machine

(archaic) Early term for an aircraft; a machine for flying in (gerund); a machine that flies (participial adjective)


huey

Derived from Huey, applied by extension to all helicopters, during the Vietnam War.


quadcopter

In April, as an Air Canada Jazz flight was landing at Trudeau Airport, a drone came so close the pilot was able to identify it as a quadcopter.

2017 October 17, Christina Caron, “After Drone Hits Plane in Canada, New Fears About Air Safety”, in New York Times:

he saw, sweeping back and forth over the treetops, a sleek-looking quadcopter drone.

2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 235:


Yehudi lights

Developed, in part, by the US Navy's "Project Yehudi" from 1943 onwards. Yehudi in then-contemporary slang meant "the little man who wasn't there". The slang term may perhaps allude to the popular catchphrase and novelty song Who's Yehoodi? The catchphrase is said to have originated when violinist Yehudi Menuhin was a guest on the popular radio program of Bob Hope, where sidekick Jerry Colonna, apparently finding the name itself humorous, repeatedly asked "who's Yehudi?"

(rare) Lights placed under aeroplanes that raise their brightness to the same level as that of the sky, as a form of camouflage.


tiltrotor

An aircraft that has powered rotors mounted on engine pods that can rotate to provide lift and/or propulsion


taxiplane

An airplane that can be hired to transport people, like a taxi.


octocopter

From octo- (“eight”) + -copter (“helicopter-like”).

affix

An unmanned rotorcraft having eight rotors.


hexacopter

An unmanned multirotor rotorcraft having six rotors.


quadruplane

An airplane with four superposed main supporting surfaces (four wings one above the other)


parcelcopter

Utilising a remotely controlled quad-copter drone, DHL's new service will send its parcelcopters to the small German island of Juist, while flying 50 metres above ground to avoid any air control regulations.

2014 October 8, “DHL's parcelcopter drone taking to the air”, in TechSmart Business:

And, in Germany, DHL launched an experimental drone delivery service called “parcelcopter” in December 2013, carrying small parcels to the small island of Juist (population 2,000).

2015 February 18, Chris Morris, “Where can Amazon legally fly its drones?”, in Fortune:

Express delivery Parcelcopters could deliver packages and pizzas to your door!

2015, Susan Hayes, Really? Robots, page 17:

A small-scale unmanned aerial vehicle used to promptly transport a package.


Lysander

Lysander
Lysander (disambiguation)
Westland Lysander

From Ancient Greek Λῠ́σᾰνδρος (Lŭ́săndros).

A British military aircraft used during World War II


commuterliner

A Short 330 twin-turboprop commuterliner is another impressive exhibit which in due course will be opened to the public - including wheelchair access.

A passenger-carrying aircraft used for commuter flights.


feederliner

A regional airliner; a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets.


(aircraft) Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II


airlifter

The C-5 entered service in 1970 and is the biggest airlifter in the U.S. inventory.

2007, Anthony H. Cordesman, Paul S. Frederiksen, William D. Sullivan, Salvaging American Defense: The Challenge of Strategic Overstretch:


delta glider

From the shape of the Greek letter delta (Δ); see delta wing.

After extensive wind-tunnel work he evolved a series of designs, starting with a very advanced delta glider and culminating in a supersonic aeroplane with a revolutionary coal-burning ram-jet.

1953, J. H. Stevens, The Shape of the Aeroplane:

In response, NACA Director Hugh L. Dryden formed a "Round Three" […] steering committee which evaluated the various projects and then recommended to the Air Force, in September 1957, that the service sponsor development of a flat-bottom hypersonic delta glider.

1987, Clarence J. Geiger, Strangled Infant: The Boeing X-20A Dyna-Soar:


rotaplane

An aircraft which creates lift by means of rotors


tilt fan

Aircraft in which a propeller or fan can be used in a horizontal position for vertical takeoff or landing (VTOL) and then rotated for forward movement.


attack aircraft

en-noun

attack aircraft (plural attack aircraft)

Adapting advanced attack aircraft for nuclear delivery is not a simple technical matter, but it should be within the capability of India, Israel, and Brazil.

1982, M. Eisentein, “Third World missiles and nuclear proliferation”, in The Washington Quarterly:

A tactical military aircraft designed to carry out precise airstrikes against ground or naval targets


Typhoon

(historical) A Hawker Typhoon, a World War II fighter-bomber aircraft.


Tiffy

(UK, RAF slang) A Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber aircraft.


quadjet

(aviation) A jet aircraft powered by four engines.


gyrating angel

(US, military, slang, historical, in the Korean War) A rescue helicopter.


aerospace plane

aerospace plane (plural aerospace planes)

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doomsday plane

(informal) An aircraft to be used as an airborne command post in the event of nuclear war or similar large-scale disaster.


firecan

When the firecan jockeys have flown their blowtorches some 100,000 miles, the doctors take over for the ground physical.

1949, Popular Science, volume 155, number 6, page 120:


Montgolfier balloon

Montgolfier balloon (plural Montgolfier balloons)

From the Montgolfier brothers, who popularized this style of balloon, and is credited with its European origin.

(by restriction) The pattern of Montgolfier balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers, predating modern Montgolfier-style hot-air balloons


attack helicopter

attack helicopter (plural attack helicopters)

(military) An armed helicopter with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles, and fortifications.


Air Force One

Air Force + one. Coined after an incident in 1953 where the aircraft's call sign carrying the President of the United States coincided with another aircraft in the same airspace.

On the way to the airport, Agent Youngblood was in communication with Air Force One, to make sure it was secured and ready for us. When we arrived, we dashed up the ramp. Secret Service men rushed through the interior ahead of us, pulling down the shades and closing both doors behind us. The air conditioning was off and it was extremely hot inside the plane.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The Beginning”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 12:

an airplane used by the President of the United States


flying car

(aircraft, science fiction, vehicles) A vehicle which can function both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft.


aerocar

(science fiction) A flying car; a flying machine which looks and functions similarly to modern cars, often described as using antigravity technology.


aerocab

From aero- + cab under the influence of aeroplane. Compare aircab and airplane.

(science fiction) Synonym of aircab (“a flying taxicab”).


aircab

From air + cab under the influence of airplane. Compare earlier aerocab and aeroplane.


gyrocab

From gyro- + cab under the influence of autogyro etc.

They were not there waiting for her, after all. She came upon them getting out of a gyrocab just as she emerged from the tubes a on to street level. The gyrocabbie, wide-eyed, gazed after his fares for a moment, then hovered upward and away.

1951, Isaac Asimov, “Hostess”, in Nightfall and Other Stories, Green City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., published 1969, page 76:

(science fiction) Synonym of aircab, a flying taxi, particularly a helicab or autogyro taxi.


helicab

From heli- + cab under the influence of helicopter. Compare earlier aerocab and aeroplane, aircab and airplane, etc.

She'd insisted on creeping out of a back exit and we took three different helicabs.

1999, Phyllis Gotlieb, Violent Stars, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 182:

(science fiction) A helicopter used as a taxicab.


fixed-wing

(aircraft) Referring to aircraft whose wings are fastened to the fuselage, and remain in the same position during flight.


center stick

(aircraft, aviation) An aircraft cockpit arrangement where the control column is located in the center of the cockpit either between the pilot's legs or between the pilots' positions.


stick puller

(aircraft, aviation) A device that applies aft pressure on the control column when the airplane is approaching the maximum operating speed.