buttock line

(aviation, ship-building) A curve indicating the shape of an airfoil or nautical equivalent in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the craft or vessel.


windmill restart

en-noun

windmill restart (plural windmill restarts)

(aviation) A restart of a jet engine using the kinetic energy of the aircraft.


LPT

LPT (countable and uncountable, plural LPTs)


airmiss

(aviation) An incident where two aircraft almost collide.


adcol

(travel, aviation) Abbreviation of additional collection: the additional cost of airfare, taxes, and airline fees, on a reissued airline ticket


LCC

LCC (countable and uncountable, plural LCCs)

low cost carrier
low cost carrier#English

(aviation, travel) Initialism of low cost carrier.


Space Race

The informal competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to launch unmanned satellites, send people into space and land them on the Moon.


TTL

TTL (countable and uncountable, plural TTLs)

ticket time limit
ticket time limit#English

(aviation and travel) Initialism of ticket time limit.


huey

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


UNMR

(travel, aviation) Abbreviation of unaccompanied minor.


jet plane

I'm leavin' on a jet plane / I don't know when I'll be back again / Oh, babe, I hate to go

1967, John Denver (lyrics and music), “Leaving on a Jet Plane”performed by Peter, Paul and Mary, Warner Records:

Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast

1975, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “You're a Big Girl Now”, in Blood on the Tracks:

A jet: an airplane that is powered by a jet engine.


global distribution system

global distribution system (plural global distribution systems)

(travel, aviation) a multi-access reservation system used by the travel industry and airlines. Abbreviated as GDS.


clue card

global distribution system
global distribution system

(travel, aviation) A printed card with basic entries listed for a global distribution system.


GDS

You see, middlemen are dying. Sabre, the former AA subsidiary that is now an independent global distribution system (GDS) supplying travel agencies and online travel agencies with ticket and pricing information, recently announced it was raising the rates it charges on AA tickets. This move was an escalation of a battle that has been brewing between airlines and GDSs.

2012, Kaihan Krippendorff, “Today's Business Revolution”, in Outthink the Competition: How a New Generation of Strategists Sees Options Others Ignore, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 21:

Global Distribution System
global distribution system#English

(travel, aviation) Initialism of Global Distribution System.


ticket time limit

ticket time limit (plural ticket time limits)

(aviation, travel, fare construction) The date and time by which a ticket must be issued for a reservation to avoid cancellation of the booking and/or expiration of the fare quote.


victory roll

(aviation) An aileron roll performed to celebrate a victory.


wing warping

(aviation, historical) an early system for lateral (roll) control on a fixed-wing aircraft, involving the flexing of the wing to achieve movement.


TLE

TLE (countable and uncountable, plural TLEs)

transient luminous event
transient luminous event#English

(meteorology, aviation) Initialism of transient luminous event.


EMALS

w:Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System

(military, aviation) Initialism of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System.


DAPO

(aviation, travel) Acronym of do all possible (followed by requested task).


elephant ear

It did not have the “elephant ears” on the ailerons like the earlier Waco Model 9.

1990, Alaskan Aviation History: 1929-1930, page 714:

(aviation, slang) A section of aileron that protrudes beyond the wing.


traffic conference area

traffic conference area (plural traffic conference areas)

(aviation, travel) any of the three IATA world-wide subdivisions used by the airline industry.


STOVL

(military, aviation) Acronym of short takeoff and vertical landing.


STOBAR

short take-off but arrested recovery
w:short take-off but arrested recovery

(military, aviation) Acronym of short take-off but arrested recovery.


MSC

(aviation, travel) Initialism of Most Significant Carrier, a method used by some airlines to determine the baggage allowance of a multi-carrier air ticket.


ticketer

(aviation, travel) a person responsible for ticket issue.


STPC

(travel, aviation) Initialism of stopover paid by carrier. Pre-arranged hotel transit accommodation, paid by an airline to encourage use of a bad connection on their services.


end item

(dated, travel, aviation) (In an airline reservation system) a symbol, usually represented by the hash or plus key, used to join several lines of instruction together without the need to enter each separately.


FLIFO

(travel, aviation) Abbreviation of flight information.


three green

From the green indicator lights on the aircraft panel, one for each wheel or set of wheels.

(aviation) A confirmation given by the pilots that the landing gear has gone down successfully and has locked.


hot and high

(aviation) Operating in hot climates and at high altitude.

(aviation) Having both speed and altitude too high for the landing approach


flight interruption manifest

flight interruption manifest (plural flight interruption manifests)

(aviation) A substitute ticket issued by an airline due to a schedule change or other disruption to their service, allowing travel on another airline.


pitchable

pitchable tips


(aviation) The Agusta A.106 prototype helicopter, which never made it into pre-production.


airprox

(aviation) A near miss between aircraft.


(aviation) The Agusta A109 twin-engine utility helicopter.


vendor locator

(aviation, travel) A unique alphanumeric reference given by a computer reservations system to each sector of a travel booking.


AABSHIL

(aviation) Initialism of aircraft anti-collision beacon system high-intensity lighting.


agency debit memo

agency debit memo (plural agency debit memos)

(aviation, travel) An official notification that a travel agency has underpaid an airline for a ticket or similar, or is being fined by the airline for failure to adhere to fare rules or airline policy.


agency credit memo

agency credit memo (plural agency credit memos)

(aviation, travel) an official notification that a travel agency has overpaid an airline for a ticket or similar travel arrangements.


taileron

(aviation) A kind of tailplane or stabilator that can move differentially to perform the roll control function of an aileron.


SOTO

(aviation, travel, fare construction, dated) Sold outside, ticketed outside,(relative to the country of origin of travel).


SITO

(aviation, travel, fare construction, dated) Sold inside, ticketed outside, (relative to the country of origin of travel).


SITI

(aviation, travel, fare construction, dated) Sold inside, ticketed inside. (relative to the country of origin of travel).


SOTI

(aviation, travel, fare construction, dated) Sold outside, ticketed inside. (relative to the country of origin of travel).


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:


rotating beacon

rotating beacon (plural rotating beacons)

(aviation, chiefly US) A rotating location light installed at an airport, allowing the type of airport to be determined by the color and speed of the rotation.


stripless

a stripless system for air traffic control

(aviation) Without the use of paper control strips.


ground loop

(aviation) A sudden, potentially damaging turn made by an aircraft while on the ground, owing to user error or adverse weather conditions.


ground loop

en-verb

ground loop (third-person singular simple present ground loops, present participle ground looping, simple past and past participle ground looped)

ground loops (present singular third-person)
ground looping (participle present)
ground looped (participle past)
ground looped (past)

I slewed into the deep grass, throttled up again to regain runway speed, tried to abort the take-off and ground-looped through the perimeter fence.

2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 41:

(aviation) To suffer a ground loop manoeuvre.


AHRS

attitude heading reference system#English

(aviation) Initialism of attitude heading reference system.


get-there-itis

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-get-there-itis.wav

(aviation) The determination of a pilot to reach a destination even when conditions for flying are very dangerous (in technical terms, a form of plan continuation bias).


Hindenburg

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

(aviation, historical) A German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship that was destroyed by fire on May 6, 1937.

Hindenburg

the German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship


aerialism

(aviation, obsolete) aerial navigation; aeronautics; aviation


aerobate

aerobate (third-person singular simple present aerobates, present participle aerobating, simple past and past participle aerobated)

aerobates (present singular third-person)
aerobating (participle present)
aerobated (participle past)
aerobated (past)

A Harvard was then aerobated with commendable elan, accompanied by the usual powerful noises and public comment. By this time everyone's aeronautical appetite was thoroughly whetted to receive the next event[…]

1948, The Aeroplane, volume 75, page 412:

As the tower clears us downwind for landing, we thread our way gingerly through a hurtling mass of aerobating lightplanes.

1966 August, Flying Magazine, volume 79, number 2:


dog tooth

en-noun

dog tooth (plural dog teeth or dog tooths)

(aviation, informal) A sharp zig-zag pattern on the leading edge of a wing which increases the vorticity over the wing and reduces spanwise flow.


trolley trasher

trolley trasher (plural trolley trashers)

(aviation, informal) A flight attendant.


$100 hamburger

It’s called hunting the $100 hamburger — “$100” referring to the cost of fuel — sort of the aeronautical equivalent of lazy Sunday drives in which the destination isn’t as important as the pleasure of getting away.

2007 October 26, Matthew Preusch, “Cleared for Lunching: The $100 Hamburger”, in New York Times:

(aviation, slang) A general aviation flight that involves flying a short distance, eating a meal, and flying back.


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.


dripstick

(aviation) A thin hollow tube installed vertically in the bottoms of fuel tanks of many large aircraft, used to check fuel levels; now mostly superseded by the floatstick.


airframer

(aviation) maker of airframes, aircraft manufacturer


hyperburner

an afterburner unit on a turbine engine that also functions as a ramjet engine


precooler

(aviation) A device which cools the incoming airstream prior to its introduction into the combustion chamber or compressor.


turbo-ramjet

A turbine-based combined-cycle ramjet engine (an aeroengine that has a turbine jet engine core combined with a ramjet engine core)


miscellaneous charge order

miscellaneous charge order (plural miscellaneous charge orders)

(travel, aviation, dated) An accountable document similar to an airline ticket, used to pay for travel related services such as hotels and car hire.


QEC

(aviation) Initialism of quick engine change.


GNV

(aviation) Gainesville Regional Airport, by FAA airport code

(by extension) Gainesville, Florida, USA


MPM

MPM (countable and uncountable, plural MPMs)

maximum permitted mileage
maximum permitted mileage#English

(travel, aviation) Initialism of maximum permitted mileage.


ticket point mileage

ticket point mileage (plural ticket point mileages)

(travel, aviation) An officially stated distance between two cities, used in airline fare calculations regardless of the airports used


maximum permitted mileage

maximum permitted mileage (plural maximum permitted mileages)

ticket point mileage
ticket point mileage

(aviation, travel) In fare construction, the permitted total of ticket point mileages allowed between two fare break points.


fare break point

fare break point (plural fare break points)

(travel, aviation, fare construction) Any of the cities on an itinerary used as the start and finish of a particular fare.


CKIN

(travel, aviation) Abbreviation of check-in.


V speed

(aviation) Any of a group of standard airspeeds.


aeroneurosis

A pilot who is under par physically soon becomes a prey to aeroneurosis. He will dislike to take the air and may actually fear to leave the ground.

1940 April, Stephen Bates, "Flight Surgeon," Popular Aviation, vol. 26, no. 4, p. 90 (Google preview)

By April 1943 the flight surgeons could detect a growing number of aeroneuroses among their aircrews. The strain of constant overwater flying rested particularly heavily upon the navigators, but it was severe for all air personnel.

1983, Wesley Frank Craven, James Lea Cate, editors, The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume Four, →ISBN, page 274:

Gotch had described aeroneurosis developing in flying training and considered that it was infectious, commenting that "one pupil who has given up flying [is] followed ... by 2 or 3 more in the same week."

2006, David Gradwell, David J Rainford, editors, Ernsting's Aviation Medicine, 4th edition, →ISBN, page 740:

(aviation, medicine, pathology) A disorder afflicting pilots and members of aviation crews, characterized by exhaustion, fearfulness, and other symptoms of physical and emotional distress, associated with prolonged flying times and stressful flight conditions.


moon rocket

(finance) A company whose stock price rises dramatically following an initial public offering


sideslip

(aviation) A flight manoeuvre that uses opposing rudder and aileron inputs to move the aircraft sideways without turning it.

(aviation) A flight maneuver to rapidly lose speed and/or altitude whilst not altering the aircraft's ground track.

(aviation) A flight condition where an aircraft's longitudinal axis is not aligned with its direction of motion relative to the surrounding air.

(aviation, uncountable, by extension) The angle between an aircraft's longitudinal axis and its direction of motion relative to the surrounding air.


sideslip

en-verb

sideslip (third-person singular simple present sideslips, present participle sideslipping, simple past and past participle sideslipped)

sideslips (present singular third-person)
sideslipping (participle present)
sideslipped (participle past)
sideslipped (past)

(aviation) To perform, or place an aircraft in, a sideslip.


planemaker

A company that manufactures (commercial) aircraft.


tiltrotor

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


rubber jungle

By the way, when all the masks are hanging out, it's sometimes referred to as the "rubber jungle."

2006 May 15, Meryl Getline, “Ask the Captain: When oxygen masks mysteriously appear”, in USAToday.com, retrieved 2014-03-21:

From the day before, an accidental deployment of oxygen masks—a rubber jungle, in airline-speak—was discussed.

2007 March 18, Jeff Bailey, “After service disruptions, airlines are saying they're sorry”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-03-21:

I looked back to see what was going on, and observed a rubber jungle of oxygen masks hanging from the overhead bins.

2013, Jim Lewis, Short Tales by a Tall Pilot, →ISBN, page 89:

(aviation, informal) In a commercial passenger airliner, the dense, forest-like profusion of suspended tubes, straps, bags, and masks which results when large numbers of oxygen masks are deployed.


aerothermochemistry

(physical chemistry, aviation) The thermochemistry of gases, especially in regard to high-speed flight and aeropropulsion


hydroaeroplane

From hydro- + aeroplane (hydro- + aero- + plane).

(aviation, obsolete) A floatplane, an airplane specialized for operating on water, having pontoon floats instead of skids or wheels.


MVA

(aviation) Initialism of minimum vectoring altitude.


pressure suit

Coined by American science fiction authors E. E. Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby in their 1928 novel The Skylark of Space, first serialized in Amazing Stories.

coin

Have you fur pressure-suits?

1928 September, E. E. Smith, Lee Hawkins Garby, “The Skylark of Space”, in Amazing Stories, volume 3, number 6, page 539:

The chances for survival would be greatly increased if one member of the crew in a punctured ship was wearing a pressure suit.

1964 November 19, Walter Sullivan, “Apes Surviving in Vacuum Tests: Research Hints Astronauts Have Chance in Accidents”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-05-03:

In 1947 he had taken a de Havilland Vampire jet fighter to a then world record height of 59,460 feet, without a pressure suit,

2002 July 29, Nigel Fountain, “Obituary: John Cunningham, Wartime night-fighter hero and post-war Comet airliner test pilot”, in The Guardian, UK, retrieved 2014-05-03:

Alan Shepard, the first American in space, famously relieved himself inside his silver pressure suit while waiting out the countdown in his tiny Mercury capsule.

2011 April 12, Jeffrey Kluger, “Gagarin's Golden Anniversary”, in Time, retrieved 2014-05-03:

(aviation, astronautics) A sealed, full-body garment, usually with an attachable helmet, which maintains air pressure or mechanical pressure around the body of an astronaut or aviator to compensate for the low density of the air at high altitudes.

Druckanzug

full-body garment, which maintains pressure

diving suit

suit to protect wearer from the environment


tailnumber

(aviation) The registration number that appears on the rear sections of aircraft.


auger in

en-verb

auger in (third-person singular simple present augers in, present participle augering in, simple past and past participle augered in)

augers in (present singular third-person)
augering in (participle present)
augered in (participle past)
augered in (past)

auger + in: the plane is metaphorically drilling into the ground.

The pilot lost pitch control and the jet augered in.

(military, aviation, euphemistic) To crash catastrophically into the ground.


cowl flap

(aviation) A small door on the bottom of an aircraft's cowling, used to direct additional airflow over the engine in order to improve cooling.


departure lounge

en-noun

departure lounge (plural departure lounges)

A waiting room at an airport for those who are due to depart on a flight.


avian ingestion

avian ingestion (usually uncountable, plural avian ingestions)

The aircraft suffers an engine failure as a result of the avian ingestion and the two pilots, one of whom appears to be a student, eject moments before the aircraft hits a ploughed field.

2006 February 1, “VIDEO: US Air Force F-16 pilots eject after bird strike”, in flightglobal.com, retrieved 2014-06-09:

Bird strikes, also referred as Avian ingestion when sucked into the plane's engine, commonly occur during takeoff and landing.

2011 April 28, “Caribbean Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing after Bird Strike of its Engine”, in Trivester News, retrieved 2014-06-09:

These animals normally hit the plane's windshield or get sucked by the engine, in which case authorities label the incidents as avian ingestion.

2012 June 5, Erik Pineda, “ATSB Reports of Increasing Birdstrikes in Australia”, in International Business Times, Australia, retrieved 2014-06-09:

The risk of avian ingestion or any damage to aircraft and airside facilities could result in costly delays due to downtime for repairs.

2014, “Airport Bird Strike Hazards & Airfield Bird Management”, in NBC Bird & Pest Solutions, UK, retrieved 2014-06-09:

(aviation) Collision between a bird and an aircraft in motion, especially a jet airplane, in which the bird enters a running engine.


smart bomb

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

(military aviation) A guided air-dropped bomb.


taxiplane

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


TAI

Thai Airways International
w:Thai Airways International

(aviation) Initialism of Thai Airways International.

Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux
w:Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux

(historical, aviation) Initialism of Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux, a now defunct French airline.


A&P

By the time I decided to go for my A&P ticket, I was already a pretty seasoned aircraft mechanic

2019, Mike Busch, Airplane Ownership vol 1, Savvy Aviator Inc, page 267:

(aviation) Initialism of airframe and powerplant.

An FAA aircraft maintenance qualification

But most A&Ps at the low end of the food chain who work on our piston-powered aircraft are not employed by a Certified Repair Station

2019, Mike Busch, Airplane Ownership vol 1, Savvy Aviator Inc, page 280:

An FAA licensed airplane mechanic or engineer


ADS-A

automatic dependent surveillance - addressed#English

(aviation) Initialism of automatic dependent surveillance - addressed. (automated transmission of location information for aircraft using an airline specified communication system)


ADS-C

automatic dependent surveillance - contract#English

(aviation) Initialism of automatic dependent surveillance - contract. (automated transmission of GPS location information from an aircraft via a contractual agreement with an ACARS provider)


Thach weave

From Thach + weave. Named after WWII U.S. naval aviator John S. Thach, who invented the manoeuvre.

(historical, military, aviation) A tactic in aerial combat of the World War II era, where two aircraft on patrol fly a parallel course, and if attacked, overlap their flight paths repeatedly, enabling each to protect the other.


Nasa

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson criticised Beijing on Saturday, saying the failure to share the details of the rocket’s descent was irresponsible and risky.

2022 July 30, “Nasa criticises China after space rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth”, in The Guardian:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative letter-case form of NASA (not used in North America)


three-pointer

October 1930, Paul Paddock, "I Solo in Seven Hours", Popular Mechanics
Away I roared once more, resolved to score a three-pointer. I glided down to a good start but estimated my altitude wrongly.

(aviation) A three-point landing; an airplane landing in which all three wheels touch the ground simultaneously.


tundra tyre

From their use in the tundra regions of the US and Canada.

(aviation) A large, low-pressure tyre, used on light aircraft on rough terrain.


married sector

(travel, aviation, fare construction) Any of two or more flight sectors in an itinerary that can not be rebooked or changed separately from the other sectors, due to fare rules or market restrictions.


HSCT

High Speed Civil Transport
w:High Speed Civil Transport

(aviation) Initialism of High Speed Civil Transport. (NASA project to develop a supersonic passenger aircraft)


flying wedge

(aviation, American football) A formation in which a group travels so that its components form a triangular shape.


glideslope

The constant angle of descent technique requires pilots to maintain a predetermined constant angle and constant rate of descent, which is generally calculated to be about 3°, except when terrain or an obstacle necessitates a steeper descent. When a ground-based glideslope signal is absent, pilots can fly the constant angle of descent approach by using flight management system (FMS) and GPS equipment for electronic guidance.

2000, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.17.4.2 Flight Crew Actions and Callouts During Nonprecision Approaches”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Controlled Flight Into Terrain, Korean Air Flight 801, Boeing 747-300, HL7468, Nimitz Hill, Guam, August 6, 1997, archived from the original on 2021-02-18, page 64:

instrument landing system
instrument landing system

(aviation) The portion of an instrument landing system which provides vertical guidance to an aircraft during an approach to landing.

Staying on the glideslope is vitally important for a safe, stabilized approach and landing.

(aviation, by extension) The vertical descent profile produced by the ILS glideslope transmitters.

(aviation) The approach path of an aircraft as it comes in to land.


PIR

property irregularity report
property irregularity report#English

(countable, aviation, travel) Initialism of property irregularity report: a form to be filled in when baggage is lost by an airline.


flight status

(aviation, travel) An updated notice of a flight's departure and arrival times compared to its scheduled times.


hidden city

(aviation) A connecting city between the origin and destination of a passenger flight, where a passenger can save money on the airfare by disembarking rather than continuing to the destination.


autothrottle

/ˈɔ.toʊˌθɹɔ.təl/

[ˈɔ.ɾoʊˌθɹɔ.ɾəl]

(aviation) An automatic throttle, allowing a pilot to control the power setting of an aircraft's engines by specifying a desired flight characteristic, rather than manually controlling fuel flow.


autolanding

autolanding (countable and uncountable, plural autolandings)

(aviation, countable) A landing made automatically by a system on the aircraft, with the flight crew only supervising the process.

(aviation, uncountable) The process and procedure of autolanding, the action of to autoland.


autoland

Autolands are useful in bad weather conditions.


autoland

en-verb

autoland (third-person singular simple present autolands, present participle autolanding, simple past and past participle autolanded)

autolands (present singular third-person)
autolanding (participle present)
autolanded (participle past)
autolanded (past)


isoecho

(meteorology, aviation) A line on a map joining points of equal radar reflectivity.


hexacopter

An unmanned multirotor rotorcraft having six rotors.


VSV

en-noun

VSV (countable and uncountable, plural VSVs)

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(aviation, mechanical engineering) Initialism of variable stator vane.


octocopter

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

affix

An unmanned rotorcraft having eight rotors.


Vs

(specifically) Stall speed in the clean configuration, with all flaps, slats, and droops retracted.


STCA

en-noun

STCA (usually uncountable, plural STCAs)

air traffic controller
air traffic controller

(aviation) Initialism of short-term conflict alert, a system for automatically warning air traffic controllers if radar data indicates that two or more aircraft will pass dangerously-close to one another or potentially collide in flight.


AIP

(aviation) Abbreviation of aeronautical information publication. (a jurisdictional airspace air navigation manual of the jurisdictional authority)


civil aviation

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called on Tuesday to allow Taiwan to participate in a U.N. body overseeing civil aviation, drawing criticism from the Chinese government.
“We believe that all of international civil aviation’s important stakeholders -- particularly those who administer critical airspace, like Taiwan -- should have the opportunity to participate meaningfully in ICAO’s work,” Buttigieg said at the International Civil Aviation Organization assembly held every three years and the first since the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022 September 27, Allison Lampert, David Shepardson, “Buttigieg backs Taiwan participation in UN civil aviation body”, in Leslie Adler, Jonathan Oatis, editors, Reuters, archived from the original on 2022-09-27, Everythingnews:

All non-military forms of aviation, including private and commercial flight services.


missed approach point

(aviation) The point during descent at which a pilot must initiate a go-around maneuver if the runway is not in clear sight.


controlled flight into terrain

controlled flight into terrain (countable and uncountable, plural controlled flights into terrain)

controlled flights into terrain (plural)
CFIT (abbreviation)

(aviation) A usually-unintentional crash of an aircraft in which the aircraft flies into the ground while under full control by its pilots or autopilot.


minimum descent altitude

minimum descent altitude (plural minimum descent altitudes)

minimum descent altitudes (plural)
MDA (abbreviation)

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the descent below Minimum Descent Altitude during a nonprecision approach under adverse operating conditions, without visual contact with the runway environment. The Board has been unable to determine the reason for this descent, although the two most likely explanations are (a) improper use of cockpit instrumentation data, or (b) an altimetry system error.

1972 April 14, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.2b Probable Cause”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Southern Airways, Inc. DC-9, N97S, Tri-State Airport, Huntington, West Virginia, November 14, 1970, archived from the original on 2022-05-08, page 36:

non-precision approach
non-precision approach

(aviation) The lowest altitude at which an aircraft is permitted to fly during a non-precision approach without the runway being in clear sight.


speed bag

(military, aviation) An improvised airdropped resupply pack, composed of food and water, ammunition, and other supplies, stuffed into a duffle bag or bodybag.


Lear

First-generation Lears are beasts to fly.


SID

(aviation) Initialism of standard instrument departure.


quadruplane

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


hydrobiplane

(aviation, dated) A hydroaeroplane having two supporting planes.


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.


test pilot

Written by Josh Singer, who shaped a triumph of investigative journalism into the award-winning Spotlight, First Man recounts a significant decade of [Neil] Armstrong's life, from pushing boundaries as a test pilot to taking that one small step for mankind.

2018 October 9, A. A. Dowd, “The Star and Director of La La Land Reunite for First Man’s Spectacular Trip to the Moon”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2020-06-16:

(aviation) An aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers.


sidestick

The FDR showed that the captain immediately applied back pressure on his sidestick to arrest the pitch-down movement. The aircraft’s flight control system did not initially respond to the captain’s sidestick input, but after about 2 seconds the aircraft responded normally and the captain commenced recovery to the assigned altitude. During this 2-second period the aircraft descended about 150 ft. Overall, the aircraft descended 690 ft over 23 seconds before returning to FL370.

2011 December 19, Australian Transport Safety Bureau, “1.1.3 First in-flight upset (0442:27)”, in In-flight upset - 154 km west of Learmonth, WA, 7 October 2008, VH-QPA, Airbus A330-303, archived from the original on 2022-05-05, page 3:

(aviation) A control joystick located beside the seat of the pilot.


MRW

(aviation) Initialism of maximum ramp weight.


green-on-green

(aviation) Pertaining to the pairing of a new or green captain or pilot with a new or green first officer or co-pilot as the cockpit crew of a flight.


fly-by-wire

(aviation) A system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface, especially on airliners.


box tail

(aviation) An aircraft's tail or rudder, usually fixed, resembling a box kite.


aerocurve

(aviation, historical) A kind of early aeroplane with curved surfaces.


compound control

(aviation) A system of control in which a separate manipulation, as of a rudder, may be effected by either of two movements, in different directions, of a single lever, etc.


test flight

(aviation) a proving flight; usually of a prototype of a new aircraft design before it goes into production.


O&D

(aviation, abbreviation) origin and destination


RBD

reservation booking designator
reservation booking designator#English

(aviation, travel) Initialism of reservation booking designator.


CFI

(US, aviation) certificated flight instructor


iron bomb

(military aviation) A dumb bomb, a type of gravity bomb, an unguided bomb dropped from an aircraft.


avigation

The “highs” and “lows” familiar to the meteorologists—the areas of high and low barometric pressure—are forever playing tag with each other, the air from one area flowing in upon the other much as water seeks its own level, creating fair weather and foul, and offering interesting problems to the students of avigation, not to mention variegated experiences to the flyer himself.

1928, Amelia Earhart, 20 hrs. 40 mins. Our Flight in the Friendship, page 227:

The purpose of this book is to give the pilot a clear understanding of avigation by dead reckoning, the system used by Colonel Lindbergh in his memorable flight.

1929, Ienar Ewald Elm, Avigation by Dead Reckoning, page 10:

Another reason for the neglected status of avigation is the fact that in the past there has been only slight and spasmodic need for the new science.

There are four more or less distinct methods of avigating, all of which are somewhat interrelated. These comprise: Piloting, Radio Avigation, Dead Reckoning, and Celestial Avigation.

1940, Hilton Frank Lusk, General Aeronautics, page 361:


flyaway cost

The marginal cost of an aircraft, including production costs but excluding R&D, supplementary equipment, and future costs such as spare parts and maintenance.


G-LOC

(aviation) G-force-induced loss of consciousness.


helidrome

The lack of hospital beds in the town is even more stark at the helidrome, where helicopters drop off patients for first aid and assessment.

2005 October 16, Carlotta Gall, “Pakistan Toll, at 38,000,Is Expected to Rise”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-06-26:

The parade ground is now buried under a helidrome that will welcome the highest-profile visitors.

2010 March 22, Oliver Bullough, “Circassians' Anger at Sochi Games”, in ISN ETH Zurich, retrieved 2015-06-26:

A helidrome with landing space for three helicopters is also going to be constructed in the stadium.

2014 October 12, Vineet Upadhyay, “First international stadium in state is close to becoming reality”, in Times of India, retrieved 2015-06-26:

(aviation) An airfield or airbase for helicopters.


TACAN

ultra high frequency
ultra high frequency

(military, aviation) Acronym of tactical air navigation beacon, an ultra high frequency electronic radionavigation system able to provide aircraft with continuous bearing and slant range information to a selected station.


DAS

DAS (countable and uncountable, plural DASs)

defensive aids system
w:defensive aids system

(military, aviation) Acronym of defensive aids system.


mad dog

(aviation) A McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft.


radio direction finder

radio direction finder (plural radio direction finders)

A navigational aid to aircraft that provides a bearing to a radio beacon.


lunar lifeboat

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

At 141 hours and 30 minutes, the Lunar Module, Aquarius, after successfully fulfilling its contingency role as a Lunar Lifeboat, was jettisoned in preparation for the final plunge into the Earth's atmosphere.

1970, Jim Lovell, "The Flight of Apollo 13—A Successful Failure," Society of Experimental Test Pilots Technical Review, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 130 (Google search result) (retrieved 30 July 2015)

As the "lunar lifeboat" neared the Earth, the hard problem loomed of how to separate the vehicles before they entered the atmosphere.

1970 Sept., Steven Morris, "How Blacks View Mankind's “GIANT STEP”," Ebony, p. 35 (Google preview) (retrieved 30 July 2015)

[T]he world held its collective breath as the astronauts of Apollo 13 climbed into their lunar lifeboat Aquarius and safely returned to earth.

2012 September 13, Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, “Sermon”, in Washington National Cathedral, retrieved 2015-07-30:

(space sciences) In the US Apollo moon program, a lunar module repurposed as a makeshift shelter for an astronaut crew returning to earth after a mishap necessitating cancellation of a moon landing; the emergency procedure of using the lunar module in this manner.


astronaut ice cream

It was developed for NASA's Apollo space missions (but never actually taken into space).

Ice cream that has had most of the water removed from it by a freeze-drying process and been sealed in a pouch, and requires no refrigeration.


fare ladder

(aviation, travel, dated) a breakdown of destinations, airfare, taxes, and surcharges, shown on a paper ticket in a vertical multi-column format.


lighter-than-air

en-adj

lighter-than-air (comparative form only)

That is lighter than air, describing materials or aircraft.


tailhook

A device attached to the empennage of some military fixed-wing aircraft, used to achieve rapid deceleration during landings by catching the arresting gear of a runway or aircraft carrier.

přistávací hák

a device used to achieve rapid deceleration during landings


MLG

(aviation) Initialism of main landing gear.


Lysander

Lysander
Lysander (disambiguation)
Westland Lysander

From Ancient Greek Λῠ́σᾰνδρος (Lŭ́săndros).

A British military aircraft used during World War II


revenue management

(aviation) The section of an airline that deals with passenger loads and fare availability on flights.


Jet Age

Science Evolving Jet-Age Materials [title]

1947 September 3, “Science Evolving Jet-Age Materials”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

American commercial aviation stands at the threshold of the jet age. That it will make the transition is now a settled issue, and the one remaining question is when.

1953 October 11, Bliss K. Thorne, “Faster Air Travel”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The Nazis had launched the jet age in 1939 with a fighter plane, the avant-garde Heinkel He 178, but were hardly in shape after the war to exploit this technological advantage.

2010 November 10, Richard B. Woodward, “Book Review: Jet Age — The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(historical, aviation) A period in history defined by the advent of aircraft powered by turbine engines, and by the social change this brought about.


short tag

en-verb

short tag (third-person singular simple present short tags, present participle short tagging, simple past and past participle short tagged)

short tags (present singular third-person)
short tagging (participle present)
short tagged (participle past)
short tagged (past)

(travel, aviation) to check a bag through to an intermediate point on an itinerary rather than the destination.


blast pen

(aviation, military) A specially constructed E-shaped double bay to protect aircraft against bomb blasts and splinters during enemy attacks.


flaptrack

(aviation) The track on which the flaps of an aircraft are mounted.


Babyflot

(aviation, informal, historical) Any of the airlines in the former Soviet Union created from the dissolution of the Soviet airline monopoly Aeroflot in the early 1990s.


EPR

(aviation) Initialism of engine pressure ratio (the ratio of pressure between exhaust and inlet of a jet engine).


take aloft

take aloft (third-person singular simple present takes aloft, present participle taking aloft, simple past took aloft, past participle taken aloft)

takes aloft (present singular third-person)
taking aloft (participle present)
took aloft (past)
taken aloft (participle past)

On September 21, 1919, I took aloft for a spin over Washington and the surrounding territory, 17 distinguished passengers, including the Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, and several United States Senators.

1937, Alfred William Lawson, Lawson: Aircraft Industry Builder:

Here the fiery angel once more took aloft

2002, Agop Jack Hacikyan, Gabriel Basmajian, Edward S. Franchuk, Nourhan Ouzounian, The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the sixth to the eighteenth century, Wayne State University Press, →ISBN, page 992:

From Buin Lieutenant (jg) Kawamata took aloft at 0850 fifteen Zero 32s from the 6th Air Group, reported inbound at 1017 by Kennedy.

2013, John Lundstrom, First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942, Naval Institute Press, →ISBN:

(transitive, intransitive, aviation, of a pilot) To successfully fly (an aircraft) into the air.


omnirange

(aviation, chiefly attributive) A short-range radio navigation system for aircraft, based on a network of fixed radio beacons on the ground.


NGP

(aviation, US) Initialism of Naval air station Corpus Christi.


AUA

(aviation) Initialism of Austrian Airlines. (ICAO code of the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group)


deceleron

(aviation) A two-part aileron that can be deflected as a unit to provide roll control, or split open to act as an air brake.


reval

(travel, aviation, informal) A revalidated ticket.


Lufty

(informal) Lufthansa (German national airline)


groundspeed

(aviation) The horizontal speed of an aircraft relative to the ground.


MTW

(aviation) Initialism of maximum taxi weight.

(aviation, rare) Abbreviation of maximum takeoff weight.


silk elevator

(aviation, military, slang) A parachute.


XAP

(aviation) ICAO code for Midway Connection, operated by Fischer Brothers Aviation of the United States


LHA

Abbreviation
* (data compression): Short for Lempel-Ziv Huffman archiver, after the mathematicians on whose work it was based.

Coordinate term: LHD

amphibious assault ship
amphibious assault ship#English

(nautical, military, aviation) Initialism of landing, helicopter, assault.: A type of amphibious assault ship, a warship.


navigation light

en-noun

navigation light (plural navigation lights)

(nautical, aviation) one of two or more lights fitted to a ship or aircraft, which indicate position and direction taken, especially important at night. Internationally recognised colours are red on the port side, and green on the starboard side.


pressure altimeter

pressure altimeter (plural pressure altimeters)

(aviation) A device which measures the altitude by performing measurement of the ambient pressure and comparing it against a reference pressure at a known altitude, to give a pressure altitude.


pressure altitude

pressure altitude (plural pressure altitudes)

(aviation) A measure of altitude inferred by the measurement of ambient pressure in differential with a reference pressure at a known altitude.


property irregularity report

property irregularity report (plural property irregularity reports)

(aviation, travel) An official form to be filled out if checked baggage is lost or damaged by an airline.


Cape Canaveral

From Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, from cañaveral (“reed bed”). It is the third oldest surviving European-given place-name in the US after Florida, and Dry Tortugas.

(informal) A spaceport in Florida, United States; the combination of the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and Spaceport Florida on the Space Coast (Space Florida).


TOD

TOD (countable and uncountable, plural TODs)

(aviation) Initialism of top of descent.


corncob engine

From the pistons resembling a cob of corn.

(aviation, informal) An air-cooled multi-row radial piston aircraft engine


service item

There are 5,000 in-flight service items on a 747, ranging from aspirins to toothbrushes.

1995, Francis McInerney, Sean White, The Total Quality Corporation, page 88:

Before landing, the flight attendants pick up any remaining food and beverage service items […]

2016, John G. Wensveen, Air Transportation: A Management Perspective, page 262:

(aviation) Any of the consumer products (food, cosmetics, etc.) handed out or sold on board a passenger aircraft.


tuggie

(aviation, slang) The pilot who tows a glider.


VORTAC

(aviation) A radiobeacon consisting of a colocated VOR and TACAN installation.


OLS

optical landing system
optical landing system#English

(aviation) Abbreviation of optical landing system.


Gagarin

Transliteration of Russian Гага́рин (Gagárin).

transliteration

Yuri Gagarin, Russian cosmonaut and first man in space.

Гага́рин Гагарин#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian surname Гага́рин (Gagárin).


jet propellant 1
jet propellant 1#English

(aviation) Initialism of jet propellant 1 (a highly refined kerosene; a type of jet fuel).

avgas

aviation gasoline; similar to leaded automotive petrol gasoline; not a jet fuel

Jet A

a type of jet fuel, similar to automotive diesel fuel


reaccommodate

en-verb

reaccommodate (third-person singular simple present reaccommodates, present participle reaccommodating, simple past and past participle reaccommodated)

reaccommodates (present singular third-person)
reaccommodating (participle present)
reaccommodated (participle past)
reaccommodated (past)

(aviation, travel) to rebook a passenger on a flight when the original flight is cancelled.


talkdown

(aviation) Verbal assistance given by ground control to a person attempting to land an aircraft.


flying wing

(aviation) A tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage


AIRMET

(meteorology, aviation) Abbreviation of airman's meteorological advisory.


groundprox

ground proximity warning system
ground proximity warning system

(aviation, rare) A ground proximity warning system.


Gosport tube

It was invented by flying instructor Robert Raymond Smith-Barry at the School of Special Flying he opened at Gosport in 1917.

(aviation, historical) A speaking tube used for communication between the seats of early open-air aircraft.


TFR

Coordinate term: NOTAM

(US, aviation) Initialism of temporary flight restriction.


air traffic

(aviation) the movement of aircraft through the air, and into and out of airports.


CASS

(aviation) Initialism of cockpit access security system.


jumpseating

(aviation, colloquial) The situation where off-duty airline staff are permitted to travel for free, occupying unbooked seats in an aircraft.


MMEL

Coordinate term: MEL

Master minimum equipment list
w:Master minimum equipment list

(aviation) Initialism of Master minimum equipment list.


Cooper vane

After Dan Cooper, the false name used by an unidentified hijacker who used the rear stairway to exit a Boeing 727 in flight and escape using a parachute.

(aviation) A mechanical aerodynamic wedge that prevents the ventral airstair of an aircraft from being lowered during flight.


Victor airway

From Victor (“the letter V in the ICAO spelling alphabet”), short for VOR (“VHF omnidirectional range”).

(US, Canada, aviation) Any of a set of low-altitude airways defined as line segments, each based on a straight line between either two VOR (VHF omnidirectional range) stations, or a VOR and a VOR intersection.


aeradio

en-noun

aeradio (countable and uncountable, plural aeradios)

In addition, limited air traffic services are provided by aeradio operators at seven minor aerodromes.

1957, Report of the Department of Transport and of the National Transport Commission, South Africa. Department of Transport:

Almost anywhere in the outback you can find adequate landing strips well maintained. The service provided by aeradio could hardly be improved.

(aviation) A system allowing airplane pilots to communicate with flight control staff on the ground.


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.


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.


jet fuel

jet fuel (countable and uncountable, plural jet fuels)

Coordinate term: avgas

(aviation) The fuel that powers a jet aircraft.

Near-synonym: (often synonymous) lamp oil

(sometimes humorous, hyperbolic) Kerosene.

The fuel that powers a jet aircraft.
Kerosene.


ground crew

(aviation) alternative form of groundcrew


ground staff

(aviation) staff employed by an airline, or an airport, that work on the ground, as opposed to aircrews.


people pod

Its concept is as follows: "Passengers are to be transported from the terminal together with baggage in a detachable bus-like compartment called a people pod on a lift truck.

1956, Jet Age Planning: Quarterly Progress Report - Issue 1, page 15:

Some of the concepts involved, which ought to be applicable elsewhere, are: people pods, as shown at the Cleveland show last June, which pick up unit loads of passengers for direct transportation to aircraft at the runway;

1957, Modern Materials Handling - Volume 12, page 198:

An unusual sight at the recent Northwestern Lumbermen's Association convention in Minneapolis was the Youngblood Express, a "people pod" coupled with a 20,000-pound straddle carrier.

1958, American Lumberman & Building Products Merchandiser, page 126:

Typical estimates for advanced design passenger handling systems are as follows: Boarding bridge over wing: approximately $300,000 each. People pod lounges: approximately $200,000 each. Mobile escalators: $70,000–100,000 each.

1968, United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, Subcommittee on Economic Progress, Public Facility Requirements Over the Next Decade:

A bus-like compartment carried by a lift truck, proposed in the late 1950s for transporting people and luggage from the airport terminal to an aircraft.


UAL

(aviation) Initialism of United Airlines.


TUC

(aviation) Initialism of time of useful consciousness.: The time one may remain functional after a rapid decompression event without supplemental oxygen, at altitudes higher than that which one may remain functional at in ambient pressures.


avtur

avtur (usually uncountable, plural avturs)

(aviation) Jet fuel (fuel used by aircraft turbine engines).


ground stop

(aviation) The halting of air traffic for a particular airport, with no arrivals allowed and all departures held on the ground.

(aviation) The cessation of all take-offs for flights meeting particular criteria, such as geographic region, aircraft type, airline, etc, keeping these grounded.


SPECI

(aviation, meteorology) The aviation special weather report; a specially encoded weather observation report.


Mcrit

Many high performance aircraft are equipped with a Machmeter for monitoring Mcrit. The Machmeter is essentially an airspeed instrument that is calibrated in relation to Mach on the dial.

2012, Aviation Maintenance Technician Handbook-Airframe Volume 2, FAA:

(aviation) The minimum Mach number at which the airflow over some part of an aircraft reaches the speed of sound.


sharklet

From shark + -let; aviation sense from the similarity to the dorsal fin of a shark.

(aviation) An Airbus-branded blended winglet design.


flight number

(aviation, travel) A callsign assigned to a commercial flight for the purposes of reservation and ticketing, typically consisting of a 2 character airline code and a 1 to 4 digit number to indicate a particular service.


(aircraft) Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II


strapdown

(aviation) An inertial navigation system that eliminates the gimbal in favour of a lightweight digital computer having sensors that are simply strapped to the vehicle.


FIS

flight information service
flight information service#English

(aviation) Abbreviation of flight information service.


triple seven

(aviation) A Boeing 777, a wide body twinjet used for commercial airlines.


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:


RAPCON

Approach control service (APP) was provided by two RAPCONs, one at Spangdahlem for the Büchel, Hahn, Spangdahlem and Bitburg bases in the Eifel area (Spangdahlem Control) and another at Sembach for the Ramstein, Sembach and Pferdsgfeld bases in the Palatinate area (Sembach Control).

2015, Frank W. Fischer, International Advisory Group Air Navigation Services, German Air Traffic Control During The Cold War: The Story of Rhein Control, p. 28

(aviation) Abbreviation of radar approach control.


TRACON

Since 16 location identifiers are used for a combination of airports and TRACONs, resulting in combined data, we worked with FAA to determine how to identify the number of departures and departure delays to attribute to each individual airport and TRACON in our universe.

2010, Susan Fleming, National Airspace System: Setting On-Time Performance Targets at Congested Airports Could Help Focus FAA's Actions, page 42:

(aviation) Acronym of terminal radar approach control.


drift meter

An optical device, with a telescope and reticle, used to improve dead reckoning in aircraft navigation.


constant-speed propeller

constant-speed propeller (plural constant-speed propellers)

From constant + speed + propeller from being a propeller that is run at a speed that does not change.

(aviation) A type of propeller that rotates at a set rotational velocity, but whose power is set by varying the pitch of the blades.


OID

(aviation, travel) Initialism of office ID.


IAS

indicated airspeed
indicated airspeed#English

(aviation) Initialism of indicated airspeed.


IAS

(aviation, travel) Initialism of insert after segment; GDS code, and used on older types of airline keyboards.


spacedive

(aviation, slang) A skydive that starts above the Armstrong line.


auxiliary power unit

auxiliary power unit (plural auxiliary power units)

(aviation) A generator in aircraft or other vehicles for providing electric power to various systems, such as lighting, especially when the main engines are not running.

допомі́жна́ силова́ устано́вка

generator for providing electric power especially when the main engines are not running


MEDA

(aviation, travel, initialism) Medical Fitness for Air Travel


minimum sector altitude

minimum sector altitude (plural minimum sector altitudes)

(aviation) The lowest altitude which will provide a minimum clearance of 1000 ft (300 m) above all objects located in an area within a circular sector having a radius of 25 nautical miles (46 km) around a radio navigational aid.


RAT

RAT (countable and uncountable, plural RATs)

(aviation, countable) Initialism of ram air turbine.


piece system

(aviation, travel) Airline baggage allowance that restricts passengers to a specific number of bags, rather than a specific weight.


Beech

The company had five Beeches for flying its top executives around.

Replacing side windows on a Beech or Cessna or Piper airplane is an awful job

2020, Mike Busch, Airplane Ownership vol 2, Savvy Aviator Inc, page 75:

(aviation) An aircraft made by Beechcraft.


Zepp

Only after the first explosions did the people of Folkestone notice the sound of engines beating the air. They hardly understood what they heard. They screamed “Zepps! Zepps!” for until then Zeppelin dirigibles had been the only mechanism of air attack they knew.

1986, Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 98:

(aviation, informal) A Zeppelin airship.


hook maneuver

From hook + maneuver. From the anglicized onomatopoeia of the sound produced when practising the maneuver, with the inhalation "HOO" and exhalation "KEH" sounds.

(aviation, space flight) An anti-G technique to increase G-tolerance and reduce G-LOC incidences, which involves powerful inhalation, and rapid exhalation, resulting in breathing noises that sound like "HOO" for inhalation, and "KEH" for exhalation, (HOO-KEH... hook)


anti-G straining maneuver

anti-G straining maneuver (plural anti-G straining maneuvers)

(aviation, space flight) Any of various techniques to increase G-tolerance and reduce G-LOC incidences that involve emptying the lungs while straining the muscles to force oxygenated blood to the brain. Most common techniques include visualizing a walnut held between one's buttcheeks, and trying to crush it, or tensing the abdominal and chest muscles, possibly while bent over at the hips.


KAR

(navigation, aviation) Initialism of kinematic ambiguity resolution.


RTK

(navigation, aviation) Initialism of real-time kinematic.


Jesus pin

(aviation, slang) The lock pin used to help secure the Jesus nut of some helicopters.


Jesus nut

Possibly from the Vietnam War. From the notion that, given its critical function, if the nut were to fail, the only thing left to do would be to "pray to Jesus".

(aviation, slang) The nut that holds the main rotor to the mast of some helicopters.


IARTK

(navigation, aviation) Initialism of inertially-aided real-time kinematic (RTK).


listening watch

listening watch (plural listening watches)

1950, Neville Shute, The Legacy (UK title: A Town Like Alice), New York: William Morrow & Co., Chapter 10, p. 278,
“ […] It’s okay here if you want to close down your listening watch for tonight, Jackie. I’d like to have a listening watch in daylight hours tomorrow, from seven o’clock on. Is this Roger? Over.”

(military, aviation) Continuous monitoring for incoming communications.


waverider

(aviation) A hypersonic aircraft that improves its supersonic lift-to-drag ratio by using the shock waves generated by its own flight as a lifting surface.


loiter time

(aviation) The length of time a military aircraft can remain over a target, taking fuel endurance into account.


CoC

certificate of conformance
certificate of conformance#English

(aviation) Initialism of certificate of conformance.


booking class

(aviation, travel) (in a reservation system) The letter used to signify a particular fare level.


reservation booking designator

reservation booking designator (plural reservation booking designators)

reservation booking designators (plural)


IOE

(aviation) Initialism of initial operating experience.


FIR

FIR (countable and uncountable, plural FIRs)

flight information region
w:flight information region

(aviation) Initialism of flight information region; a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service (FIS) and an alerting service (ALRS) are provided


ACMI

(aviation) Initialism of aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance.

(aviation, military) Initialism of air combat maneuvering instrumentation.


tail rotor

(aviation) A small rotor mounted vertically at the end of the tail of a single-rotor helicopter so as to develop thrust in the same direction as the main rotor's rotation, to counter the torque effect created by the main rotor.


LOH

(US military aviation) Acronym of light observation helicopter.


drop tank

(aviation) An expendable external fuel tank on an aircraft.


ownship

(aviation) One's own aircraft, as represented in a flight training simulation or traffic collision avoidance system.


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:


cone of confusion

cone of confusion (plural cones of confusion)

From cone + confusion. From being a cone-shaped region where confusion about the direction to a source occurs.

(aviation) A zone of indeterminism over a navigation beacon (such as a VOR), where the direction-finding ability of the receiver outputs a random direction as flying over the beacon results in no direction to the beacon, giving a spinning direction indicator display. Also refers to flying over a magnetic pole, and its effects on a magnetic compass.


SLAM

SLAM (countable and uncountable, plural SLAMs)

supersonic low altitude missile
supersonic low altitude missile#English

(military, aviation, weaponry) Acronym of supersonic low altitude missile.

stand-off land attack missile
stand-off land attack missile#English

(military, aviation, weaponry) Acronym of stand-off land attack missile.


Dirty Dozen

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

(aviation) The twelve most common aircraft problems, resulting from human error, that may lead to accidents etc.


blue ice

Cadamore believes the mess came from an airplane. In the airline industry, it's euphemistically known as blue ice. Most people have far less judicious names for it. Such waste apparently is caused by leaks in airplane lavatories.

2002 November 21, Mark Belko, The sky is falling? Uh, not exactly, post-gazette.com

A chunk of blue ice, apparently from the holding tank of an aircraft toilet, ripped a hole in an elderly couple's roof and destroyed a bed.

2006 October 20, “Toilet Ice Rips Hole in Couple's Roof”, in Fox News:

Simey had just returned home from taking her 6-month-old son to a doctor when a block of "blue ice" landed in the master bedroom, right on her bed.

2008 April 14, “Frozen jetliner waste smashes into home”, in UPI:

They are often called "blue ice", because of the chemicals added to the toilets in planes to reduce odour and break down the waste.

2018 January 22, Airline poo' falls on India village causing confusion, BBC

(aviation) Human waste that has leaked from an aircraft, frozen at high altitude, and fallen to earth.


F/L

flight lieutenant
flight lieutenant#English

(military, aviation) Abbreviation of flight lieutenant.


rotaplane

An aircraft which creates lift by means of rotors


jeep carrier

(military, nautical, aviation) A general purpose aircraft carrier, used in a variety of ways (hence 'general purpose', "GP" or jeep), such as aircraft transport ship, invasion support airstrip, ocean patrol airstrip, fleet/convoy defense airstrip. They were used to alleviate demands made on fleet carriers which have higher levels of defensive capabilities and underway speeds able to keep up with the battle fleet.


HX

en-verb

HX (third-person singular simple present HXs, present participle HXing, simple past and past participle HXed)

HXs (present singular third-person)
HXing (participle present)
HXed (participle past)
HXed (past)

From the GDS code that shows on the booking against the affected segment.

Hurry and issue the ticket or the airline will HX the reservation.

The airline oversold and they have HXed the passenger's booking.

(aviation, travel, informal, abbreviation) (of an airline) to have an airline booking cancelled by the airline.


AAI

Airports Authority of India
w:Airports Authority of India

(aviation) Initialism of Airports Authority of India.


RSAF

Republic of Singapore Air Force
w:Republic of Singapore Air Force

(Singapore, military, aviation) Initialism of Republic of Singapore Air Force.

Royal Saudi Air Force
w:Royal Saudi Air Force

(military, aviation) Initialism of Royal Saudi Air Force.


grab some air

grab some air (third-person singular simple present grabs some air, present participle grabbing some air, simple past and past participle grabbed some air)

grabs some air (present singular third-person)
grabbing some air (participle present)
grabbed some air (participle past)
grabbed some air (past)

Instantly I applied full throttle, and eased back on the wheel, hoping that our friend, the T-craft would grab some air and put a few feet between us and all that snow and ice.

1957 May, Robert Sundberg, “I learned about flying from that!”, in Flying Magazine, volume 60, number 5, page 52:

I hate first flights in anything, no matter how ideal the circumstances, but my discomfort was eased considerably upon firewalling the beast, lifting the tail, and grabbing some air. The responsive feel was unmistakable.

1985, Jim Richard Campbell, Flyer's guide to ultralights, page 12:

Then, just as suddenly, the F-86 grabbed some air, leveled out, and turned slightly upward.

2003, War, Literature, and the Arts - Volume 15, page 6:

I started grabbing some air—3,600 . . . 3,700 . . . 3,800 . . . 3,900 feet—and the jet came under us ...

2014, Gary Farmer, The Streets Are Blue, →ISBN:


stick the landing

stick the landing (third-person singular simple present sticks the landing, present participle sticking the landing, simple past and past participle stuck the landing)

sticks the landing (present singular third-person)
sticking the landing (participle present)
stuck the landing (participle past)
stuck the landing (past)

When the Philae lander, released by the comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft, first tried to touch down on Nov. 12 in an area later named Agilkia, it could not stick the landing. The anchoring harpoons and retro-rockets did not work and the lander bounced off the comet.

2015 July 31, Amina Khan, “After a bounce, Rosetta's Philae lander serves up cometary surprises”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2018-05-01:

Still, SpaceX stuck the landing the last time under similar conditions. And now in its quest to launch and recover rockets so that they may be used again, SpaceX is acquiring quite a collection of previously used booster stages.

2016 May 26, Christian Davenport, “Elon Musk’s quest to make rocket landings routine continues today”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2018-05-01:

(aviation, astronautics) To execute a flawless landing (of an aircraft, rocket, or space capsule).


LNAV

(aviation) Abbreviation of lateral navigation.


PPBM

(aviation, travel) Positive Passenger Bag Match. An airline system used to ensure that baggage is not loaded on an aircraft if the passenger does not board.


push over

push over (third-person singular simple present pushes over, present participle pushing over, simple past and past participle pushed over)

pushes over (present singular third-person)
pushing over (participle present)
pushed over (participle past)
pushed over (past)

The pilot pushed over into a dive to try to outrun the enemy fighters.

(intransitive, aviation) To abruptly lower the nose of an aircraft by a large angle.


KNKT

From Indonesian KNKT (“Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi”).

bor

(aviation) Synonym of NTSC (“National Transportation Safety Committee”) (Indonesia); Initialism of Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi.


zero-life

en-verb

zero-life (third-person singular simple present zero-lifes, present participle zero-lifing, simple past and past participle zero-lifed)

zero-lifes (present singular third-person)
zero-lifing (participle present)
zero-lifed (participle past)
zero-lifed (past)

[…] the installation of four 14,900 lb st (66.3 kN) BMW Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofans in place of the Speys, the fitting of a new two-man cockpit and a modern tactical operations area, and 'zero lifing' all existing structure and equipment.

1998, Air Pictorial, volume 60, page 207:

The first element involves 'zero lifing' the airframe by replacement of some structural elements, including the main landing gear. This "extends the operational life before the first major overhaul and extends the time between repair", Filip said.

2000, Jane's International Defense Review: IDR, volume 33, page 61:

(aviation, transitive) To restore (equipment) to a state comparable to brand new.


happy landings

en-noun

happy landings pl (normally plural, singular happy landing)

We want our airplane pilots to anticipate failed engines as well as happy landings.

2009, Barbara Ehrenreich, Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, →ISBN, page 198:

Happy landings: every minute of every hour of every day, an average of 38 people touch down at Orlando airport, gateway to the centre of the Sunshine State.

2017 January 20, Simon Calder, “Discover the other side of Florida – Kissimmee”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2018-06-05:

(travel, especially aviation) Successful arrivals on land (by air or water), without any untoward incidents.


overgrossed

en-adj

overgrossed (comparative more overgrossed, superlative most overgrossed)

more overgrossed (comparative)
most overgrossed (superlative)

Our overgrossed C-130B slowly began to climb when I heard "Full power" come over the interphone

1994, United States. Dept. of the Air Force. Office of the Inspector General, United States. Dept. of the Air Force, Air Force Safety Center (U.S.), Flying safety - Volume 50, page 6:

(aviation) Carrying too much weight to fly properly.


RNAS

Royal Navy Air Service
w:en:Royal Navy Air Service

(UK, World War I, aviation) Initialism of Royal Navy Air Service. (British)


slot pair

Qantas 'bought' or acquired (outright purchases may well be illegal) two slot pairs for over USD 1 5 million per slot pair.

2003, Air and Space Law, volume 28, page 275:

The airport was already full, which meant that any airline wanting to start Heathrow service had to find an airline willing to sell gate rights or, more accurately, slot pairs.

2015, Bret Wallach, A World Made for Money: Economy, Geography, and the Way We Live Today:

In 2010 it was estimated that at Heathrow Airport, over 400 weekly slots were being traded and that the value of a slot pair was £30–40 million for pre-0900 arrivals and £10 million for 0900–1300 arrivals (Steer Davies Gleave, 2011).

2016, Anne Graham, Airport Finance and Investment in the Global Economy:

Therefore, the air carrier is willing to pay a fee for the slot pair as long as the fee plus the opportunity cost of the investment are not higher than the expected profit for a given route.

2016, Achim I. Czerny, Airport Slots: International Experiences and Options for Reform:

(aviation) The commercial rights for an airline to take off and land planes at a particular airport at a particular time.


hardover

Move the remote Stick full aft (toward tail of helicopter); the null meters should move aft to a hardover position on the flight director and aft pilot control panel.

1990, Headquarters, Department of the Army, Operator's Manual: Army Model, CH-54A Helicopter, Part 101:

(aviation, uncountable) The condition where a control surface or actuator has moved to its extreme limit.

Scenario 4 involves a preexisting yaw damper hardover condition that resulted in a rudder surface movement to 3° to the right, which the pilots compensated for with 3° of left rudder trim.

1999, National Transportation Safety Board, Aircraft Accident Report: Uncontrolled Descent and Collision With Terrain, USAir Flight 427, Boeing 737-300, N513AU, Near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1994, page 123:

(aviation, countable) An instance of a control surface or actuator moving to its extreme limit.


rampie

Make life difficult for the other rampies and it's just a matter of time before you're out the door. Mikey has spent enough time with rampies and is savvy enough to know how important they are to Buffalo's success.

2012, Michael Vlessides, The Ice Pilots: Flying with the Mavericks of the Great White North:

(aviation, informal) A member of the groundcrew.


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.


dynafocal

Blend of dynamic + focal. Genericised from the product name "Dynafocal Suspensions" from Lord Corporation in 1939, earlier called "Dynamic Suspensions".

This alternate method for installing a dynafocal mount is preferred by some builders.

1992, Sport Aviation, volume 41, page 80:

(aviation) Of or pertaining to a particular kind of aircraft engine mount that gives directional support to a radial engine to reduce vibration.


uniball

(automotive, aviation) A spherical bearing.


castoring

(aviation, of a wheel) able to be turned in different directions; pivoting.


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


right of repentance

right of repentance (plural rights of repentance)

(aviation, travel, consumer law) The right of a passenger, in some jurisdictions, to obtain a full refund on an airline ticket within a specific period of time.


undernose

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

(aviation) Located under the nose of the aircraft


Korolev cross

From Korolev + cross. From being a procedure created by the chief designer, Sergei Korolev, which forms a cross-shaped cloud of rocket plumes.

A strap-on booster rocket separation maneuver, where four strap-on boosters are ejected at the same time in four directions 90° from each other, forming a cross of exhaust plumes.


Typhoon

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


Tiffy

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


ultra low cost carrier

ultra low cost carrier (plural ultra low cost carriers)

(aviation) A type of airline that tries to keep ticket prices as low as possible, by charging for everything, such as checked-in baggage, carry-on baggage, food, beverages, assigned seat numbers, etc.


CBG

CBG (countable and uncountable, plural CBGs)

carrier battle group
carrier battle group#English

(countable, military, nautical, aviation) Initialism of carrier battle group.


aviation fuel

aviation fuel (countable and uncountable, plural aviation fuels)

Any fuel used to power aircraft, such as avgas or jet fuel.


omnibearing

Consequently the capsule could be positioned only by omnibearings reported from the capsule.

1959, Kenneth Franklin Gantz, Man in Space:

By map reference and omnibearings, he erroneously estimated his position at E', and would have attempted to fly a heading away from the station had he not been corrected.

1967, Norman R. Driscoll, Effects of a Simple Stability Augmentation System on the Performance of Non-instrument-qualified Light-aircraft Pilots During Instrument Flight., page 11:

Then a continuous readout of the omnibearing appears in the space used for frequency display, followed by an "F" when "from" is selected, for positive identification.

1976, Flying: Used Planes - What Ten Grand Can Buy, page 12:

The bearing of the aircraft is shown in degrees on the aircraft's omnibearing selector. Left-right displacement from the bearing line is shown on the course-line-deviation indicator. To denote direction of the omnibearing line with respect to the VOR, a "to-from" ambiguity indicator is used.

1995, Samuel B. Fishbein, Flight management systems: the evolution of avionics and navigation:

(aviation) The bearing of an aircraft, usually relative to magnetic north, determined by omnidirectional radio signals.


autobrake

(aviation) A system that automatically applies an aircraft's hydraulic wheel brakes upon touchdown during landing, or when the throttle is reduced to idle during a rejected takeoff.


near space

A region of the Earth's (or another planet's) atmosphere or exosphere which is near outer space:

(aviation) The region of the atmosphere between the Armstrong limit (above which atmospheric pressure is sufficiently low that water boils at the normal temperature of the human body) and the Kármán line (one boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space); the region of the atmosphere near space.


upwing

This method involves the use of a radar transponder sited (at any rate for the purpose of this illustration) at a known distance upwing from the landing threshold — say 4,000 yards — and complementary airborne equipment capable of measuring to an accuracy of 1/10 n. ml.

1952 -, The Canadian Air Line Pilot - Volumes 8-10, page 39:

The extra drag on the upwing side causes the nose of the plane to yaw toward the upwing direction.

1979, Richard A. Wolters, The world of silent flight, page 68:

Feeling the sensation of banking as the airplane turned onto its upwing approach to landing, he reached between his feet and hoisted a briefcase onto his lap

1990, Tom Willard, Bold Forager, →ISBN, page 36:

(aviation) Toward the side of the plane where the wing is higher than the plane.


equivalent shaft horsepower

equivalent shaft horsepower (uncountable)

(aviation) In a turboprop engine, the power measured in horse power equivalent to that delivered to a propeller shaft.


transit lounge

(aviation) A waiting room at an (international) airport for passengers changing flights, or for long-haul passengers who have to leave their aircraft while it is serviced and refuelled (in both cases for passengers who haven't finished their journey).


SAF

The industry is counting on SAF for two-thirds of the contribution to achieving its net zero target.

2023 May 28, John Gapper, “The price of flying will keep rising, even on Ryanair”, in FT Weekend, page 9:

(aviation) Initialism of sustainable aviation fuel.


climbout

(aviation) The period after takeoff and before cruising, during which the aircraft climbs to a predetermined altitude.


FAR

(aviation, proscribed) Initialism of Federal Aviation Regulations.


flare path

(aviation) A runway (or simple field) that is illuminated at night, or during fog, to enable aircraft to land or take off safely.


space equivalent zone

(aviation) The top of the Earth's atmosphere, from 50,000 ft (the start of the stratosphere) and up (to the edge of the exosphere at 1000 mi); where the effects of exposure to the environment on human life is similar to that of exposure to space; it being physiologically incompatible with human life.

physiological deficient zone (12,500-50,000ft)


CoA

CoA (countable and uncountable, plural CoAs)

certificate of airworthiness
certificate of airworthiness#English

(aviation) Initialism of certificate of airworthiness.


wax someone's tail

en-verb

wax someone's tail (third-person singular simple present waxes someone's tail, present participle waxing someone's tail, simple past and past participle waxed someone's tail)

waxes someone's tail (present singular third-person)
waxing someone's tail (participle present)
waxed someone's tail (participle past)
waxed someone's tail (past)

(military, aviation, slang) To lock one's weapons onto the tail of an enemy aircraft.


AoA

Alternative form of AOA (“"A..." of "A..."”)

(aviation) Initialism of angle of attack.


alpha max

en-noun

alpha max (countable and uncountable, plural alpha maxes)

(aviation) The maximum angle of attack (AoA), maximum nose-up angle. The highest degree of displacement from (relative) horizontal (the airstream, not the ground level, nor the theoretical flat gravitational surface), that an airplane can achieve and still maintain forward flight (without stalling), at the speed that the aircraft is travelling.


quadjet

(aviation) A jet aircraft powered by four engines.


blisk

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(aviation, mechanical engineering) An aircraft turbine engine rotor that has integral blades.


Vy

(aviation) The indicated airspeed at which an aircraft's climb rate is at a maximum.


shock stall

/ˈʃɒk ˌstɔːl/

The noun is derived from shock + stall (“loss of lift due to an airfoil’s critical angle of attack being exceeded”). The verb is derived from the noun.

When I was down to 32,000 feet the altimeter was spinning merrily and the dive was very steep and I was pulling back on the stick in the usual way due to the change of trim at the shock stall.

1944 April 27, Peter Caygill, quoting Tony Martindale, “Problems with Compressibility”, in Sound Barrier: The Rocky Road to MACH 1.0+, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Books, published 2006, →ISBN, page 41:

His [Group Captain Hugh Joseph Wilson's] flights revealed at least two things: the effectiveness of turbojets used for the first time in international record breaking, and he came sufficiently close to the speed of sound to experience the effects of a partial shock stall. [...] It was noticed that changes in the air flow occur when the speed approaches the speed of sound—or, in other words, the speed at which waves propagate themselves in air—and that these changes could lead to a partial or complete shock stall.

1947 August, Oliver Stewart, “Breaking the World’s Speed Record”, in Max Karant, editor, Flying, volume 41, number 2, Chicago, Ill.: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60, column 1:

A new realm in aerodynamics is entered, with sound and shock waves, Mach number and compressibility making their appearance. Life saving dope is disseminated [during ground training] on the warning signals and recognition of shock stalls and measures in recovering from them.

1949 December, “Jetterbugs Made: Not Born to the Trade”, in Arthur L. Schoeni, editor, Naval Aviation News, number 332, Washington, D.C.: Chief of Naval Operations and Bureau of Aeronautics, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 2:

Direct evidence is meagre, but suggests that local shockstalls of this type do not generally imply a severe increase of drag, but may occasionally set up buffeting effects.

1956, A. S. Hartshorn, L. F. Nicholson, The Aerodynamics of the Cooling of Aircraft Reciprocating Engines (Reports and Memoranda; 2498), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 37:

Compressibility effects are not found to change the dynamic stall characteristics in principle until the Mach number gets high enough to cause shock-stall rather than leading edge stall.

1968, Lars E. Ericsson, J. Peter Reding, Unsteady Airfoil Stall and Stall Flutter (NASA Contractor Report; NASA/CR-111906), Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, →OCLC, page 34:

In the present work, the shock stall of an oscillating NACA64A010 airfoil for which detailed experimental data are available is studied.

2001, Paola Cinnella, “Numerical Study of Transonic Shock/Boundary Layer Interactions on an Oscillating Airfoil Using a Third-order Scheme and Nonlinear Turbulence Models”, in Nobuyuki Satofuka, editor, Computational Fluid Dynamics 2000: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, ICCFD, Kyoto, Japan, 10–14 July 2000, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, →DOI, →ISBN, part V (Compressible Flows), section 1 (Introduction), page 157:

Anyone on the instructor's course should be experienced enough to handle the odd shock stall, which by definition was only going to happen at height where there was plenty of room to sort things out.

2010, Tony Doyle, “To Valley on the Gnat”, in Flying at the Edge: 20 Years of Front-line and Display Flying in the Cold War Era, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Books, →ISBN, part 2 (The Crest of the Wave), page 159:

(aviation) A stall (“sudden loss of lift”) caused when the airflow over an aircraft's wings is disturbed by shock waves that occurs at a specific Mach number when the aircraft is accelerating to transonic speeds.

yliäänisakkaus

sudden loss of lift that occurs at a specific Mach number


shock stall

en-verb

shock stall (third-person singular simple present shock stalls, present participle shock stalling, simple past and past participle shock stalled)

shock stalls (present singular third-person)
shock stalling (participle present)
shock stalled (participle past)
shock stalled (past)

/ˈʃɒk ˌstɔːl/

The tailplane usually becomes more effective as a stabiliser at high Mach numbers because there are decreases of wing lift-curve slope and rate of change of downwash with mean lift coefficient. The latter effect is mainly due to the wing-root shock stalling at a lower Mach number than the rest of the wing.

1947, S. Kirkby, A[braham] Robinson, Interference on a Wing due to a Body at Supersonic Speeds (Aeronautical Research Council Reports and Memoranda; no. 2500), London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, published 1952, →OCLC, page 23:

[A] loss of downwash due to the main wing shock stalling would result in an undesirable diving tendency.

1947 January, The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, volume 51, part 1, London: Royal Aeronautical Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 130, column 1:

The separation of the flow over wings precipitated by the compression shock that forms as speeds are increased into the supercritical Mach number range has imposed serious difficulties in the improvement of aircraft performance. These difficulties arise principally as a consequence of the rapid drag rise and the loss of lift that causes serious stability changes when the wing shock-stalls.

1948 August, John Stack, W. F. Lindsey, “Summary”, in Characteristics of Low-aspect-ratio Wings at Supercritical Mach Numbers (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Note; no. 1665), Washington, D.C.: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, →OCLC, page 1:

In fact, in this case, after stalling in the normal manner, he would probably have fallen off in a dive and in doing so, increase his speed until he shock[-]stalled before effecting recovery.

1949 June, R. G. Naugle, “Are Jet Fighters Overrated?”, in William B[ernard] Ziff [Sr.], editor, Flying, volume 44, number 6, Chicago, Ill.: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68, column 1:

As a result of these tests it was shown that at the design incidence the conventional cascade shock stalled at some 75 per cent of the critical inlet velocity.

1949 October, K. W. Todd, An Experimental Study of Three-dimensional High-speed Air Conditions in a Cascade of Axial-flow Compressor Blades (Aeronautical Research Council Reports and Memoranda; no. 2792), London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, published 1954, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-10-03, page 1:

When the wing shock stalls, the lift gradient a falls and, if no shock stalling occurs on the tail plane, the term #92;frac#123;a#95;1#92;bar#123;V

1951, staff of the RAE [Royal Aircraft Establishment] High Speed Wind Tunnel, High Speed Wind Tunnel Tests on Models of Two Jet-propelled Fighters (Meteor and Vampire) (Aeronautical Research Council Reports and Memoranda; no. 2504), London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 35:

(intransitive, aviation) Of an aircraft or a component of it: to undergo a shock stall.


cargo liner

(aviation) The lining of an aircraft's cargo hold.


noon balloon

Coordinate term: shoulder

We did not have a noon balloon, but when needed I met VIPs at the airport. I chauffeured them between the airport, hotel and the plant.

1995, Edward C. Welter, GM Means Good Money, page 105:

The noon balloon was chosen as the basis for the traffic model because during this arrival rush demand exceeds airport capacity and air traffic managers impose time-based metering restrictions […]

1999, Journal of Aircraft, volume 36, numbers 4-6, page 788:

(aviation) A period around midday when an airport has a particularly large amount of air traffic.


hot rock

It is the privilege of every pilot to think of himself, privately at least, as a hot rock of the first magnitude. Whether he is or not is an evaluation that he is not altogether qualified to make for himself.

1949, Flying Magazine, volume 45, number 4, page 28:

If a hot rock racing plane pilot seems so calm, cool, collected, and nonchalant, it's because he's formed a habit pattern of making his flying routine. That's exactly how you want dangerous flying — or dangerous anything — to be. Routine.

2011, Dick Jonas, A Fighter Pilot Looks At the World Upside Down:

(aviation, slang) A daredevil pilot of great skill.


howgoesit

From the phrase how goes it, i.e. how are things going?

He reports how much fuel has been consumed and how much remains. He shows me a plotted chart of the gas consumed and miles flown. We call it the "howgoesit" curve. The gas consumed curve is below the mileage curve. That's fine.

1939, Flying Magazine, volume 25, number 4, page 68:

Construct and use simple "Howgoesit" curves.

1951, United States. Naval Air Technical Training Command, Aircraft Engines, page 317:

(aviation, informal, often attributive) A chart or instrument indicating the remaining fuel and the remaining flight distance.


Eurowhite

TWA's 1975 livery was among the first Eurowhite schemes outside Europe.

(aviation) Of aircraft livery: predominantly white, with a relatively small logo.


DVCS

(aviation) Initialism of digital voice communication system.


skip bombing

(aviation, military) A low-level bombing technique where an aircraft attacks shipping by skipping the bomb across the water like a thrown stone.


command and service module

en-noun

command and service module (plural command and service modules)

The mother ship of the spacecraft that carried astronauts to the Moon in the Apollo missions.


Link Trainer

Produced by Link Aviation Devices, Inc., founded by Ed Link.

(aviation, historical) Any of a series of early electromechanical flight simulators


shock-stalled

en-adj

shock-stalled (comparative more shock-stalled, superlative most shock-stalled)

more shock-stalled (comparative)
most shock-stalled (superlative)

The Meteor, Group Captain [Hugh Joseph] Wilson said, puts its nose up at the shock stall, so that had the aircraft become fully shock stalled during the record runs, the pilot would probably have been able to recover without hitting the sea. But at the speeds achieved—the fastest run recorded being 983 kilometers or 611 m.p.h.—only parts of the Meteor (for instance, the area over the wind screen) were shock stalled.

1946 February, Oliver Stewart, “London Letter”, in William B[ernard] Ziff [Sr.], editor, Flying, volume 38, number 2, Chicago, Ill.: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 50, columns 2–3:

This is only partially true, since drag increase can be overcome by brute force on the part of the propulsion system, but ignorance of the rather delicate stability and control problems when flying in a shock-stalled condition will probably result in disaster.

1951, William F. Hilton, High-speed Aerodynamics, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green, →OCLC, page 33:

At about Mach 0.9 a marked recovery in lift occurred, suggesting that the separated ("shock-stalled") flow tended to disappear as Mach 1 was approached.

1980, John V[ernon] Becker, The High-speed Frontier: Case Histories of Four NACA Programs, 1920–1950 (NASA SP; 445), Washington, D.C.: Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, →OCLC, page 38:

Some parts of both Wilson's and Greenwood's aircraft were shock-stalled, which means that all normal lift characteristics were upset during the run.

1994, John Mills, When Peace Broke Out: Britain, 1945, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 135:

(aviation) Of an aircraft or a component of it: having undergone a shock stall.


bombing run

There’s palpable peril in the squadron’s ever-mounting bombing runs, and Cathcart’s moving target of a mission quota makes a clever parallel to contemporary America’s Forever War, but the flight sequences wind up acquiring a deadening repetitiousness

2019 May 16, Erik Adams, “A potent satire has its wings clipped in Catch-22”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-09-01:

(military) The route of a bomber as it approaches its target; a sortie of a bomber


derotate

en-verb

derotate (third-person singular simple present derotates, present participle derotating, simple past and past participle derotated)

derotates (present singular third-person)
derotating (participle present)
derotated (participle past)
derotated (past)

(aviation, rare) To bring the nose of an aircraft down to the runway after touching down on the main gear.


aircraft movement

en-noun

aircraft movement (plural aircraft movements)

(aviation, often plural) The take-off or landing of an aircraft at an airport.


jetline

Blend of jetliner (“jet airliner”) + airline (“air carrier”)

blend

(aviation, dated) An airline which flies jet aircraft.


pickle fork

ref

By John R. Towers, c. 1936, from the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., USA.

(aviation, informal) A structure attaching an aircraft's wings to its body, having an arched shape with prongs at each end.


V/STOL

(aviation) Abbreviation of vertical/short takeoff and landing.


UAS

Looking at the commercial entities looking to fly in the UAE, they are able to capture images and data via UAS/drone use, and have access to large areas through the approval process of the UAE.

2017, Harrison G. Wolf, Drones: Safety Risk Management for the Next Evolution of Flight, Routledge, →ISBN:

Their presence in the skies and news have become so evident that Time recently titled a Special Report issue devoted to UAS "The Drone Age" (Time 2018). UAS are free-flying, powered aircraft that may be flown remotely by a pilot on the ground or programmed to fly autonomously along specified routes to designated waypoints.

2019, James S. Aber, Irene Marzolff, Johannes Ries, Susan Elizabeth Ward Aber, Small-Format Aerial Photography and UAS Imagery: Principles, Techniques and Geoscience Applications, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 119:

(aviation) Initialism of uncrewed aerial system or initialism of unmanned aerial system: an aircraft with no onboard pilot, and sometimes completely unpiloted, as well as the other components of the system, including automated guidance and telemetry, a remote operator if any, etc.


HOTAS

(aviation) Acronym of hands on throttle-and-stick.. A control methodology where one hand rests on the throttle lever, while the other rests on the control stick; and buttons, dials, and switches are placed on the throttle and stick; so that the pilot's hands need not leave the two, to command an aircraft.


coffin corner

coffin corner (American football)
coffin corner (aerodynamics)

Here, in fact, is the so-called “coffin corner,” with the pilot juggling the throttle betwixt buffeting and highspeed stalling.

1909, Flight International - Volume 64, page 700:

The U-2 had to fly in the “coffin corner” of its flight envelope, one knot from stalling, one knot from overstressing the airframe, and one SA-2 from an international incident.

2004, Laurence R. Newcome, Unmanned Aviation: A Brief History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:

Coffin corner continues to trap the unwary, as witness the losses of Air France 447 over the Atlantic in 2009 and Air Asia 8501 over the Java Sea in 2014.

(aviation) A situation in which the aircraft cannot increase or decrease its airspeed without stalling or buffeting.


puff pipe

Basically, the Bedstead proved that stabilizing a jet-borne aircraft by means of "puff pipes" was practical and that not only was auto-stabilizing possible but that, with training, manual stabilizing could also be achieved.

1966, Sung-ming Wang, VTOL vehicles: practice and potential, page 72:

(aviation) A pipe on a VTOL aircraft that expels compressed air in order to stabilize the craft.


Dutch roll

(aviation) An aircraft motion consisting of an out-of-phase combination of yaw and roll, especially prominent on sweptwing aircraft.


AWACS

(US, aviation, military) Acronym of airborne warning and control system.


bus-stop flight

en-noun

bus-stop flight (plural bus-stop flights)

It was a coastal "bus stop" flight, calling at Carnarvon, where banana plantations line the Gascoyne river […]

The only short-haul, inter-city air service in the country is closing down: Channel Airways has announced that its bus-stop flights that went from Southend to Scotland by way of Luton, Bradford and Newcastle […]

1969, The Economist, volume 233, page 78:

Every day RAE runs a special aircraft from Farnborough on a bus-stop flight to these outstations in the same way that industrial groups maintain their own car services.

1964, Education and Training, volume 6, page 184:

(aviation) A regular short-haul flight that carries passengers.


squawk book

Remember, for pilots it is very important to keep detailed notes in your squawk book and set aside some time to discuss the problem with your technician.

2001, Edward R. Maher, Avionics Troubleshooting and Repair, page xvi:

(aviation) An aircraft engineer's notebook listing the faults that need attention.


falling leaf

So called from the gradual "drifting" motion like a leaf falling from a tree.

(aviation) An aerobatic maneuver, a controlled stall that begins to induce a spin which is then countered with the rudder.


TAWS

terrain awareness and warning system#English

(aviation) Acronym of terrain awareness and warning system.


terrain awareness and warning system

terrain awareness and warning system (plural terrain awareness and warning systems)

terrain awareness and warning systems (plural)

controlled flight into terrain
controlled flight into terrain

(aviation) An onboard system used to avoid controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).

enhanced ground proximity warning system


RNZAF

Royal New Zealand Air Force
w:Royal New Zealand Air Force

(New Zealand, military, aviation) Initialism of Royal New Zealand Air Force.