ski

→ Japanese: スキー (sukī)

→ Korean: 스키 (seuki)

→ Okinawan: スキー

→ Thai: สกี (sà-gii)

From Norwegian ski, from Old Norse skíð (“stick of wood, snowshoe”), from Proto-Germanic *skīdą (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split”) (see also shed). Cognate with Old English sċīd (“stick of wood”) (Modern English shide), Old High German skit (Modern German Scheit (“log”)).

der

(aviation) One of a pair of long flat runners under some flying machines, used for landing.


walk

en-verb

walk (third-person singular simple present walks, present participle walking, simple past and past participle walked)

walks (present singular third-person)
walking (participle present)
walked (participle past)
walked (past)
walk (infinitive)

Chinese Pidgin English: walkee

From Middle English walken (“to move, walk, roll, turn, revolve, toss”), a conflation of Old English wealcan (“to move round, revolve, roll, turn, toss”) (ġewealcan (“to go, traverse”)) and Old English wealcian (“to curl, roll up”); both from Proto-West Germanic *walkan, from Proto-Germanic *walkaną, *walkōną (“to twist, turn, roll about, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *walg- (“to twist, turn, move”).
Cognate with Scots walk (“to walk”), Saterland Frisian walkje (“to full; drum; flex; mill”), West Frisian swalkje (“to wander, roam”), Dutch walken (“to full, work hair or felt”), Dutch zwalken (“to wander about”), German walken (“to flex, full, mill, drum”), Danish valke (“to waulk, full”), Latin valgus (“bandy-legged, bow-legged”), Sanskrit वल्गति (válgati, “amble, bound, leap, dance”). More at vagrant and whelk. Doublet of waulk.

cog

Still keeping his tail in the air, Red coaxed the “Airknocker” ahead and as we grasped his struts he slowly retarded the throttle. We walked the plane between two tiedown blocks and not until we had tied the struts did Red cut the switch.

1950, Flying Magazine, volume 46, number 3, page 18:

(transitive, aviation) To operate the left and right throttles of (an aircraft) in alternation.


snatch

From Middle English snacchen, snecchen, from Old English *snæċċan, *sneċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *snakkijan, from Proto-Germanic *snakkijaną, *snakkōną (“to nibble, snort, chatter”); see *snūtaz (“snout”).
Cognate with Dutch snakken (“to sob, pant, long for”), Low German snacken (“to chatter”), German schnacken (“to chat”), Norwegian snakke (“to chat”). Related to snack.

If, after the pilot notices the overspeed, he deploys the spoilers, or if aileron "snatch" rolls the airplane to an excessive bank angle, it may become impossible to recover.

1982, National Transportation Safety Board, quoting Federal Aviation Administration, Learjet Special Certification Review interim report, 1981, quoted in Aircraft Accident Report: Sky Train Air, Inc., Gates Learjet 24, N44CJ, Felt, Oklahoma, October 1, 1981, archived from the original 21 February 2021, retrieved 2021-02-20, page 17:

(aviation) Rapid, uncommanded jerking or oscillation of the ailerons of some aircraft at high Mach numbers, resulting from shock wave formation at transonic speeds.


propeller

→ Dutch: propeller

→ German: Propeller

→ Swedish: propeller

A mechanical device with evenly-shaped blades that turn on a shaft to push against air or water, especially one used to propel an aircraft or boat.


knot

From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-West Germanic *knottō, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”).
See also Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte; also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur; also Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of knout, node, and nodus.
* (unit of speed): From the practice of counting the number of knots in the log-line (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every ¹⁄₁₂₀ of a mile.

Cedric claimed his old yacht could make 12 knots.

(aviation, nautical) A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour.

In the early stages of reentry, due to the extremely-rarefied air at these altitudes, the space shuttle flew at only one to a few knots equivalent airspeed, even when its actual speed was many thousands of knots.

(aviation) A unit of indicated airspeed, calibrated airspeed, or equivalent airspeed, which varies in its relation to the unit of speed so as to compensate for the effects of different ambient atmospheric conditions on aircraft performance.


passive

en-adj

passive (comparative more passive, superlative most passive)

more passive (comparative)
most passive (superlative)

From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.

der

a passive balloon

a passive aeroplane

passive flight, such as gliding and soaring


glider

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

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


George

→ Arabic: جورج (jorj)

→ Cebuano: George

→ Cantonese: 佐治 (zo2 zi6)

→ Chinese: 喬治 /乔治 (Qiáozhì)

→ Hawaiian: Keoki

→ Japanese: ジョージ (Jōji)

→ Korean: 조지 (Joji)

→ Maori: Hōri
→ English: hori

→ Persian: جورج (jorj)

→ Swedish: George

Name of an early saint, from Middle English George, from Latin Geōrgius, from Ancient Greek Γεώργῐος (Geṓrgĭos), from γεωργός (geōrgós, “farmer, earth worker”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) (combining form γεω- (geō-)) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”) Doublet of Jorge and Geevarghese.
The aircraft autopilot sense is probably from George DeBeeson, who patented an early (1931) autopilot system, and/or a reference to the expression let George do it. The Pullman porter sense derives from George Pullman, who hired Black people to staff his sleeping cars, and the patrons of the service seeing the Black people as servants of George Porter, much like how an enslaved person was named after the enslaver.

"'George rides in the back, aft of the baggage compartment,” said Aviation Sales Manager, John Brophy, with a smile as he climbed out. […] I switched on the autopilot and turned the turn knob to the left to get the turn-bank indicator to show a one-needle turn. Instantly, George rolled the Cessna into a smooth 10° bank to the left.

1956, Flying Magazine, volume 59, number 6, page 33:

I relied on "George" and "Fred"—the autopilot and the flight director—to fly the airplane while I worked my way through […]

(aviation, slang) The autopilot of an aircraft.


sock

en-noun

sock (plural socks or (informal, nonstandard) sox)

socks (plural)
sox (informal nonstandard plural)

desctree

→ French: socquette
→ Portuguese: soquete

Japanese: ソックス (sokkusu) < socks

Swahili: soksi < socks (plural)

From Middle English socke, sokke, sok, from Old English socc (“sock, light shoe, slipper”), a West Germanic borrowing from Latin soccus (“a light shoe or slipper, buskin”), from Ancient Greek σύκχος (súkkhos, “a kind of shoe”), probably from Phrygian or from an Anatolian language. Beekes compares Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬑𐬀 (haxa, “sole of the foot”). Cognate with Scots sok (“sock, stocking”), West Frisian sok (“sock”), Dutch sok (“sock”), German Socke (“sock”), Danish sok, sokke (“sock”), Swedish sock, socka (“sock”), Icelandic sokkur (“sock”). Doublet of zocco; also related to zoccolo, socle, and zocalo.

der

At 1331:58, UA Flight 757 reported that it was ready for takeoff on runway 35R. However, at 1332:05, 7 seconds later, it reported, "Ah, this is seven fifty seven, our sock sitting in front of us gives us a pretty good tail wind so we're not ready to go yet." The controller asked the flight to advise him when conditions were better.

1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.1 History of the Flight”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 4:

(aviation, informal) Ellipsis of windsock.


depart

en-verb

depart (third-person singular simple present departs, present participle departing, simple past and past participle departed)

departs (present singular third-person)
departing (participle present)
departed (participle past)
departed (past)
depart (infinitive)

From Old French departir, from Late Latin departiō (“to divide”), from dē- (“away from”) + partiō (“part, divide”).

prefix

The envelope protection system allows the pilot to maneuver at high angles of attack without the risk of departing the airplane

(transitive, intransitive, aviation) To lose control of an aircraft; to "depart" (sense 5) from controlled flight (with the aircraft as the direct object)


bogey

Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence partly bug), of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”) (compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, older “fear”), Irish bagairt (“threat”)), from Proto-Celtic [Term?], or from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”) (compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge and Alemannic German Böögg (“goblin”, “snot”)); see also Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), whence obsolete English puck. Perhaps the Middle English and Welsh words come from a word related to buck and originally referred to a goat-shaped specter. Compare also booger.
The golf sense is from the devil as an imaginary player.

m+

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-bogie.wav

He stood on the sand near the gravel road that passed within two miles of the site of the disintegrated bogey, binoculars hanging on a leather strap from his neck, face streaming with sweat under the brim of his hat... Army and government trucks passed along the road every few minutes, some bearing radiation stickers; many of those outward bound, he knew, carried fragments of the bogey. He was not privy to what they were finding.

1987, Greg Bear, “Lacrimosa Dies Illa!”, in The Forge of God (science fiction), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 83:

United States Department of Defense Air Land Sea Application Center

(military, aviation) An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.

God dammit, Mustang! This is Ghost Rider 117. This bogey is all over me. He's got missile lock on me. Do I have permission to fire?

1986, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Top Gun (motion picture), spoken by Cougar:

(military, aviation, slang) Synonym of bandit: an enemy aircraft.


bogie

A dialectal word from Northern England of unknown origin which is unrelated to bogey (“hostile supernatural creature; terrifying thing, bugbear”).

Although most A320s have two wheels on each of their main gear, a few built for the Indian market have four-wheel bogies, halving the amount of weight on each wheel and allowing the aircraft to use runways that couldn't withstand the ground pressure from a standard A320.

(aviation, by extension) A set of wheels attached to one of an aircraft's landing gear, or the structure connecting the wheels in one such set.


bogie

(aviation, military, slang) An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.


cage

en-verb

cage (third-person singular simple present cages, present participle caging, simple past and past participle caged)

cages (present singular third-person)
caging (participle present)
caged (participle past)
caged (past)

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.

To prevent damage to its gimbal mountings during extreme aerobatic maneuvers, the navball should be caged before the start of a display sequence.

(aviation) To immobilize an artificial horizon.


SOB

en-noun

SOB (countable and uncountable, plural SOBs)

(aviation, in the plural) Initialism of souls on board.


fix

→ French: fixe, fix

From Middle English fixen, borrowed from Old French *fixer (attested only as ficher, fichier; > English fitch), from fix (“fastened; fixed”), from Latin fīxus (“immovable; steady; stable; fixed”), from fīgō (“to drive in; stick; fasten”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to jab; stick; set”). Related to dig.

der

(aviation) A non-waypoint terrain feature used to make a determination of location.


approach

From Middle English approche (“approach, arrival”), from approchen, aprochen (“to come or go near, approach; to adjoin, be close by; to enter (someone’s) presence; to be or become involved; to reach (a certain state); to arrive; to befall, happen to; to become similar to, resemble; to be a match for (someone)”); see etymology 1.

вход

avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached — see also access

захо́д

Most small airplanes maintain a speed well in excess of 1.3 times V_(SO) on an instrument approach. An airplane with a stall speed of 50 knots (V_(SO)) has a normal approach speed of 65 knots.

2001, “Aerodynamic Factors”, in Instrument Flying Handbook 2001 (FAA-H-8083-15), Washington, D.C.: Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, →ISBN, page 2-6, column 2:

(aviation, also attributively) The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.

We flew the RNAV/GPS A approach to runway 16.

A specific procedure used for approaching and landing at an airport.


ornithopter

/ˈɔː.nɪˌθɒp.tə/

/ˈɔɹ.nɪˌθɑp.tɚ/

From French ornithoptère, from Ancient Greek ὄρνιθ- (órnith-) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”), equivalent to ornitho- + -pter.

An aircraft that generates lift through the flapping of its wings.


aviation

en-noun

aviation (usually uncountable, plural aviations)

Borrowed from French aviation, from Latin avis (“bird”), from Proto-Indo-European *awi- (“bird”).


taxi

→ Burmese: တက္ကစီ (takka.ci)

→ Cantonese: 的士 (dik¹ si⁶⁻²)

→ Mandarin: 的士 (dīshì, díshì)

→ Mandarin: 德士 (déshì)

→ Irish: tacsaí

desctree

→ Japanese: タクシー (takushī)
→ Hakka: 他庫西 /他库西 (thà-khu-sí)
→ Min Nan: tha-khú-sih

→ Korean: 택시 (taeksi)

→ Malay: teksi

→ Welsh: tacsi

→ Yiddish: טאַקסי (taksi)

→ Yoruba: takisí; tasín

Shortened from taximeter cab, taximeter (“automatic meter that records distance and fare”) from French taximètre, from German Taxameter (whence also English taxameter), coined from Medieval Latin taxa (“tax, charge”). More at tax, task.

During taxi, the flaps and slats are extended and the second engine (if not already running) is started.

Seat belts must be kept fastened during taxi, takeoff, turbulence, and landing.

(aviation) The movement of an aircraft across an airport's surface under its own power; a phase of aircraft operation involving this movement.


ET

en-noun

ET (countable and uncountable, plural ETs)

(travel, aviation) Initialism of electronic ticket.

(travel, aviation, reservation system) End transaction, end of transaction (with transaction meaning an amendment in the reservation system in this sense).


joystick

From joy + stick. First attested around 1910 (as joy-stick) as the control stick on an airplane. Its relation to the word joy is unclear.

unk

unclear

If games are your life, the choice of a joystick is desperately important.

A mechanical device consisting of a handgrip mounted on a base or pedestal and typically having one or more buttons, used to control an aircraft, computer, or other equipment.


maiden flight

The manufacturer's CEO was confident enough to ride as a passenger on the airship's maiden flight.

The first flight of an airplane or other airborne vehicle, usually used to test or demonstrate the functions of the systems.


IM

en-noun

IM (countable and uncountable, plural IMs)


driver

desctree

→ Japanese: ドライバー (doraibā)
→ Hakka: 多拉把 (tô-lai-pá, tô-lai-pà, tò-lái-pà)
→ Hokkien: 螺賴把 /螺赖把 (lo͘-lài-bà)

→ Hokkien: 嚦峇 /呖峇 (lē-bā)

→ Scottish Gaelic: draibhear

From Middle English drivere, dryvere, dryvare, equivalent to drive + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Drieuwer (“driver”), Dutch drijver (“driver”), German Low German Driever (“driver”), German Treiber (“driver”).

(aviation, slang) A pilot (person who flies aircraft).


section

From Middle English seccioun, from Old French section, from Latin sectiō (“cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of diseased parts of the body, etc.”), from sectus, past participle of secāre (“to cut”). More at saw.

разрэ́з

surgery: incision or the act of making an incision

A cross-section (image that shows an object as if cut along a plane).

(aviation) A cross-section perpendicular the longitudinal axis of an aircraft in flight.


touchdown

en-noun

touchdown (countable and uncountable, plural touchdowns)

The passengers audibly relaxed at touchdown.

And I think it's gonna be a long, long time / 'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find / I'm not the man they think I am at home / Oh, no, no, no[…]

1972 April 17, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, “Rocket Man”, in Honky Château, performed by Elton John:

(aviation) The moment when an aircraft or spacecraft makes first or final contact with the ground during a landing.


crab

crab (countable and uncountable, plural crabs)

From Middle English crabbe, from Old English crabba (“crab; crayfish; cancer”), from Proto-West Germanic *krabbō, from Proto-Germanic *krabbô, from *krabbōną (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *grobʰeh₂yéti (“scratch, claw at”), a metathesised o-grade of *gerbʰ-. More at carve.
Cognates
See also Dutch krab, Low German Krabb, Danish krabbe, Swedish krabba.
Further cognates with frequentative-infix are Saterland Frisian krabbelje (“to creep, crawl”), Dutch krabbelen (“to scratch”) and German krabbeln (“to crawl”). Possibly related to English creep and Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”) etc.

cog

The pilot had to hold fifteen degrees of crab during the approach to keep her plane from getting blown off the localizer course.

(uncountable, aviation) The angle by which an aircraft's nose is pointed upwind of its groundtrack to compensate for crosswinds during an approach to landing; its crab angle.


crab

en-verb

crab (third-person singular simple present crabs, present participle crabbing, simple past and past participle crabbed)

crabs (present singular third-person)
crabbing (participle present)
crabbed (participle past)
crabbed (past)

(transitive, aviation) To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course.


foil

en-noun

foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)

From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine.
The literary sense is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brilliantly.
Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.

(aerodynamics, aviation) Clipping of aerofoil/airfoil.


slot

From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.

(aviation) The allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival at an airport's runway.

slotti

(aviation) In a flying display, the fourth position; after the leader and two wingmen.


seat

From Middle English sete, from Old English sǣte, possibly from (or simply cognate with) Old Norse sæti (“seat”), both from Proto-Germanic *sētiją (“seat”), from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”); compare Old English set (“seat”).
Sense 2 (“location or site”) is probably derived from Old English sǣte (“house”), which is related to Old High German sāza (“sedan, seat, domicile”).
cognates
* Middle Dutch gesaete
* Old High German gisazi (modern German Gesäß)

cog

would you mind putting on your seat belt

Hey, fighter boy, our radar's putting out enough energy to launch your seat from this distance!

A piece of furniture made for sitting, such as a chair, stool, or bench; any improvised place for sitting.

(aviation, military, slang) An ejection seat.


airfoil

A structure shaped to produce lift when moving in air.


strake

From Middle English strake, from Old English *straca (> Anglo-Latin straca), from Proto-West Germanic *strakō, from Proto-Germanic *strakaz (“straight”). Akin to Old English streċċan (“to make straight, stretch”).

(aviation) A type of aerodynamic surface mounted on an aircraft fuselage to fine-tune the airflow.


ACAS

(aviation) Acronym of airborne collision avoidance system.


TCAS

en-noun

TCAS (usually uncountable, plural TCASs)

(aviation) Initialism of traffic (alert and) collision avoidance system, a system for warning pilots of impending mid-air collisions and telling them what (if any) evasive action to take.


smash

smash (countable and uncountable, plural smashes)

→ Czech: smeč

→ Serbo-Croatian: smeč

→ Turkish: smaç

From a blend of smack + mash. Compare Swedish smask (“to smack with the lips”), dialectal Swedish smaska (“to smack, kiss”), Danish smaske (“to smack with the lips”), Low German smaksen (“to smack with the lips, kiss”).

cog

Then, for Horner's red team, it became just a matter of gaining sufficient smash (airspeed) to convert on them and film them with gun cameras.

2008, Tom Clancy, Chuck Horner, Every Man A Tiger:

(aviation, informal) Airspeed; dynamic pressure.


roundel

From Middle English roundel, rundel, rondel, from Old French rondel (“something round and flat”), a diminutive of rond (“round”). More at round.

der

(aviation) A circular insignia painted on an aircraft to identify its nationality or service.

圓標 /圆标

aviation: a circular insignia painted on an aircraft to identify its nationality or service


kite

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kūts (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot.
Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird.
The verb is derived from the noun.

leko

military aviation, slang: aircraft — see also aircraft

leija

sailing, slang: spinnaker — see also spinnaker

And did you know the Chiefie said that one of our kites went in the drink last night?

This time, the engine roared and the kite rocked against the brakes then sluggishly rolled down the strip.

2004, Harry Foxley, Marking Time: A Soldier’s Story, Victoria, B.C., Crewe, East Cheshire: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 133:

(military aviation, slang) An aeroplane or aircraft.


bounce

en-verb

bounce (third-person singular simple present bounces, present participle bouncing, simple past and past participle bounced)

bounces (present singular third-person)
bouncing (participle present)
bounced (participle past)
bounced (past)

From Middle English bounsen, bunsen (“to beat, thump”), cognate with Scots bunce, bonce (“to bounce”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative, related to bump, or related to Middle English bonchen (“to pound, beat”) and Dutch bonken (“to bump”).
Compare Saterland Frisian bumzje (“to pound, bang, bounce”), West Frisian bûnzje (“to throb, bounce, pulsate”), Dutch bonzen (“to thump, knock, throb, bounce”), German Low German bunsen, bumsen (“to beat, bounce”), German bumsen (“to thud, bang, pound”).

unc

uncertain

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

The student pilot bounced several times during his landing.

(intransitive, aviation) To land hard and lift off again due to excess momentum.


pylon

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πυλών (pulṓn, “gateway”).

стълб

a tower like structure used to support high voltage electricity cables

(aviation) A structure used to mount engines, missiles etc., to the underside of an aircraft wing or fuselage.

kiinnike

aviation: a structure used to mount engines, missiles etc., to the underside of an aircraft wing or fuselage

(aviation, historical) A starting derrick for an aeroplane.

(aviation, historical) A post, tower, etc. as on an aerodrome, or flying ground, serving to bound or mark a prescribed course of flight.


blimp

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

onom

onomatopoeia

2004 February 16&23, The New Yorker

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


catapult

From Middle French catapulte, from Latin catapulta, from Ancient Greek καταπέλτης (katapéltēs), from κατά (katá, “downwards, into, against”) + πάλλω (pállō, “I poise or sway a missile before it is thrown”). Doublet of catapulta.

A mechanical aid on aircraft carriers designed to help airplanes take off from the flight deck.

An instance of firing a missile from a catapult.


catapult

en-verb

catapult (third-person singular simple present catapults, present participle catapulting, simple past and past participle catapulted)

catapults (present singular third-person)
catapulting (participle present)
catapulted (participle past)
catapulted (past)

(transitive) To fire a missile from a catapult.

(transitive) To fire or launch something, as if from a catapult.

She catapulted to the national scene following her selection by the candidate.

(intransitive) To have one's status increased rapidly.


speedball

en-noun

speedball (countable and uncountable, plural speedballs)

(military, aviation) An improvised adhoc airdrop resupply pack, composed of ammo, food and water, and other supplies, stuffed into a body bag or duffle bag.


blabbermouth

Two handlines are capable of 240 gpm and an undertruck "blabbermouth" nozzle can sweep the ground ahead at 240 gpm.

1964, Civic Administration, volume 16, page 9:

The monitor is fitted with a blabbermouth (variable nozzle) to enable jet-spray patterns to be obtained at will.

A manually operated monitor is provided complete with blabbermouth to deliver foam solution at a rate of 2(KX) lures a minute at 10-5 bar, to a maximum jet range of 46 metres […]

1983, David F. Rider, Jane's Airport Equipment, page 210:

(aviation) A kind of foam-dispensing nozzle used in firefighting at airports.


CAVU

(aviation) Acronym of ceiling and visibility unrestricted, indicating a ceiling of at least 10,000 feet and visibility of at least 10 miles: ideal flying conditions.


roll

en-verb

roll (third-person singular simple present rolls, present participle rolling, simple past and past participle rolled)

rolls (present singular third-person)
rolling (participle present)
rolled (participle past)
rolled (past)

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source.

rol

to cause something to revolve by turning over and over

rol

to move, or cause to be moved, upon rollers or small wheels

(intransitive, aviation, nautical, of an aircraft or vessel) To rotate about the fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down. Compare pitch.


roll

(nautical, aviation) The oscillating movement of a nautical vessel as it rotates from side to side, about its fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and stern called pitching; or the equivalent in an aircraft.

клатене

oscillating movement of a vessel from side to side


airport

→ German: Airport m

→ Irish: aerfort (calque)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-airport.wav

In the Indianapolis airport, for example, travelers spend an average of 94 minutes in the terminal and presecurity areas before boarding their flights.

1999, Marc J. Dollinger, Entrepreneurship: strategies and resources:

Because of this, and contrary to popular belief, British airports primarily act as giant wealth extractors, transporting our richest citizens out of the country as often as possible to take their money overseas.

23 June 2018, “Heathrow expansion to mainly benefit wealthy frequent fliers, research finds”, in The Independent:

An airfield (an area designated for the takeoff and landing of aircraft), including one or more runways and (for commercial airports) one or more passenger terminals.


disk

en-verb

disk (third-person singular simple present disks, present participle disking, simple past and past participle disked)

disks (present singular third-person)
disking (participle present)
disked (participle past)
disked (past)

From Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “a circular plate suited for hurling”), from δικέω (dikéō, “to hurl, to launch”). Doublet of dais, desk, disc, discus, dish, and diskos.

doublet

(aviation, of an aircraft's propeller) To move towards, or operate at, zero blade pitch, orienting the propeller blades face-on to the oncoming airstream and maximizing the drag generated by the propeller.


canopy

→ French: canopée (calque)

→ Spanish: canopy

From Middle English canapy, canepie, canapee, canape, canope, from Old French conopé, Medieval Latin canapeum, canopeum, from Latin cōnōpēum (“mosquito net, canopy”), from Ancient Greek κωνωπεῖον (kōnōpeîon, “mosquito net”), from Ancient Greek κώνωψ (kṓnōps, “mosquito”), of uncertain origin. More at Ancient Greek κώνωψ (kṓnōps). Doublet of canapé and conopeum.

der

In an airplane, the transparent cockpit cover.

In a parachute, the cloth that fills with air and thus limits the falling speed.


chopper

en-verb

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

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

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

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

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 288:

(informal) To travel or transport by helicopter.


plug

→ Gulf Arabic: بلاك (blāk)

→ Burmese: ပလတ် (pa.lat)

→ Japanese: プラグ (puragu)

From Dutch plug, from Middle Dutch plugge (“peg, plug”), from Old Dutch *pluggi, from Proto-West Germanic *plugi. Further origin unknown. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *plugjaz, but the word seems originally restricted to northern continental West Germanic. Perhaps ultimately from the same source as Dutch plag (“cut-out sod”), itself considered to be from a substrate.
Compare German Low German Plüg, Norwegian plug (“peg, wedge”, probably borrowed from Middle Low German), German Pflock (“peg”, restricted to Central German and phonetically divergent). Possibly akin to Lithuanian plúkti (“to strike, hew”).

unk

unknown

cog

Add front and aft closures to the fuselage midsection. Addition or subtraction of fuselage plugs, to a maximum of five rows, conveniently distributed on each side of wing, is possible.

2010, Ajoy Kumar Kundu, Aircraft Design, page 165:

(aviation) A standard, modular fuselage component that can be added or removed.


reverse

en-verb

reverse (third-person singular simple present reverses, present participle reversing, simple past and past participle reversed)

reverses (present singular third-person)
reversing (participle present)
reversed (participle past)
reversed (past)

unreverse

antonym(s) of “to turn something in the opposite direction”

From Middle English reversen, from Anglo-Norman reverser, Middle French reverser, and their source, Latin reversō, from re- + versō.

реверсирам

to cause a mechanism or vehicle to operate or move in the opposite directions

tolat

rail transport, of points: to move from the normal position to the reverse position

(aviation, transitive) To engage reverse thrust on (an engine).


camber

From Old French cambre (“bent”), from Latin camurum, from camur (“arched”).


aviate

aviate (third-person singular simple present aviates, present participle aviating, simple past and past participle aviated)

aviates (present singular third-person)
aviating (participle present)
aviated (participle past)
aviated (past)


decay

decay (third-person singular simple present decays, present participle decaying, simple past and past participle decayed)

decays (present singular third-person)
decaying (participle present)
decayed (participle past)
decayed (past)

From Middle English decayen, dekeyen (“to decrease, diminish”), from Anglo-Norman decaeir (“to fall away, decay, decline”), from Vulgar Latin *dēcadere, etymologically restored form of Latin dēcidere (“to fall away, fail, sink, perish”), from de (“down”) + cadere (“to fall”). Compare decadent and decadence.

der

(intransitive, aviation) Loss of airspeed due to drag.


balloon

→ Assamese: বেলুন (belun)

→ Bengali: বেলুন (belun)

→ Japanese: バルーン (barūn)

→ Maori: parūnu

→ Welsh: balŵn

→ Zulu: ibhaloni

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

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

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

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

balonë

inflatable object to transport people through the air


balloon

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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


bunt

en-noun

bunt (countable and uncountable, plural bunts)

Unknown. Perhaps a nasalised variant of butt.

(aviation) The second half of an outside loop, from level flight to inverted flight.

(by extension) Any large pilot-commanded pitch-down motion of an aircraft, often producing negative G-forces and resulting in a large negative change in flightpath angle.


bunt

en-verb

bunt (third-person singular simple present bunts, present participle bunting, simple past and past participle bunted)

bunts (present singular third-person)
bunting (participle present)
bunted (participle past)
bunted (past)

We had heard that there was an elite group of three or four pilots in Jodhpur called the “Bunt Club”, who had successfully bunted their aircraft—that is, carried out the second half of an outside loop. In the Bunt, you pushed the nose down, past the vertical and still further, until you were in horizontal inverted flight, and came out on the other side and rolled it out.

(intransitive, aviation) To perform (the second half of) an outside loop.


ingest

ingest (third-person singular simple present ingests, present participle ingesting, simple past and past participle ingested)

ingests (present singular third-person)
ingesting (participle present)
ingested (participle past)
ingested (past)

The plane's engine ingested a large bird and flamed out.

(aviation, transitive, by extension, of a jet engine) To cause (an undesired object or fluid) to enter the engine, generally via the intake.


posit

Borrowed from Latin positus, perfect participle of pōnō (“put, place”). Sense 3 (type of number format) was coined by American computer scientist and businessman John Gustafson in 2017.


slat

Old French esclat. Doublet of slate and éclat.

(aviation) A control surface that extends forwards and downwards from the leading edge of a wing, leaving a gap between it and the leading edge, in order to modify the airflow around the wing so as to allow flight at a higher angle of attack without stalling, lowering the aircraft's stall speed.

etureunasolakko

aeronautical: moveable control surface at the leading edge of a wing


blush

en-verb

blush (third-person singular simple present blushes, present participle blushing, simple past and past participle blushed)

blushes (present singular third-person)
blushing (participle present)
blushed (participle past)
blushed (past)

From Middle English blusshen, bluschen, blusschen, blisshen, from Old English blysċan (“to be red; shine”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *blaskijaną, from *blasǭ (“burning candle; torch”) or alternatively from Proto-Germanic *bluskijaną, from *blusjǭ (“torch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-.
Cognate with Middle Low German blöschen (“to blush”). Compare also Old English blysian (“to burn; blaze”), Dutch blozen (“to blush”), Danish blusse (“to blush”), Old Norse blys (“torch”), Danish blus (“blaze”).

bloos

to redden or pinken in the face from shame, shyness, excitement, or embarrassment

Blushing is caused by doping under high relative humidity conditions.

1966, Aviation Structural Mechanic S 3 & 2, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, page 219:

Why is retarder used in dope when the dope is being sprayed in humid conditions? The retarder slows the drying of the dope and keeps it from blushing.

1999, Dale Crane, Fast-Track Test Guides for Aviation Maintenance: Airframe, page 147:

(aviation, intransitive) Of dope or varnish: to develop an undesirable white precipitate on the surface, due to being applied in humid conditions.


rotor

From an irregular shortening of rotator. Doublet of rota and ruote.

(aviation) The wing of a helicopter or other rotary-wing aircraft.


deviation

en-noun

deviation (countable and uncountable, plural deviations)

From Middle French deviation, from Medieval Latin deviatio. Morphologically deviate + -ion.

The flightcrew observed en route thunderstorms both visually and on the airplane's weather radar, so they requested and received clearance for a deviation to the left of course from the HNL Combined Center Radar Approach Control (CERAP).

1992 March 18, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.1 History of the Flight”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Explosive Decompression - Loss of Cargo Door in Flight, United Airlines Flight 811, Boeing 747-122, N4713U, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 24, 1989, page 2:

(aviation) A detour to one side of the originally-planned flightpath (for instance, to avoid weather); the act of making such a detour.


disc

en-verb

disc (third-person singular simple present discs, present participle discing, simple past and past participle disced)

discs (present singular third-person)
discing (participle present)
disced (participle past)
disced (past)

From French disque, from Latin discus, from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “disk, quoit, platter”). Doublet of dais, desk, discus, dish, disk, and diskos.

doublet

In the air, the asymmetric drag generated by a discing propeller can result in loss of control of the airplane.

(aviation, of a propeller) To move towards, or operate at, zero blade pitch, orienting the propeller blades face-on to the oncoming airflow and maximising the drag generated by the propeller.


freighter

(aviation, by extension) An aircraft used mainly to carry freight; a cargo aircraft or cargo plane.


buzz

en-verb

buzz (third-person singular simple present buzzes, present participle buzzing, simple past and past participle buzzed)

buzzes (present singular third-person)
buzzing (participle present)
buzzed (participle past)
buzzed (past)

From Middle English *bussen, of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle English bunning (“buzzing”), Middle English hossing (“buzzing”), Middle English bissen (“to hush”).

zukat

to make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound

[…] an asteroid a mere 15-20 metres across exploded with the force of a medium-sized atom bomb over Chelyabinsk, in Russia, and another, much larger one buzzed Earth a few hours later.

2013, The Economist, Stopping asteroid strikes: Defenders of the Earth:

(aviation) To fly at high speed and at a very low altitude over a specified area, as to make a surprise pass.

rynnäköidä

aviation: to fly at high speed and at a low altitude


flap

From Middle English flap, flappe (“a slap; blow; buffet; fly-flap; something flexible or loose; flap”), related to Saterland Frisian Flappert (“wing, flipper”), Middle Dutch flabbe (“a blow; slap on the face; fly-flap; flap”) (modern Dutch flap (“flap”)), Middle Low German flabbe, vlabbe, flebbe, from the verb (see below). Related also to English flab and flabby.

cog

(aviation) A hinged surface on the trailing edge of the wings of an aeroplane, used to increase lift and drag.


deck

From Middle English dekke, borrowed from Middle Dutch dec (“roof, covering”), from Middle Dutch decken, from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną. Formed the same: German Decke (“covering, blanket”). Doublet of thatch and thack.

rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic

shuffle the chairs on the deck of the Titanic

(aviation) A main aeroplane surface, especially of a biplane or multiplane.


protect

en-verb

protect (third-person singular simple present protects, present participle protecting, simple past and past participle protected)

protects (present singular third-person)
protecting (participle present)
protected (participle past)
protected (past)

Attested in English since 1530, from Latin prōtēctus (“covered, protected”), past participle of prōtegere (“to cover the front, protect”) from prō, prō- (“before, in front of”) + tegere (“to cover”), see tegument. Displaced native Middle English shelden, from Old English sċildan (“to protect,” literally “to shield”).

affix

(travel, aviation) To book a passenger on a later flight if there is a chance they will not be able to board their earlier reserved flight.


secondary

From Middle English secundarie, from Latin secundārius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary), equivalent to second + -ary; compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario.

der

English numerals#Ordinal numbers
secondary

(aviation) A radar return generated by the response of an aircraft's transponder to an interrogation signal broadcast by a radar installation, containing additional encoded identification and situational data not available from a simple primary return.


core

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

(automotive, machinery, aviation, marine) A deposit paid by the purchaser of a rebuilt part, to be refunded on return of a used, rebuildable part, or the returned rebuildable part itself.


tally

(US)

(Air Traffic Control): Speedbird 123, New York, traffic at two o’clock, seven miles, a Boeing 737, west-bound, at 4000 feet.

(Pilot): New York, Speedbird 123, tally.


stagger

From Middle English stageren, stakeren, from Old Norse stakra (“to push, stagger”). Cognate with dialectal Danish stagre.

(aviation) The horizontal positioning of a biplane, triplane, or multiplane's wings in relation to one another.


stack

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-stack.wav

From Middle English stack, stacke, stakke, stak, from Old Norse stakkr (“a barn; haystack; heap; pile”), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz (“a barn; rick; haystack”).
The data structure sense is a calque of Dutch stapel, introduced by Edsger W. Dijkstra. Cognate with Icelandic stakkur (“stack”), Swedish stack (“stack”), Danish stak (“stack”), Norwegian stakk (“stack”). Related to stake and sauna.

(aviation) A holding pattern, with aircraft circling one above the other as they wait to land.


stack

en-verb

stack (third-person singular simple present stacks, present participle stacking, simple past and past participle stacked)

stacks (present singular third-person)
stacking (participle present)
stacked (participle past)
stacked (past)

натрупвам

To place objects or material in the form of a stack

(aviation, transitive) To place (aircraft) into a holding pattern.


aircraft carrier

en-noun

aircraft carrier (plural aircraft carriers)

A warship designed to carry aircraft, serving as a seagoing air base, with a deck on which aircraft can be launched and landed.


bingo

Alternative form of bing, suggesting a ringing sound. Attested since 1925.

Well, the old pucker factor went up about 75 notches at that point cause that length of time would put my wingman below Bingo fuel, plus the thought of sitting in an orbit several miles West of the Yen Bai […]

1993, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots, page 40:

The first pilot to get down to this bingo fuel state would call, “Banjo 4, bingo fuel,” or whatever.

2012, Larry R Gibson, Recollections of a Marine Attack Pilot, page 54:

(US, aviation slang, chiefly military, primarily of fuel) Just sufficient to return to base (or, alternatively, to divert to an alternative airfield). (also written Bingo or BINGO)


bingo

en-verb

bingo (third-person singular simple present bingos, present participle bingoing, simple past and past participle bingoed)

bingos (present singular third-person)
bingoing (participle present)
bingoed (participle past)
bingoed (past)

(intransitive, US, aviation slang, chiefly military) To return to base.


flying

en-noun

flying (countable and uncountable, plural flyings)

From Middle English flyinge, fleyng, fleyinge, fleynge, fleghyng, fleiʒeyng, flyeghynge, equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Danish flyvning (“flying”), Swedish flygning (“flying”), Norwegian flyvning, flygning, flyging, flying (“flying”).

"Flyings" could vary considerably in complexity and lavishness and could involve an actor or property being either lifted from the stage into the flies above or vice versa. As Colin Visser has observed, flyings and sinkings are both "associated with supernatural manifestations of various kinds" […]

1993, John C. Greene, Gladys L. H. Clark, The Dublin Stage, 1720-1745, page 58:


parasite

/ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/

/ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/

/ˈpɛɹəˌsaɪt/

From Middle French parasite, from Latin parasitus, from Ancient Greek παράσιτος (parásitos, “person who eats at the table of another”), from noun use of adjective meaning "feeding beside", from παρά (pará, “beside”) + σῖτος (sîtos, “food”).

parasiet

(biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism

[…] parasiting and aerial refueling as range-extension measures. Second, parasiting would be exorbitantly expensive, because each parasite bomber would need its own carrier. Two bombers could be serviced by a single tanker, however,[…]

2019 January 24, Michael E. Brown, Flying Blind: The Politics of the U.S. Strategic Bomber Program, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 170:

(aviation) A component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air-launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier; a parasite aircraft.


yoke

From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh.
Senses 3.1 (“area of arable land”) and 3.2 (“amount of work done with draught animals”) probably referred to the area of land that could generally be ploughed by yoked draught animals within a given time.

poikkipuu

linking or supporting object that resembles a yoke

駕駛桿 /驾驶杆

device with crosspieces used to control an aircraft

iugum

unit of land area notionally equivalent to the area a team of yoked draft animals can work in a day

Senses relating to a frame around the neck.

Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.

(aviation) Any of various devices with crosspieces used to control an aircraft; specifically, the control column.

(video games) A similar device used as a game controller.


jet set

(idiomatic) A social class of wealthy people who travel for pleasure.


pedestal

From Middle French piédestal from Italian piedistallo (literally “foot stand”).

(aviation) The central part of the cockpit, between the pilots, where various controls are located.


RSA

en-noun

RSA (countable and uncountable, plural RSAs)

(aviation) Initialism of runway safety area.


commercial

en-adj

commercial (comparative more commercial, superlative most commercial)

more commercial (comparative)
most commercial (superlative)

From commerce + -ial. From French commercial (“of, or pertaining to commerce”), from Late Latin commercialis, from Latin commercium.

bor

(aviation) Designating an airport that serves passenger and/or cargo flights.

(aviation) Designating such an airplane flight.


cloche

Borrowed from French cloche (“bell”), from Medieval Latin clocca (“bell”). Doublet of cloak and clock.

(aviation, historical) An apparatus used in controlling certain aeroplanes, consisting principally of a steering column mounted with a universal joint at the base, which is bell-shaped and has attached to it the cables for controlling the wing-warping devices, elevator planes, etc.


AOT

(aviation, military) Initialism of angle off tail (the angle between the flightpaths of the attacking and defending aircraft in a dogfight).


icing

en-noun

icing (countable and uncountable, plural icings)

→ Swedish: icing

The Cessna pilots reported that moderate icing was present between 13,000 and 4,000 feet in the cloud layers.

(aviation, meteorology) Conditions conducive to the formation of ice on aircraft surfaces.


go down

en-verb

go down (third-person singular simple present goes down, present participle going down, simple past went down, past participle gone down)

goes down (present singular third-person)
going down (participle present)
went down (past)
gone down (participle past)

suhtautua (receiving person or party as subject, received thing in illative)

The plane went down thirty miles from shore.

To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.


landing

An arrival at a surface, as of an airplane or any descending object.

هُبُوط

a coming to a surface, as of an airplane


threshold

lintel

antonym(s) of “bottom-most part of a doorway”

/ˈθɹɛʃ(h)əʊld/

[ˈθɹɛʃ(h)ɒʊɫd]

From Middle English threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold (“doorsill, entryway”), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, *þreskwaną (“to thresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn”).
Cognate with Low German Drüssel (“threshold”), dialectal German Drischaufel, Drissufle, Trüschübel (“threshold”), Danish tærskel (“threshold”), Norwegian terskel (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”).

der

(aviation) The start of the landing area of a runway.


rhubarb

en-noun

rhubarb (countable and uncountable, plural rhubarb or rhubarbs)

From Middle English rubarbe, from Anglo-Norman reubarbe (modern French rhubarbe), from Late Latin reubarbarum, rheubarbarum, rubarbera, rybarba, probably from Koine Greek ῥῆον βάρβαρον (rhêon bárbaron), from ῥῆον (rhêon, “rhubarb”) + Ancient Greek βάρβαρον (bárbaron), neuter of βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign; barbaric”) (English barbarian).
There is also a Medieval Latin variant rabarbarum, which appears to be influenced by Ancient Greek ῥᾶ (rhâ, “rhubarb”), and gave rise to some of the forms in modern languages. The Ancient Greek variant term appears to have been folk-etymologically influenced by Ancient Greek Ῥᾶ (Rhâ, “the River Volga”), which is in the region from which the plant came to the Mediterranean. The ultimate origin of the Ancient Greek terms is, however, Proto-Iranian *(h)rabā́š (“rhubarb, fennel”).
The word is cognate with Catalan ruibarbre, Italian rabarbaro, Dutch rabarber, German Rhabarber, Old Occitan reubarbe, Portuguese ruibarbo, Spanish ruibarbo.

der

ῥῆον βάρβαρον

cog

On 13 December 1942, Squadron Leader [Brian] Lane made his first flight from Ludham, a local familiarisation flight. That afternoon, he led a section of Spitfires low over the North Sea on a ‘Rhubarb’, a low-level sweep over the Dutch coast, looking for targets of opportunity.

2009, Dilip Sarkar, “Foreword”, in Brian Lane, edited by Dilip Sarkar, Spitfire!: The Experiences of a Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, →ISBN, page 11:

(British, military, aviation, historical) A Royal Air Force World War II code name for operations by aircraft (fighters and fighter-bombers) involving low-level flight to seek opportunistic targets.


rhubarb

en-verb

rhubarb (third-person singular simple present rhubarbs, present participle rhubarbing, simple past and past participle rhubarbed)

rhubarbs (present singular third-person)
rhubarbing (participle present)
rhubarbed (participle past)
rhubarbed (past)

der

ῥῆον βάρβαρον

(British, military, aviation) Of fighter aircraft: to fire at a target opportunistically.


movement

en-noun

movement (countable and uncountable, plural movements)

From Middle English mevement, from Old French movement (modern French mouvement), from movoir + -ment; cf. also Medieval Latin movimentum, from Latin movere (“move”). Doublet of moment and momentum. In this sense, displaced native Old English styring, which led to Modern English stirring.
Morphologically move + -ment.

eye movement desensitization and reprocessing

Albuquerque International Sunport serviced over 200,000 movements last year.

(aviation) An instance of an aircraft taking off or landing.


fam trip

(UK, aviation, travel) A free (or low cost) trip for travel agents or consultants, provided by a travel operator or airline as a means of promoting their service.


shoulder

From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).

inh

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

Coordinate term: noon balloon

For a round-trip journey starting from the UK during the shoulder period (1 April-30 June) […]

1976, Trade and Industry, volume 25, page 270:

the determination of noise-induced disturbances during the shoulder hours and their consequences for the consecutive sleep period

2003, Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem (Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 29 June-3 July 2003), page 184:

(aviation) A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.


minimum connecting time

en-noun

minimum connecting time (plural minimum connecting times)

(aviation, travel) The amount of time, agreed in advance between airlines and airport authorities, that is considered sufficient for a passenger to make a connection between an arriving flight and a departing flight on the same ticket.


codeshare

From code + share, because of the change in the flight's two-letter airline identity code. One aircraft will have two or more codes and flight numbers.

(aviation) An agreement whereby an airline buys space on another airline and markets the extra space as its own. Often used to increase a route network without the costs of running a full service.


codeshare

en-verb

codeshare (third-person singular simple present codeshares, present participle codesharing, simple past and past participle codeshared)

codeshares (present singular third-person)
codesharing (participle present)
codeshared (participle past)
codeshared (past)

(aviation, transitive, intransitive) To buy space on (a flight) in this way.


jet lag

en-noun

jet lag (usually uncountable, plural jet lags)

Possibly coined by Horace Sutton in 1966.

She knows, now, absolutely, hearing the white noise that is London, that Damien’s theory of jet lag is correct: that her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic.

2003, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Bigend cycle; book 1), New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 1:

(aviation) A physical condition caused by crossing time zones during flight; often the result of disruption to the circadian rhythms of the body.


motor

en-verb

motor (third-person singular simple present motors, present participle motoring, simple past and past participle motored)

motors (present singular third-person)
motoring (participle present)
motored (participle past)
motored (past)

From Middle English motour (“controller, prime mover; God”), from Latin mōtor (“mover; that which moves something”), from mōtō (“I set in motion”).

der

During startup, the engine should be motored for 20 to 30 seconds to allow the shafts to straighten out, as they may have become bowed under their own weight while the airplane was sitting on the ground.

(transitive, aviation) To rotate a jet engine or turboprop using the engine's starter, without introducing fuel into the engine.


transition

en-noun

transition (countable and uncountable, plural transitions)

/tɹænˈzɪʃən/

/tɹænˈsɪʃən/

/tɹɑːnˈzɪʃən/

/tɹænˈzɪʃən/

Etymology tree
Middle French transitionbor.
English transition
From Middle French transition, from Latin transitio. By surface analysis, transit + -ion.

etymon

filtered-popping recursive transition network

(aviation) A published procedure for instrument flight, coming between the departure and en-route phases of flight, or between en-route flight and an approach/landing procedure.


air traffic control

A system designed to give assistance to aircraft, to prevent collisions and to manage aircraft flow.


airspace

en-noun

airspace (countable and uncountable, plural airspaces)

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

Various European countries transferred the aviation control of their adjoining airspace to Eurocontrol, while each retaining legal jurisdiction.

Haines has previous experience of dealing with a hugely disruptive crisis. He said: "I left the railway in 2008 and went to the Civil Aviation Authority. And within a few months I was in the middle of an Icelandic volcanic storm. Eyafjallajokull closed airspace across northern Europe.

2020 March 25, “Network News: Railway working with government to combat crisis”, in Rail, page 7:

(politics, aviation) A specified portion of the atmosphere, especially that under the technical aviation control and/or jurisdiction of a particular state over which territory (and territorial waters) it lies.

(εθνικός) εναέριος χώρος m ((ethnikós) enaérios chóros, literally “(national) airspace”)

(aviation) that part of the sky designated for the sole use of aircraft.


landing strip

As Discovery headed towards the landing strip in the Mojave desert, radio contact between Mission Control and the shuttle was kept to a minimum.

2005 August 9, Rosalind Ryan, The Guardian:

(aviation) A runway for aircraft, especially one which is auxiliary or temporary.

مَهْبِط

auxiliary or temporary runway for aircraft


sputnik

From Russian спу́тник (spútnik, “satellite”, literally “fellow traveller”), from с- (s-, “with, together”) + пу́тник (pútnik, “traveller”), from путь (putʹ, “way, journey”) + agent suffix -ник (-nik).

derived

National Air and Space Museum
Sputnik (disambiguation)
Sputnik 1

Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn't even there yet. NASA didn't exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. This is our generation's Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven't seen since the height of the Space Race. And in a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal.

2011 January 5, Barack Obama, Jon Favreau, speechwriter, “Remarks by the President in State of Union Address”, in White House Office of the Press Secretary, WhiteHouse.gov, archived from the original on 2016-05-06:

(historical) Any of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.


whirlybird

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

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


runway

→ Czech: runway

Down at the end of the field when ready for the take-off, I'd taxi the ship off the runway and tell him why I did that—"so as not to block incoming ships," and I'd tell him at the same time why the incoming ship was supposed to land in the first third of the field and why in the take-off we were going all the way to the end of the runway and not try to take off up the middle of the runway.

1945, Robert Lee Scott Jr., Runway to the Sun, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, →OCLC, page 135:

Space Shuttle. A human-operated space vehicle launched by a rocket to orbit the Earth and then return to Earth and land undamaged on a runway like a conventional airplane.

1985, Mark Stephen Monmonier, “Glossary”, in Technological Transition in Cartography, Madison, Wis., London: University of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page 267:

They hurried across the waiting hall to the departure gates. Through the windows he could see the floodlights on the field, shining on the runways. Planes pulled up in rows at the gates, assembly-line style, workers swarming over them like ants even before they stopped.

2016 March, Joseph Kanon, Leaving Berlin: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Washington Square Press, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 313:

(aviation) A section of land, usually paved, for airplanes to land on or take off from.

aanloopbaan

(aviation) strip for airplanes to land on or take off from


bomber

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

chidí naatʼáʼiʼtsoh beeʼeldǫǫh bikǫʼ neiyéhé


blackjack

en-noun

blackjack (countable and uncountable, plural blackjacks)

→ Polish: blackjack

(aviation) A tool of leather filled with shot (or similar), resembling the weapon, used for shaping sheet metal.


rollback

rollback (countable and uncountable, plural rollbacks)

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

The noun is a deverbal from roll back. The verb is a back-formation from the noun despite being redundant to roll back.

The data was examined with respect to oil pressure. This showed that both the left and right engines' oil pressure generally follow each other until the start of the final acceleration, which resulted in first the right and then the left engines rolling back. The left engine oil pressure rose, as expected, as the engine accelerated: the right engine pressure, however, started to decrease, even though the engine was also accelerating prior to its rollback. Whilst, this observation, on the right engine, was based on only a few data points, it can be inferred that this was due to an oil temperature increase at, or close to, the start of the final acceleration. However, the loss of QAR data so close to the left engine rollback meant that it was not possible to draw a similar conclusion for the left engine.

2010 February 9, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, “1.11.3 Engine oil recorded data”, in Report on the accident to Boeing 777-236ER, G-YMMM, at London Heathrow Airport on 17 January 2008, archived from the original on 2022-06-16, page 44:

(aviation) An uncommanded reduction in the thrust of a jet engine.


rollback

en-verb

rollback (third-person singular simple present rollbacks, present participle rollbacking, simple past and past participle rollbacked)

rollbacks (present singular third-person)
rollbacking (participle present)
rollbacked (participle past)
rollbacked (past)

The first test involved placing the restriction immediately upstream of the FOHE. As it was known that the engine would almost certainly rollback during the first acceleration attempt, only the fourth accident acceleration was attempted: the rollback occurred as predicted. Testing was also conducted with the restriction at the LP pump inlet, with the rollback also occurring as predicted during the fourth acceleration.

2010 February 9, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, “1.16.4.2 Full-scale engine testing (L12)”, in Report on the accident to Boeing 777-236ER, G-YMMM, at London Heathrow Airport on 17 January 2008, archived from the original on 2022-04-12, page 92:

(intransitive, aviation, of a jet engine) To reduce thrust without having been commanded to do so.


great circle route

en-noun

great circle route (plural great circle routes)

A route, taken by intercontinental aircraft for instance, which is the shortest distance between two destinations on the surface of the Earth; an arc of a great circle.


twin

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English twinne, twynne, from Old English ġetwin, ġetwinn (“twin, multiple”, noun) and twinn (“twin, two-fold, double, two by two”, adjective), from Proto-Germanic *twinjaz, *twinahz (“two each”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwino- (“twin”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”). Cognate with Scots twyn (“twin”), Dutch tweeling (“twin”), German Zwilling (“twin”), Danish tvilling (“twin”), Swedish tvilling (“twin”), Faroese tvinnur (“a double set”), Icelandic tvenna (“duo, pair”), Lithuanian dvynys (“twin”), Russian двойня (dvojnja, “twin”).


aerobatics

(aviation) The practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights.


Manchester

Manchester
Manchester (disambiguation)
Manchester Ship Canal

→ Finnish: Manse

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

der

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


aerodrome

→ Irish: aeradróm

* (aircraft): In the obsolete sense of “flying machine” coined by American aviation pioneer Samuel Langley in 1897, from Ancient Greek ἀεροδρόμος (aerodrómos, “traversing the air”).
* (airfield): In the sense of “airfield”, from aero- + -drome, a suffix formed in analogy with hippodrome (“horse racecourse”), from Ancient Greek.

der

1908 June 8, Nikola Tesla, Little Aeroplane Progress: So Says Nikola Tesla-But He Is Working on One of His Own, letter to The New York Times, Page 6,
The Langley and Maxim aerodromes, which did not soar, were in my opinion better pieces of mechanism than their very latest imitations.

An aerodrome, chiefly of steel, weighing, apart from fuel and water, about twenty-four pounds, was launched on the Potomac River on May 6, 1896, and flew for over half a mile.

1911 October, “The Progress of Science: Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight”, in Popular Science:

This was apparently due to the weakness of the old Manley motor with which the aerodrome was originally equipped and which was capable of developing only 52 horsepower.

1914 December, Popular Mechanics, page 811:

During the years 1892 and 1893 four steam-propelled aerodromes were constructed.

1918, Automotive Industries, volume 39, page 718:

(obsolete) A flying machine composed of aeroplanes (“airfoils, aerodynamic surfaces”). An aeroplane (“airplane, aircraft”), particularly one constructed by or according to the design of Samuel Pierpont Langley and Charles M. Manly.


stall

en-verb

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

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

From Middle English stallen (“to abide, dwell, place in a location, stop, come to a standstill”), partly from Old French estaler, ultimately from the same origin as Etymology 1 (see above); and partly from Middle English stalle (“fixed position, stall”).

estää

to cause to come to a standstill; to forestall

The thrust levers were advanced, the first officer selected the go-around mode for the flight director, and he started to increase the pitch of the aircraft to the command bar indications, 10 degrees nose up. About one second after the first officer acknowledged the go-around, the stick shaker (stall warning) activated. As the aircraft reached 10 degrees nose up, about one and one-half seconds after the stick shaker activated, the captain called flaps and selected them to the go-around setting, the warbler tone associated with the stall protection system (SPS) sounded, and the aircraft stalled aerodynamically. The aircraft rolled right to approximately 55 degrees of bank, and the right wing tip contacted the runway about 2700 feet from the threshold and 45 feet left of the centre line, the right wing tip bending upwards about four feet from the tip.

1999 April 15, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, “1.1 History of the Flight”, in Aviation Investigation Report A97H0011, Loss of Control on Go-around (Rejected Landing), Air Canada Canadair CL-600-2B19 C-FSKI, Fredericton Airport, New Brunswick, 16 December 1997, archived from the original on 2022-09-02, pages 1–2:

(intransitive, aviation) To exceed the critical angle of attack, resulting in loss of lift.

失速

The pilot stalled the plane by pulling the nose up too high at a slow airspeed.

(transitive, aviation) To cause to exceed the critical angle of attack, resulting in loss of lift.


blank

en-verb

blank (third-person singular simple present blanks, present participle blanking, simple past and past participle blanked)

blanks (present singular third-person)
blanking (participle present)
blanked (participle past)
blanked (past)

From Middle English blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Anglo-Norman blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Old French blanc, feminine blanche, from Frankish *blank (“gleaming, white, blinding”), from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“white, bright, blinding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). Akin to Old High German blanch (“shining, bright, white”) (German blank), Old English blanc (“white, grey”), blanca (“white steed”), Spanish blanco. More at blink, blind, blanch. Doublet of blanc.

cog

At high angles of attack, the shuttle’s rudder is blanked by the fuselage and wings, forcing it to use its RCS thrusters for yaw control.

(transitive, aviation, of a control surface) To render ineffective by blanketing with turbulent airflow, such as from aircraft wake or reverse thrust.


wet lease

The airline is operating a plane owned by another airline under a wet lease.

(aviation) An agreement in which an airplane, including crew, maintenance and insurance, is leased to another organisation, usually for a short period of time.


MLS

en-noun

MLS (countable and uncountable, plural MLSs)

microwave landing system
w:microwave landing system

(aviation) Initialism of microwave landing system.


Qantas

Acronym of Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.

acronym

(aviation) The national airline of Australia.


nugget

en-noun

nugget (countable and uncountable, plural nuggets)

→ Portuguese: nugget

Uncertain. Possibly from a rebracketed alteration of an ingot as a ni(n)got. Alternatively, likely a diminutive of dialectal nug (“lump, block”) + -et.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa#Translingual

(countable) A bud from the Cannabis sativa plant, especially one that is potent.


cannula

cannula (plural cannulas or cannulae or cannulæ)

cannulas (plural)
cannulae (plural)
cannulæ (plural)

Borrowed from Latin cannula (“small or low reed”), diminutive of canna (“cane, reed”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”).

(aviation) A hose or tube that connects directly from an oxygen (O₂) bottle/source to the user's nose, commonly used by aircraft pilots or others needing direct oxygen breathing apparatus.


Antonov

Borrowed from Russian Анто́нов (Antónov).

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

Антонов

any of the Russian aircraft designed by the Antonov bureau


black box

black box
black box#History
flight recorder#Terminology
gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)

* Since circa 1945 in both main senses (that is, event recorders and objects with unknown innards), which are historically related to each other; for details, see black box § History and flight recorder § Terminology.
* (type of theater): Such theaters are often painted black.

scrutinizing all utterances recorded by the black box

cockpit voice recorder
cockpit voice recorder

flight data recorder
flight data recorder

(informal, aviation) A flight recorder; the brightly colored cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders in an aircraft designed to aid in determining the cause of an accident.


fifth freedom rights

One of the Freedoms of the Air, defined under the Chicago Convention in 1944.

The right of an airline of one country to land in a different country, pick up passengers, and carry them on to a third country — e.g. a British airline flying to France, collecting passengers, and taking them to Italy.


freedoms of the air

The bilateral agreements concerning international air travel defined by the Chicago Convention in 1944, covering such topics as overflight, stopovers, and passenger carriage.


cyclic

From Ancient Greek κυκλικός (kuklikós). Possibly from cycle + -ic.

(aviation) The flight control used to control a helicopter's direction and rate of horizontal movement by tilting the lift vector of the helicopter's main rotor disk.


unable

From Middle English unable, unabel, unhable, unhabil, equivalent to un- + able.

"November three seven kilo, climb and maintain twelve thousand." "Unable, we have pressurization problems. Maintaining nine thousand."

(aviation) Indicating that a requested course of action is not possible to carry out.


fighter-bomber

(military aviation) A military aircraft designed to operate in combined roles of attacking enemy aircraft and bombing targets; usually faster and more maneuverable than a traditional bomber.


fighter plane

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


tarmac

tarmac (countable and uncountable, plural tarmacs)

Clipping of tarmacadam, which is from tar + macadam (“crushed stones”). Originally a trademark owned by its inventor, Edgar Hooley.

(informal, aviation) The area of an airport, other than the runway, where planes park or maneuver.

писта

area of an airport, where planes park or maneuver


tarmac

en-verb

tarmac (third-person singular simple present tarmacs, present participle tarmacking or tarmacing or tarmaccing, simple past and past participle tarmacked or tarmaced or tarmacced)

tarmacs (present singular third-person)
tarmacking (participle present)
tarmacing (participle present)
tarmaccing (participle present)
tarmacked (participle past)
tarmacked (past)
tarmaced (participle past)
tarmaced (past)
tarmacced (participle past)
tarmacced (past)

"It is not unusual these days for the time spent tarmacking to exceed the time spent in the air, " said Senator John Danforth, R-Mo.

1989, Donald F. Wood, James C. Johnson, Contemporary Transportation, →ISBN, page 213:

(aviation) To spend time idling on a runway, usually waiting for takeoff clearance.


tanker

Without the KC-46 tankers orbiting in friendly airspace, our fighters would've run out of fuel long before reaching the combat zone.

(aviation, usually military) An aircraft carrying a large supply of jet fuel or avgas for aerial refueling of other aircraft, plus equipment allowing the in-air transfer of fuel.

While our ground teams cut firebreaks in the brush, the tankers kept the fire in the mountains at bay with frequent drops of water and retardant.

(aviation, firefighting) An aircraft built or modified to carry water and/or fire retardant for dropping on wildfires.


tanker

tanker (third-person singular simple present tankers, present participle tankering, simple past and past participle tankered)

tankers (present singular third-person)
tankering (participle present)
tankered (participle past)
tankered (past)

(aviation) To carry more fuel than necessary for a flight, in order to avoid having to refuel at a destination where fuel is more expensive or in short supply.


NAT

North Atlantic Tracks
w:North Atlantic Tracks

(aviation) Abbreviation of North Atlantic Tracks.


SAS

(aviation) Initialism of stability augmentation system.


CAVOK

minimum sector altitude
minimum sector altitude

(aviation) Acronym of ceiling (or clouds) and visibility [are] OK., a weather term, specific to an airport, used when conditions at the airport include visibility of at least 6 statute miles, no clouds below 5000 feet or minimum sector altitude (whichever is higher), and no hazardous weather conditions (cumulonimbus clouds, thunderstorms, precipitation, shallow fog, or low drifting snow) near the airport .


PNR

(travel, aviation) Initialism of passenger name record: the complete details of a passenger's booking, including itinerary, contact details, and special requests; or the unique alphanumeric identifier for each booking.

passenger name record

point of no return
point of no return#English

(aviation, navigation) Initialism of point of no return.


RAF

(military, aviation) Initialism of Royal Air Force, the British RAF.


suspend

suspend (third-person singular simple present suspends, present participle suspending, simple past and past participle suspended)

suspends (present singular third-person)
suspending (participle present)
suspended (participle past)
suspended (past)

resume

antonym(s) of “to halt something temporarily, to discontinue or interrupt a function, task, position, or event”

From Old French sospendre, from Latin suspendere.

(travel, aviation) To remove the value of an unused coupon from an air ticket, typically so as to allow continuation of the next sectors' travel.


deadstick landing

en-noun

deadstick landing (plural deadstick landings)

(aviation, idiomatic) A forced landing without propulsion of an aircraft that normally operates with propulsion.


IR

IR (countable and uncountable, plural IRs)

inertial reference
inertial reference#English

(aviation) Initialism of inertial reference.


reject

From Late Middle English rejecten, from Latin rēiectus, past participle of reicere (“to throw back”), from re- (“back”) + iacere (“to throw”). Displaced native Old English āweorpan (literally “to throw out”).


airborne

Military infantry intended to be transported by air and delivered to the battlefield by parachute or helicopter.


washout

en-noun

washout (countable and uncountable, plural washouts)

huuhtoutuminen

erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; channel produced by this action

(aeronautics) The aerodynamic effect of a small twist in the shape of an aircraft wing.

(negatiivinen) kohtauskulman kierto

(British, air force slang) A destroyed aeroplane.

(British, originally air force slang) A trainee who drops out of a training programme.


flight path

A trajectory, the traveled path of a projectile, rocket or aircraft through the air.

Twitter has suspended an account that monitors the flight paths of a private jet owned by the social media giant’s new boss, Elon Musk.

2022 December 14, Maya Yang, “Twitter suspends account that monitors flight paths of Elon Musk’s private jet”, in The Guardian:

An airway, the predefined route of travel for an aircraft or spacecraft.


antifreeze

antifreeze (countable and uncountable, plural antifreezes)

(aviation) Deicer, a heated glycol solution used to remove ice from the aerodynamic surfaces of airplanes, and prevent icing while on the tarmac.


tailspin

The loss of the third engine threw the plane into a tailspin.

(aviation) The rapid, uncontrollable descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral.


tuck

en-verb

tuck (third-person singular simple present tucks, present participle tucking, simple past and past participle tucked)

tucks (present singular third-person)
tucking (participle present)
tucked (participle past)
tucked (past)

From Middle English tuken, touken (“to torment, to stretch (cloth)”), from Old English tūcian (“to torment, vex”) and Middle Dutch tucken (“to tuck”), both from Proto-Germanic *teuh-, *teug- (“to draw, pull”) (compare also *tukkōną), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Akin to Old High German zucchen (“to snatch, tug”), zuchôn (“to jerk”), German Low German tuken (“to tug, pluck, grab and pull towards”), Old English tēon (“to draw, pull, train”). Doublet of touch.

cog

Never take a first-generation Learjet past Mach 0.82; it'll tuck hard nose-down and you won't be able to pull out from the dive.


wheelbarrow

en-verb

wheelbarrow (third-person singular simple present wheelbarrows, present participle wheelbarrowing, simple past and past participle wheelbarrowed)

wheelbarrows (present singular third-person)
wheelbarrowing (participle present)
wheelbarrowed (participle past)
wheelbarrowed (past)

/ˈʍiːl.bæɹ.əʊ/

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

From Middle English whelbarwe; equivalent to wheel + barrow.

(transitive, aviation) To cause the weight of an aeroplane to become concentrated around the nosewheel.


endorsement

en-noun

endorsement (countable and uncountable, plural endorsements)

Once she obtained the endorsement of her night flying hours, Joanna was approved to take the pilot's examination.

(aviation) An instructor's signed acknowledgement of time practising specific flying skills.

Nachweis

an instructor's signed acknowledgement of time practising specific flying skills


windmill

en-verb

windmill (third-person singular simple present windmills, present participle windmilling, simple past and past participle windmilled)

windmills (present singular third-person)
windmilling (participle present)
windmilled (participle past)
windmilled (past)

From Middle English wyndmylne, wyndmylle, equivalent to wind + mill. Cognate with Scots wyndmyln, wyndmyl, Saterland Frisian Wíendmäälne, West Frisian wynmûne, Dutch windmolen, Afrikaans windmeul, Dutch Low Saxon windmölle (Achterhooks), wiendmeule (Drents, Veluws), German Low German Windmöhl, German Windmühle, Danish vindmølle, Norwegian Bokmål vindmølle, Norwegian Nynorsk vindmølle, vindmylne, Swedish vindmölla, Icelandic vindmylla.

The stern dropped just as the captain began to get his control room crew to react to orders again. His head struck an instrument console. What slim hopes his crew had died with him. The Politovskiy was falling backwards, her propeller windmilling the wrong way as she slid to the bottom of the sea.

1984, Tom Clancy, “The Eighth Day: Friday, 10 December”, in The Hunt for Red October, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, page 195:

When he went to switch on his rotary engine again, the Le Rhone refused to pick up. Nothing happened! The propeller simply windmilled in the slip stream. Garros knew immediately what was wrong and cursed himself for his imbecility.

2000, Walter J. Boyne, Philip Handleman, Brassey's Air Combat Reader, page 18:

The propeller windmilled in front of them. Creede tried to start the engine. It growled like something angry, died away. "We're ... gonna have to ... ride this thing ... to the ground."

[…] the propeller blade on number-four engine windmilled in the air stream. "I wasn't too concerned about it, really," recalls Butchart. "B-29 engines are not all that dependable."

2006, James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, page 134:

(intransitive, of a rotating part of a machine) To (become disengaged and) rotate freely.

(intransitive, aviation, nautical, of a propeller or turbine rotor) To be rotated by the force of the fluid passing through (the propeller or turbine rotor).


artificial horizon

en-noun

artificial horizon (plural artificial horizons)

(aviation) An instrument that displays the pitch and roll of an aircraft in flight by comparing its attitude to a gyroscopically-maintained indication of the flat horizon line.


vertiport

(aviation) An airport for VTOL aircraft.


erect

en-verb

erect (third-person singular simple present erects, present participle erecting, simple past and past participle erected)

erects (present singular third-person)
erecting (participle present)
erected (participle past)
erected (past)

From Middle English erecten, from the adjective (see above).

pystyttää

to raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position

As soon as electrical power was restored, the attitude indicators' gyros would have begun to erect.

To raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position; to set upright; to raise.

(intransitive, aviation, of a gyroscopic attitude indicator) To spin up and align to vertical.


hand-off

en-noun

hand-off (countable and uncountable, plural hand-offs)

(aviation) The transfer of the radar identification of an aircraft from one controller to another when the aircraft enters the receiving controller's airspace and radio communications with the aircraft are transferred.


airmail

airmail (countable and uncountable, plural airmails)

to send a letter by airmail

The system of conveying mail using aircraft.

بَرِيد جَوِّيّ

the system of conveying mail using aircraft

航空信

the items of mail carried using aircraft

агаарын шуудангийн захиа агаарын захидал


airmail

en-verb

airmail (third-person singular simple present airmails, present participle airmailing, simple past and past participle airmailed)

airmails (present singular third-person)
airmailing (participle present)
airmailed (participle past)
airmailed (past)

(baseball) To (unintentionally) throw the ball well over a fielder's head where that fielder is unable to make a play on the ball.


yo-yo

→ Italian: yo-yo

Genericized trademark. Most likely from Ilocano yóyo, or another Philippine cognate.

(aviation, military) A dogfighting maneuver involving the attacker temporarily exchanging altitude for airspeed, or vice versa, in order to rapidly catch up with the defender or to prevent an overshoot.


MCO

(travel, aviation, dated) Initialism of miscellaneous charge order.


aircrew

The aircrew ran to the bomber.

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


garage

en-noun

garage (countable and uncountable, plural garages)

→ Assamese: গেৰেজ (gerez)

→ Bengali: গ্যারেজ (gêrej)

→ Hindi: गेराज (gerāj)

→ Irish: garáiste

→ Japanese: ガレージ, グラージ

→ Malay: garaj

→ Scottish Gaelic: garaids

→ Sinhalese: ගරාජ් (garāj)

→ Urdu: گیراج (gerāj)

/ˈɡæ.ɹɑː(d)ʒ/

Borrowed from French garage (“keeping under cover, protection, shelter”), derivative of French garer (“to keep under cover, dock, shunt, guard, keep”), from Middle French garer, garrer, guerrer; partly from Old French garir, warir (from Old Frankish *warjan); and partly from Old French varer (“to fight, defend oneself, protect”), from Old Norse varask (“to defend oneself”), reflexive of vara (“to ware, watch out, defend”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, ward off”), *warōną (“to watch, protect”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).

der

(aviation) A shed for housing an airship or aeroplane or a launchable missile; a hangar.


AFB

en-noun

AFB (countable and uncountable, plural AFBs)

(military, aviation) Initialism of air force base.


airline

But already there are some commercial airlines in the United States which use airplanes capable of more than 200 miles an hour.

1932, Amelia Earhart, “Air Trails of the Future”, in The Fun of It, page 205:

A company that flies airplanes to transport people and goods.


vario

When he took his eyes off of where he was headed, his vario showed umpteen knots.


ANA

(Australia, aviation, historical) Initialism of Australian National Airways.


aerial photography

The activity or technique of photographing the earth's surface from an aircraft, rocket, etc.


terrain

terrain (countable and uncountable, plural terrains)

Unadapted borrowing from French terrain, from Latin terrenum (“land, ground”), neuter of terrenus (“consisting of earth”), from terra (“earth”).

This approach requires the aircraft to stay at an altitude of at least 3000 feet MSL until crossing the VOR in order to maintain terrain clearance.

controlled flight into terrain

TOO LOW, TERRAIN

(chiefly aviation) The surface of the earth; the ground.


missed approach

missed approach (plural missed approaches)

minimum descent altitude
minimum descent altitude

(aviation) A go-around from an instrument approach performed, for whatever reason, at a time when the aircraft is at or above the applicable decision height or minimum descent altitude.


airworthy

en-adj

airworthy (comparative airworthier or more airworthy, superlative airworthiest or most airworthy)

airworthier (comparative)
more airworthy (comparative)
airworthiest (superlative)
most airworthy (superlative)

An airworthy helicopter...

Doc Savage doubted that he would carry out the threat, and thought the plane was still airworthy.


transonic

Passing from subsonic to supersonic, or vice versa.


hassle

en-verb

hassle (third-person singular simple present hassles, present participle hassling, simple past and past participle hassled)

hassles (present singular third-person)
hassling (participle present)
hassled (participle past)
hassled (past)

Unknown. Probably from US Southern dialectal hassle (“to pant, breathe noisily”), possibly from haste + -le (frequentative suffix).

Likewise, “hassling”—mock dogfighting—was strictly forbidden, and so naturally young fighter jocks could hardly wait to go up in, say, a pair of F–100s and start the duel by making a pass at each other at 800 miles an hour, […]

If you were caught 'hassling,' as we called dogfighting, your career could end. The edict against dogfighting divided our squadron into three factions.

(military, aviation, slang) To engage in a mock dogfight.


VD

en-noun

VD (countable and uncountable, plural VDs)

(aviation) The design diving speed of an aircraft; the highest speed which the aircraft is planned to reach during flight testing. Always higher than VNE (the speed that must not be exceeded in service).


Mach number

(physics) The ratio of the speed of a body to that of sound in the surrounding medium.


subsonic

(of a speed) (aviation) less than the speed of sound (in the same medium, and at the same temperature and pressure)

дозвукова

(of a speed) less than the speed of sound


sound barrier

sound barrier (countable and uncountable, plural sound barriers)

(uncountable) Sonic barrier, the sudden increase in drag (resistance) and other effects experienced by moving objects when their speed approaches that of sound or becomes supersonic (which used to be considered a barrier to higher speeds).

lydmur

drag and other effects of approaching the speed of sound


hypersonic

en-adj

hypersonic (comparative more hypersonic, superlative most hypersonic)

more hypersonic (comparative)
most hypersonic (superlative)

From hyper- + sonic. Doublet of supersonic.

He said there was worry among intelligence and military officials that China or Russia could be experimenting with hypersonic technology.

2021 June 3, Julian E. Barnes, Helene Cooper, “U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can’t Rule It Out, Either”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(of a speed, aviation) Equal to, or greater than, or capable of achieving, five times the speed of sound.


supersonic

From super- + sonic. Doublet of hypersonic.

(of a speed) Greater than the speed of sound (in the same medium, and at the same temperature and pressure).


airframe

This airframe has 2600 flight hours on it; the powerplant has just over 800.

The main body and structure of an aircraft (without the powerplant).


Mach

en-noun

Mach (countable and uncountable, plural Machs)

From Czech Mach, Slovak Mach, Polish Mach and related languages, from pet forms produced by truncation of personal names beginning with Ma- and the addition of the Slavic suffix -ch. Less commonly, a respelling of Hungarian Mács. In some cases, from Vietnamese or Cambodian.

The jet traveled at Mach 3.

(physics, uncountable) A ratio of the speed (of an object, etc.) to the speed of sound in the fluid or other medium through which the object travels. Usually used to describe supersonic speeds; always precedes the Mach number.


heckler

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

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


backtrack

en-verb

backtrack (third-person singular simple present backtracks, present participle backtracking, simple past and past participle backtracked)

backtracks (present singular third-person)
backtracking (participle present)
backtracked (participle past)
backtracked (past)

Speedbird One: enter and backtrack Runway 27 Left.

(aviation) To taxi down an active runway in the opposite direction to that being used for takeoff.


rotation

en-noun

rotation (countable and uncountable, plural rotations)

/ɹoʊˈteɪʃən/

Borrowed from Latin rotatiō. By surface analysis, rotate + -ion.

(aviation) The step during takeoff when the pilot commands the vehicle to lift the nose wheel off the ground during the takeoff roll. (see also: V2)


droop

From Middle English droupen, from Old Norse drúpa (“to droop”), from Proto-Germanic *drūpaną, *drupōną (“to hang down, drip, drop”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewb- (“to drip, drop”). Doublet of drip and drop.

der

(aviation) A hinged portion of the leading edge of an aeroplane's wing, which swivels downward to increase lift during takeoff and landing.

bec

aviation: a hinged portion of the leading edge


air show

a public display of stunt flying, aerobatics, and historical aircraft.


airstrip

The outfitter deposited us at a small airstrip out in the bush, promising to pick us up again in a week's time.

An aircraft landing field, usually with one runway and only basic facilities.


dihedral

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

(aviation) Of wing pairs, inclined at an upward angle to each other.


airship

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

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

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

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

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


airship

en-verb

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

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


surge

From Middle English surgen, possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from Old Catalan surgir, from Latin surgō, contraction of surrigō, subrigō (“lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”, transitive verb), from sub (“from below; up”) + regō (“to stretch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent.

der

(aviation) A momentary reversal of the airflow through the compressor section of a jet engine due to disruption of the airflow entering the engine's air intake, accompanied by loud banging noises, emission of flame, and temporary loss of thrust.

ryntäys

(aviation) a momentary reversal of the airflow


surge

en-verb

surge (third-person singular simple present surges, present participle surging, simple past and past participle surged)

surges (present singular third-person)
surging (participle present)
surged (participle past)
surged (past)

Use of maximum reverse thrust at low speeds can cause the engine to surge from ingesting its own exhaust.

(intransitive, aviation, of a jet engine) To experience a momentary reversal of airflow through the compressor section due to disruption of intake airflow.