sortie

PIE word
 *upó
The noun is borrowed from French sortie (“act of exiting; exit, way out; (military) sally, sortie”), the feminine past participle of sortir (“to exit, go out”), from Old French sortir, from Latin sortīrī, the present active infinitive of sortior (“to cast or draw lots; to choose, select; to distribute, divide; to obtain, receive; to share”), from sors (“something used to determine chances, a lot; casting or drawing of lots; decision by lot; a share”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; a thread”)), possibly influenced by surrēctus (“arisen, having been caused to arise; gotten up, having been gotten up”), the perfect passive participle of surgō (“to arise, get up, rise”), from subrigō (“to lift up; to straighten”), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + regō (“to direct, guide, steer; to govern, rule; to manage, oversee”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to right oneself, straighten; just; right”)).
The verb is derived from the noun.

scramble

emergency defensive air force mission to intercept attacking enemy aircraft

Their aircraft had no belly gunners and were at the mercy of Luftwaffe fighters that attacked from below. Whenever they lifted off on a mission, they departed with the knowledge that this sortie could easily be their last.

2019 May 8, Aron Heller, “These Jewish World War II Veterans Would Be Legends, if People Knew Their Stories”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

They are vastly outnumbered: Russia is believed to fly some 200 sorties per day while Ukraine flies five to 10.

2022 March 22, Maria Varenikova, Andrew E. Kramer, “How Ukraine’s Outgunned Air Force Is Fighting Back Against Russian Jets”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(military, also attributively and figuratively)

(aviation) An operational flight carried out by a single military aircraft.


air-to-air

The attack also afforded Helena to a front-seat view of literal air-to-air melee combat, as one Wildcat pilot of the Cactus Air Force, who was swooping in to help break up the attack, found himself out of machine-gun ammo; instead, he dropped his landing gear, positioned himself above the nearest bomber, and begun beating it to death, in midair, using his landing gear as clubs. After a bit of evasive action that the fighter easily kept up with, the repeated slamming broke something important, and the bomber spiralled down into the sea.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 5:50 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-10-17:

(aviation, of an act or action) With the participants being two or more aircraft in flight.

(aviation, military, of a missile) Fired from an aircraft in flight at another one.

vzduch-vzduch

fired from an aircraft in flight at another one


DME

(aviation) Initialism of distance measuring equipment.


braked

On most aircraft, the mainwheels are braked, but the nosewheel or tailwheel is not.

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(mechanical engineering, rail transport, aviation, of a wheel) Equipped with brakes (the vehicle-stopping devices).


excursion

Borrowed from Latin excursio (“a running out, an inroad, invasion, a setting out, beginning of a speech”), from excurrere (“to run out”), from ex (“out”) + currere (“to run”).

bor

(aviation) An occurrence where an aircraft runs off the end or side of a runway or taxiway, usually during takeoff, landing, or taxi.


airbrake

The BAe 146 and Fokker 100's tailcone-mounted airbrakes allow them to slow down quickly for steep approaches without experiencing the lift degradation seen with spoiler-only aircraft.

(aviation) A movable control surface that extends to increase drag without affecting lift (unlike a spoiler); a device that provides aerodynamic braking.


gyrocopter

(aviation) An autogyro, similar to a helicopter.


bandit

en-noun

bandit (plural bandits or (archaic) banditti)

bandits (plural)
banditti (archaic plural)

Borrowed from Italian bandito (“outlawed”), a derivative of Italian bandire (“to ban”), from Late Latin bandīre, an alteration (due to Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bandwjan, “to signal”)) of Late Latin bannīre (“to ban”), from Frankish *bannan (“to ban”). Doublet of bandito.

(military, aviation) An aircraft identified as an enemy, but distinct from "hostile" or "threat" in that it is not immediately to be engaged.


CRM

CRM (countable and uncountable, plural CRMs)

(aviation) Initialism of crew/cockpit resource management.


Emirates

United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates

(aviation) One of the two flag carrier airlines of the United Arab Emirates


HALO

HALO (countable and uncountable, plural HALOs)

Weather balloons at maximum altitude are considered HALOs.

(aviation) Acronym of high altitude, low orbiting.


Winchester

French: Bicêtre

Hungarian: vincseszter

Russian: винчестер (vinčester)

From Middle English Wynchester, Winchestre, from Old English Wintanċeaster, from Latin Venta Belgārum (literally “Venta of the Belgae”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Celtic *wentā (“town, place”), Proto-Indo-European *h₁wen- (“place (?)”) + Old English ċeaster, from Latin castra (“camp”).
The bottle is named for the former customary units of the English city. The rifle is named named after American businessman Oliver Winchester (1810–1880). The computer disk is named for the rifle.


airfield

(aviation) An open field designated for the taking off and landing of aircraft, but which, unlike an airport, does not necessarily have terminals or paved runways.

vliegveld

place where airplanes can take off and land


CATO

(aviation) Acronym of catapult assisted takeoff.


cockade

On the bank of the river in French territory lies a wrecked plane bearing the cockade of the French service.

1920, “Nerve-Strain”, in James Norman Hall, Charles Nordhoff, editors, The Lafayette Flying Corps, volume 2, Houghton Mifflin Company, page 103:

(aviation) An emblem of concentric circles of different colours, identifying the country to which an aircraft belongs.


elevon

(aviation) A movable surface at the trailing edge of a tailless airplane (such as the space shuttle) that provides pitch and roll control.


VTOL

Radio for VTOL, heavy lift gear. We're not leaving him here.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Avery Johnson (David Scully), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Arrival:

(aviation) Acronym of vertical takeoff and landing. A fixed-wing aircraft that is capable of ascending into the air straight up as opposed to needing to accelerate horizontally first.


ceo

en-noun

ceo (countable and uncountable, plural ceos)

(aviation) Alternative letter-case form of CEO


Airbus

(aviation) A European multinational commercial aircraft manufacturer.


Airbus

Airbus (plural Airbuses or Airbusses or (humorous) Airbii)

Airbuses (plural)
Airbusses (plural)
Airbii (humorous plural)

The new plane was the first Airbus in the airline's fleet.

(aviation) An aircraft produced by the Airbus consortium.


DIA

(US, aviation) Initialism of Denver International Airport.


air hostess

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(UK, aviation) A female flight attendant; a stewardess.


air corridor

some were planning to fly into London from Europe, though, like many of us, they could only try their best to keep up with the government’s air corridor whack-a-mole.

2020 August 29, Rebecca Nicholson, “Tom Cruise: another groundbreaking role for cinema's cheerleader”, in The Guardian:

(aviation) A predefined route, or series of routes, in which a commercial or military aircraft must fly.


antiskid

To help keep from using up the limited pressure stored by the brake accumulator, antiskid is not available with both engines out.


Dakota

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(military, aviation) Out of air-to-ground ordinance.


turbulence

turbulence (countable and uncountable, plural turbulences)

Borrowed from Latin turbulentia, or from turbulent + -ence.

(uncountable, aviation) Specifically, a state of agitation or disturbance in the air which is disruptive to an aircraft.


ramp

From French rampe, from Middle French rampe, deverbal of ramper, from Old French ramper (“to crawl, climb, scale up”), from Frankish *hrampōn (“to contract oneself, wrinkle, rumple, crumple, curve”), from Proto-Germanic *hrimpaną (“to shrivel, shrink”). Cognate with German Rampf (“retraction, curvature, shrinkage, spasm”). Doublet of romp.
Akin also to Old English hrimpan (“to wrinkle, rimple, rumple”), Old High German rimpfan (German rümpfen (“to wrinkle up”)). Compare Danish rimpe (“to fold" (archaic), "to baste”), Icelandic rimpa. More at rimple.

cog

(aviation) A mobile staircase that is attached to the doors of an aircraft at an airport.

(aviation) A large parking area in an airport for aircraft, for loading and unloading or for storage (see also apron and tarmac).

(aviation) A surface inside the air intake of a supersonic aircraft which adjusts in position to allow for efficient shock wave compression of incoming air at a wide range of different Mach numbers.


FDR

en-noun

FDR (countable and uncountable, plural FDRs)

flight data recorder
flight data recorder#English

(aviation) Initialism of flight data recorder.


flaperon

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


avgas

avgas (countable and uncountable, plural avgases or avgasses)

Cylinder cracks are nothing new, however, and there is no reason to expect autogas-burning engines to have a higher incidence of head cracking than avgas-users

1988, Kas Thomas, Fuel and oil systems: basic and advanced light plane maintenance:

In the area of autogas volatility, a Reid vapor pressure of 9.0 to 15 is very common, compared to the vapor pressure of avgas, which is 5.5 to 7

1994, Michael J. Kroes with Thomas W. Wild, Aircraft powerplants:

Autogas can be obtained for a fraction of the cost of avgas, but its use is not without controversy.

2006, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, The AOPA pilot: voice of general aviation, volume 49:

(aviation) Gasoline fuel for piston-engined aircraft.


bang out

en-verb

bang out (third-person singular simple present bangs out, present participle banging out, simple past and past participle banged out)

bangs out (present singular third-person)
banging out (participle present)
banged out (participle past)
banged out (past)

The pilot promptly banged out and the aircraft flew almost as far as the airfield, eventually crashing into a farmer's field.

2010, Tony Doyle, Flying at the Edge, →ISBN, page 253:

(intransitive, aviation, slang) To eject.


NEO

en-noun

NEO (countable and uncountable, plural NEOs)

(aviation) Acronym of new engine option.


TSO

Technical Standard Order
w:Technical Standard Order

(aviation) Initialism of Technical Standard Order.; minimum performance standard issued by the United States Federal Aviation Administration for materials, components and processes used in civil aircraft


T-tail

The C-5 Galaxy is the mightiest of all T-tails.

horizontal stabilizer
horizontal stabilizer

(aviation) A type of aircraft that has the horizontal stabilizer situated atop, or near the top of, the vertical stabilizer.


prop wash

prop wash (countable and uncountable, plural prop washes)

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The plane's large rear doors swallowed up my friend in superfast time, its departure sandblasting everyone in red prop wash as it vaporised down the main street and into the afternoon's dust-bowl sky.

2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, page 23:

(aviation, nautical) The disturbed mass of air or water pushed aft (or forward when in reverse) by the propeller of an aircraft or propeller-driven watercraft.

We sent the new recruit to obtain a bucket of prop wash.

(aviation, nautical, humorous, in military or other social organizations involving aircraft or boats) A mythical substance supposedly used to wash propellers.


let-down

let-down (countable and uncountable, plural let-downs)

The flight received a radar letdown from air traffic control.

(aviation) The clearance of an aircraft to descend through clouds to clear air below, or the process of granting such a clearance.


trim tab

(aviation, nautical) A control surface set within or attached to a larger control surface that provides trim to obtain a desired attitude without constant inputs to the primary control surfaces (e.g., ailerons and rudders).


unload

en-verb

unload (third-person singular simple present unloads, present participle unloading, simple past and past participle unloaded)

unloads (present singular third-person)
unloading (participle present)
unloaded (participle past)
unloaded (past)

Boeing's article stressed prioritizing roll control during recovery from nose-down bank upsets unless the airplane was in a stall condition; if the airplane was stalled, Boeing recommended recovering from the stall before recovering from the upset. The article described the nose-down upset recovery technique as follows: "Reduce angle of attack. This unloads the wing, allows the airplane to accelerate, which reduces rudder deflection and improves lateral control ability. […]"

1999 March 24, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.18.10.2.3 1997 Through 1998—Information and Changes Disseminated by Boeing”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Uncontrolled Descent and Collision with Terrain, USAir Flight 427, Boeing 737-300, N513AU, Near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1994, archived from the original on 2022-06-04, pages 205–206:

(transitive, aviation) To reduce the vertical load factor on (an airplane's wing or other lifting surface), typically by pitching downwards toward the ground to decrease angle of attack and reduce the amount of lift generated.


GPWS

ground proximity warning system
ground proximity warning system#English

(aviation) Initialism of ground proximity warning system.


gremlin

Oxford English Dictionary
Roald Dahl
The Gremlins

Uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested:
* A variant of goblin.
* From Irish gruaimín (“gloomy little person”); or from Dutch gremmelen (“to soil, stain; to spoil”), or griemelen, grimmelen (“(obsolete) to abound, teem; to swarm”), but according to the Oxford English Dictionary there is little evidence for such derivations.
The word was popularized, especially in the United States, by the children’s novel The Gremlins (1943) by the British author Roald Dahl (1916–1990), in which gremlins sabotage Royal Air Force aircraft in revenge for the destruction of their forest home to make way for an aircraft factory; the creatures later join forces with the British to fight the Nazis.

der

(originally British, aviation, Royal Air Force slang)

Like Abominable Snowmen, gremlins have never actually been seen; but nobody who works with electronic gear doubts the existence of these mischievous and elusive entities. There are too many malfunctions and failures that can have no other explanation.

1963, Arthur C Clarke, chapter 8, in Glidepath, New York: Simon and Schuster, pages 72-73:

Crucial time was saved by the fact Nexus didn't require a Transport & Works Act. Nevertheless, other gremlins kept raising their heads.

2023 November 29, Richard Foster, “Tyne & Wear Metro goes with the flow”, in RAIL, number 997, page 34:

(mythology) An imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined, for example, to damage or dismantle machinery.

гремлин

imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery


GPU

(aviation) Initialism of ground power unit (a ground mobile unit that supplies electrical power to an aircraft while on the ground, without needing to power up the engines or APU).


PAR

precision approach radar
w:precision approach radar

(aviation) Initialism of precision approach radar.


inboard

The Airbus A380 only has thrust reversers on its inboard engines.

(nautical, aviation) Positioned nearer to the centre line of a vessel.


offload

en-verb

offload (third-person singular simple present offloads, present participle offloading, simple past and past participle offloaded)

offloads (present singular third-person)
offloading (participle present)
offloaded (participle past)
offloaded (past)

(transitive, aviation, travel) To deny a person on a standby list due to lack of space.

(transitive, aviation, travel) To change a passengers' ticket status from "checked in" to "open", allowing further changes. (This applies regardless of whether the passenger has boarded the aircraft or not).


hydro

en-noun

hydro (countable and uncountable, plural hydros)

From prefix hydro-, from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”). Canadian sense "electricity" from the fact that hydroelectricity is the prevalent source of electricity in much of Canada and many electric companies have the word "Hydro" in their names.

(countable, aviation, obsolete) Abbreviation of hydroaeroplane.


neo

(aviation) Alternative letter-case form of NEO


nacelle

PIE word
 *néh₂us
Borrowed from French nacelle (“rowing boat, skiff; gondola (of a hot-air balloon, etc.); structure on an aircraft to house an engine”), Middle French nacelle (“rowing boat, skiff”), from Old French nacele, from Late Latin naucella, nāvicella (“small boat or ship”), from Latin nāvis (“a ship”) (from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us (“a boat”)) + -ella (diminutive suffix).
cognates
* Anglo-Norman naucele, naucle (“small boat”)
* Late Latin nacella (“small boat”)

bor

The compartment that holds passengers on a dirigible, hot-air balloon, or other aerostat; a gondola.

A separate streamlined enclosure mounted on an aircraft to house, originally, an engine, and now also cargo or crew.

باسنة

separate streamlined enclosure mounted on an aircraft to house an engine, cargo, or crew

(aviation)
(archaic) The cockpit of an aircraft.


fly-in

(aviation) An informal gathering of private pilots and their aircraft at a prearranged airfield.


unspool

en-verb

unspool (third-person singular simple present unspools, present participle unspooling, simple past and past participle unspooled)

unspools (present singular third-person)
unspooling (participle present)
unspooled (participle past)
unspooled (past)

During this 14-second period, the airplane accelerated to about 173 KIAS, and the first officer retarded the throttles. By 1805:15, despite the instructions in the Delta L-1011 Pilot Operating Manual (POM), which states, “do not unspool the engines,” all three engines were either at, or very near, flight idle EPR and remained at that thrust level until 1805:22.

1986 August 15, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.16.3 Airplane Performance”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Delta Air Lines, Inc., Lockheed L-1011-385-1, N726DA, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, August 2, 1985, archived from the original on 2021-03-13, page 38:

(aviation) To reduce the thrust of a jet engine to idle in flight.


instrument landing system

en-noun

instrument landing system (plural instrument landing systems)

instrument landing systems (plural)
as ILS (abbreviation)

(aviation) A collection of radio navigation aids (always including a localizer and glideslope, and often one to three marker beacons as well) used by pilots for approach guidance to a specific airport runway, especially when visibility is limited.


ILS

instrument landing system
instrument landing system#English

(aviation) Initialism of instrument landing system.


stealth bomber

(military, aviation) A bomber (military aircraft) with a smaller than usual radar signature, due to its body shape, outer coating, and thermal dissipation.


autopilot

autopilot (countable and uncountable, plural autopilots)

I set the autopilot to due south, so I could get some rest.

(aviation, nautical) A mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being.


landing gear

landing gear (countable and uncountable, plural landing gears)

Modern landing gear usually has a tricycle configuration.

Boeing had a problem of too much landing gear

1954, “Where Do All the Wheels Go on a B-52?”, in American Aviation, volume 18, page 42:

The comparison between the tricycle and tail-skid type of landing gears is a case in point.

1968, Astronautics & Aeronautics, volume 6, page 4:

(uncountable, countable, aviation) The wheels, tyres, brakes, shock absorbers etc of an aircraft; its undercarriage.

Large modern commercial aircraft have a nose landing gear and two main landing gears.

(countable, aviation) Any of the assemblies which support an aircraft when it is on the ground.


pull up

en-verb

pull up (third-person singular simple present pulls up, present participle pulling up, simple past and past participle pulled up)

pulls up (present singular third-person)
pulling up (participle present)
pulled up (participle past)
pulled up (past)

Terrain, terrain! Pull up! Pull up!

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pull, up.

(intransitive, aviation) To raise the nose of an aircraft.


breakout

(aviation) The point at which visibility returns after passing through clouds.


pogo stick

An acronym of the surnames of German inventors Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall, trademarked.

An internal cargo handling winch and “pogo stick” are provided for handling cargo inside the main cargo area.

1959, Aviation Storekeeper 3 & 2, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, page 394:

(aviation, informal) Synonym of tailstand


(aviation) zero-zero, a term meaning no ceiling and no visibility


touch-and-go landing

en-noun

touch-and-go landing (plural touch-and-go landings)

(aviation) A landing on a runway immediately followed by a takeoff without an intervening full stop.


helipad

(aviation) A small landing place for helicopters, denoted by a large "H".


AOC

(aviation) Initialism of air operator's certificate.


cockpit voice recorder

cockpit voice recorder (plural cockpit voice recorders)

Coordinate term: flight data recorder

(aviation) A flight recorder which records the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft.

rečevój registrátor peregovórov v kabíne ekipáža

речево́й регистра́тор перегово́ров в каби́не экипа́жа

rečovýj rejestrátor perehovóriv u kabini ekipážu

речови́й реєстра́тор перегово́рів у кабіні екіпа́жу


flight data recorder

flight data recorder (plural flight data recorders)

Coordinate term: cockpit voice recorder

(aviation) A device which records various performance parameters of an aircraft; designed to survive severe impact and fire to help in finding the causes of an accident.

飛行記錄器 /飞行记录器

a device which records various performance parameters of an aircraft


blue room

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Phyllis Ash was working a flight where the smooth routine was suddenly interrupted by a ten-year-old boy who went to the "blue room" (toilet) and proceeded to get his penis stuck in his zipper.

1980, Robert J. Serling, From the captain to the colonel, page 423:

[…] they intended to use the “blue room”, or lavatory.

2019, Colin C. Law, A Flight Attendant's Essential Guide, page 4:

(aviation, slang) The toilet/washroom on a passenger aircraft.


banking

banking (countable and uncountable, plural bankings)


bird dog

en-verb

bird dog (third-person singular simple present bird dogs, present participle bird dogging, simple past and past participle bird dogged)

bird dogs (present singular third-person)
bird dogging (participle present)
bird dogged (participle past)
bird dogged (past)

United States Department of Defense Air Land Sea Application Center

(aviation, military, slang) A multiservice tactical brevity code requesting configuration of sensors.


nosedive

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(aviation) A drop in altitude with the nose of the craft angled downwards.

pystysyöksy

aviation: drop in altitude with nose angled downwards


greaser

From grease + -er. Applied to mechanics because they frequently become greasy during the course of their work. Applied to toughs because they frequently greased their hair, and, like greaseball, to Italians for the same reason. Applied to Mexicans because, at the time the phrase originated, they commonly worked greasing the axles of carts.


calm wind

(US, aviation) Wind that is slower than 3 knots.


DH

(aviation) Initialism of decision height.


nonrev

Short for nonrevenue, as they do not pay for their tickets.

(aviation, travel, informal) Pertaining to nonrevenue travel taken by airline employees.


nonrev

(aviation, travel, informal) An airline employee flying as a passenger.


LDA

en-noun

LDA (countable and uncountable, plural LDAs)

localizer type directional aid
w:localizer type directional aid

(aviation) Initialism of localizer type directional aid.


switchback

The noun is derived from switch (“to turn (a train) from one railway track to another using a switch”, verb) + back (“so as to reverse direction and return”, adverb).
The verb is derived from the noun.

compound

(aviation) A flight path consisting of a series of steep ascents and descents, generally flown as a stunt.


greenhouse cockpit

en-noun

greenhouse cockpit (plural greenhouse cockpits)

(slang, aviation) A distinctive style of cockpit with numerous windows, rather than simply the front windscreen, as seen on such types as the Lancaster and Stirling bombers.


RTL

(aviation) Initialism of rudder travel limiter.


boneyard

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B-52s in a boneyard

a 440 V-8 from the boneyard

Or what is conveyed to those unversed in railway matters by reports following a shed visit that "the frame of Claud Hamilton lay in the boneyard and had many endearing messages of farewell chalked on it"?

1951 April, R. S. McNaught, “Railway Enthusiasts”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 269:

The “Boneyard” is a place of antiques and historic symbolism, a burial ground for aircraft.

1999, Naval Aviation News, volumes 82-83, page 37:

Beginning in December 1969, the entire fleet was retired to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.

2017, William A. Flanagan, Aviation Records in the Jet Age:

(aviation, automotive, slang) A dumpsite for obsolete or unusable aircraft etc; a junkyard.


wind shear

wind shear (countable and uncountable, plural wind shears)

Wind shear from a microburst, as compared to wind shear resulting from a gust front, is particularly hazardous because it is a short-period event which creates very strong wind gusts with a large variation in direction over a very short distance (1/2 to 2 1/2 miles in diameter).

1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.7.3 Weather Analysis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 14:

(meteorology, weather, aviation, uncountable) Variation in wind speed or direction over a short spatial distance.

The first effect of a wind shear was detected at 34 to 42 seconds into the takeoff, at a speed of about 115 KIAS with the airplane about 3,800 feet down the runway. An average shear rate of about 2.5 knots per second resulted in an interruption in acceleration at this point with the airspeed remaining at 115 to 120 KIAS for 7 to 10 seconds.

1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.3 Airplane Takeoff Performance”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 41:

(meteorology, weather, aviation, countable) A specific instance of variation in wind speed or direction over a short spatial distance.


combi

(aviation) An aircraft adapted to carry either cargo or passengers, or both at once.


absolute altimeter

absolute altimeter (plural absolute altimeters)

(aviation) A type of altimeter which measures vertical distance to the surface below, using radio, radar, sonic, laser, or capacitive technology.


MGTOW

(aviation) Initialism of maximum gross takeoff weight: the maximum gross weight of a given aircraft, including its own weight and that of everything it is carrying, before being unable to take off.


VR

VR (countable and uncountable, plural VRs)

(aviation) The rotation speed of an aircraft (the speed during takeoff at which the pilot raises the nose in preparation for liftoff).


crabbed

en-adj

crabbed (comparative more crabbed, superlative most crabbed)

more crabbed (comparative)
most crabbed (superlative)

From Middle English crabbed; equivalent to crab + -ed.

Unlike most aircraft, the B-52's fully-steerable landing gear allows it to land crabbed and stay crabbed throughout rollout without destroying its tires.

(aviation, of an aircraft) Pointed at an angle to the runway during approach and landing to compensate for a crosswind.

The Ercoupe can't be cross-controlled, so it has to make a crabbed approach in a crosswind rather than using the sideslip technique.

(aviation, of an approach and landing) Performed with one's aircraft pointed at an angle to the runway to compensate for a crosswind; performed with nonzero crab.


panhandle

The Captain Keith Handscomb was the occupant of that ejector seat and the only survivor; his narrow escape was by just being able to reach the seat panhandle with his third and fourth fingers of his left hand.

2007, Roger Brooks, Handley Page Victor, volume 2:

(aviation) The handle that activates an ejector seat.


rate-of-climb indicator

en-noun

rate-of-climb indicator (plural rate-of-climb indicators)

(aviation) An aircraft instrument that provides an indication of the vertical change in position.


Connie

(aviation, informal) The Lockheed Constellation airliner.


slipstream

slipstream (countable and uncountable, plural slipstreams)

Compound of slip + stream. Fiction sense coined by cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling in 1989.

coin

(aviation) The airflow over a propeller-driven aircraft generated by the motion of its propeller(s).


dogfight

The two bi-planes swirled around each other like angry wasps in a violent dogfight.

(aviation, military) A twisting turning battle between two or more military aircraft, especially between fighters.


chumming

(military, aviation, historical) The use of a lit aeroplane to draw enemy fire so that the enemy can be destroyed by another aeroplane whose lights are off.


The inputs into the computerized JT9D condition monitoring program for this engine from September 10 through 16 likewise reflected adverse changes in trends of vital operating parameters which were indicative of the possibility of a serious engine malfunction. These data points showed a progressive increase of EGT and fuel flow while N2 showed a progressive decrease over the same period of time.

1971 February 3, National Transportation Safety Board, “Analysis and Conclusions”, in Aircraft Incident Report: American Airlines, Inc., Boeing 747-121, N743PA, San Francisco, California, September 18, 1970, archived from the original on 2022-07-05, page 12:

A test to evaluate the slight increases (25 to 30 pounds per square inch gauge [psig]) in core-driven hydraulic pump pressure indications showed that hydraulic pump pressure would begin to indicate on the FDR with about 35 rpm of core rotation. Another test showed that N2 signals would begin to indicate on the FDR and in the cockpit with about 70 rpm of core rotation.

2007 January 9, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.16.3 Engine Tests”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Crash of Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701, Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N8396A, Jefferson City, Missouri, October 14, 2004, archived from the original on 2022-07-05, page 27:

(aviation) The rotational speed of the high-pressure spool of a two-spool gas turbine engine or the intermediate-pressure spool of a three-spool gas turbine engine, expressed as a percentage of a certain reference rotational speed.


backhaul

en-noun

backhaul (countable and uncountable, plural backhauls)

higher intermediate point
higher intermediate point

(travel, aviation, fare construction) Travel to a destination via a further point, or a higher fare point, than the destination (higher intermediate point).


lomcevak

Derived from a Czech word which roughly means "headache" or "hangover", the expression "lomcovák" (sometimes spelled incorrectly by non-Czech speakers as "lomcevak") originated from the Moravia region, now in eastern part of Czech Republic, famous for its Jelinek slivovitz, a traditional Czechoslovakian alcoholic drink, and is commonly used to describe the rotating motions of one who has had one too many. The English use originates from Czechoslovakian aerobatic pilot Ladislav Bezák's mechanic, who at a 1958 air show in Brno, Czechoslovakia, jokingly called Bezák's tumble maneuvres "lomcováks" when asked by journalists what they were.

The pilot ended his performance with the most dangerous stunt in the aerobatic book, a lomcovak.

2004, Thomas Fleming, Conquerors of the Sky, page 462:

(aviation) An aerobatic flying maneuvre in which the pilot follows a knife-edge roll by flipping the airplane end-over-end and into a spin, from which the pilot then recovers control of the airplane.


barrel roll

(aviation) An aerobatic flying maneuver in which the pilot causes the airplane to complete one loop in the same time that the airplane completes one roll, creating the appearance that the airplane is riding on the inside of a cylinder.


fat tax

(informal, aviation) The additional airfare charged to obese individuals who take up more than one seat on an aeroplane.


ident

en-verb

ident (third-person singular simple present idents, present participle identing, simple past and past participle idented)

idents (present singular third-person)
identing (participle present)
idented (participle past)
idented (past)

(aviation) activate the aircraft transponder identification feature.


I dreamed of 747s / Over geometric farms / Dreams Amelia—dreams and false alarms

1976, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “Amelia”, in Hejira:

(aviation) A Boeing airplane, model number seven forty-seven, sold to airlines for passenger or cargo transportation.


CRS

en-noun

CRS (countable and uncountable, plural CRSs)

central reservation system
w:central reservation system

computer reservation system
w:computer reservation system

(computing, aviation, travel) Initialism of central reservation system or computer reservation system.

(US, aviation) Initialism of (FAA) certified repair station.


nonrigid

Nonrigids are cheap and easy to build, store, and transport, but their lack of structural reinforcement limits them to smaller sizes and lower speeds than rigids or semirigids.

(aviation) An airship that maintains its shape only by internal gas pressure.


afterburner

(aviation) A device in a jet engine which injects fuel into the exhaust system to increase the thrust.

efterbrænder

a device in a jet engine which injects fuel into the exhaust system to increase the thrust


MMO

(aviation) Maximum operating Mach number; the Mach number which an aircraft should not exceed in the course of routine operation.


load shedding

Based on the reported weather at Carbondale, it should have been apparent that he would need electrical power to operate his radio navigation instruments on arrival since he most probably would have to execute an instrument approach to land. Therefore, to insure that he could complete the 39-minute flight to Carbondale, all unnecessary electrical loads would have to be shed in order to have residual electrical power. In addition, there was no way the captain could determine the exact charge state of the batteries when the generators failed; therefore, even with proper load shedding procedures, the captain could not have been sure that battery power would last longer than 30 minutes. Given the two options available to the captain when the generators failed, the risks involved in continuing to Carbondale were such that this option should have been rejected summarily.

1985 March 5, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.2 Operational and Human Performance Factors - The Captain's Decision”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Air Illinois Hawker Siddley^([sic]) HS 748-2A, N748LL, Near Pinckneyville, Illinois, October 11, 1983, archived from the original on 2022-05-09, page 53:

Early in the SR 111 investigation, it was discovered that the Swissair MD-11 in-flight entertainment network (IFEN) was connected to aircraft power in such a way that was not compatible with the emergency electrical load-shedding design philosophy of the MD-11 aircraft. The IFEN was powered from AC Bus 2, a bus that is not deactivated when the CABIN BUS switch is selected. Use of the CABIN BUS switch, which was the first item in Swissair’s Smoke/Fumes of Unknown Origin Checklist at the time of the occurrence, is intended to remove most electrical power from the aircraft cabin.

2003 March 27, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, “4.1.7 In-Flight Entertainment Network/Supplemental Type Certificate - 4.1.7.1 Transportation Safety Board of Canada”, in Aviation Investigation Report: In-Flight Fire Leading to Collision with Water, Swissair Transport Limited, McDonnell Douglas MD-11 HB-IWF, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia 5 nm SW, 2 September 1998, archived from the original on 2022-02-21, page 274:

(aviation) The process of minimizing usage of electrical power by powering down nonessential equipment following an electrical generation failure, or to reduce the risk of an electrical fire in certain situations.


Machmeter

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

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

(aviation) An instrument that measures the speed of an aircraft relative to that of sound and displays it in Mach numbers.

مؤشر ماخ

an instrument that measures the speed of an aircraft relative to that of sound and displays it in Mach numbers


variometer

Borrowed from Latin varius (“various”) + -meter.

rate-of-climb indicator
rate-of-climb indicator


JATO

JATO (countable and uncountable, plural JATOs)

(uncountable) Acronym of jet-assisted takeoff, a method of using booster rockets to allow heavily-loaded aircraft to lift off more quickly and use less runway length for takeoff.

jet-assisted takeoff

An enduring urban legend claims that someone in Arizona strapped a JATO to their car and crashed it into a cliff.

(countable) One of the rockets used for the above purpose.


rocket pack

(aviation) A jet pack using a rocket engine.


jet pack

(aviation) A piece of equipment that may be strapped to a person’s back and generate vertical thrust by a downward discharge of jet fluid, thereby rendering the person capable of flight.

መብረሪያ ስንቅ

Equipment worn on the back for vertical thrust


scooper

(aviation, firefighting, informal) A type of air tanker waterbomber airplane, which is capable of landing on water, and directly scooping up water to fill its tanks, by skimming the water's surface with scoops delopyed.


walk-up

Deverbal from walk up; (northern flicker): imitative of the bird's call.

Pilot walk-ups welcomed for real-time satellite and radar weather imaging information.

1993, Flying Magazine, volume 120, number 10, page 33:

(aviation) An informal visit to a control tower by a pilot, typically used as part of pilot training.


INOP

(chiefly aviation) Abbreviation of inoperative.


monoplane

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

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

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


triplane

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


biplane

a biplane rudder

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


biplane

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


RA

resolution advisory
resolution advisory#English

(aviation) Initialism of resolution advisory (a type of TCAS warning).


windsock

(aviation) A large, conical, open-ended tube designed to indicate wind direction and relative wind speed, used especially at smaller airfields.

air sock

conical, open-ended tube that indicates wind direction


downwind

en-adv

downwind (comparative more downwind, superlative most downwind)

more downwind (comparative)
most downwind (superlative)

(aviation) in the direction opposite that of landing in a traffic pattern


heliport

Blend of helicopter + port, by analogy to airport.

(aviation) A facility, such as a small airport, designed to let helicopters take off and land.


general aviation

(aviation) The section of the aviation industry that excludes both military and commercial passenger transport; for example, sightseeing, pleasure flights, etc.


buffeting

(aviation) random, irregular motion of the plane or of one of its parts caused by turbulences in the airflow


quartering

(by extension, aviation, of wind) Coming from aft and to one side; having both a crosswind and tailwind component.


Catalina

Catalina
Consolidated PBY Catalina
en:Santa Catalina Island (California)

(aviation, historical, military) A twin-engined amphibious aircraft used during the Second World War.


elevator authority

The airspeed was so low that there was insufficient elevator authority to recover from the stall.

(aviation) The degree of control that the elevators can exert over the pitching motion of an aircraft; related to elevator design and airspeed.


aileron authority

At higher airspeeds there is sufficient aileron authority to perform extremely fast rolls.

(aviation) The degree of control that the ailerons can exert over the rolling motion of an aircraft; related to aileron design and airspeed.


rudder authority

At slow taxiing speed, there is insufficient rudder authority to steer the aeroplane.

(aviation) The degree of control that the rudder can exert over the yawing motion of an aircraft; related to rudder design and airspeed.


touch and go

en-verb

touch and go (third-person singular simple present touches and goes, present participle touching and going, simple past touched and went, past participle touched and gone)

touches and goes (present singular third-person)
touching and going (participle present)
touched and went (past)
touched and gone (participle past)

The original sense, now obsolete, seems to have been that of brief encounters. The subsequent nautical sense then gave rise first to the abstract sense (indicating a hazardous situation) and later, by physical analogy, to the aeronautical sense.

touch-and-go landing
touch-and-go landing

(aviation) To perform a touch-and-go landing.


rate of climb indicator

en-noun

rate of climb indicator (plural rate of climb indicators)

(aviation) An instrument installed in an aircraft that indicates the rate at which the aircraft is gaining or losing altitude.


attitude indicator

attitude indicator (plural attitude indicators)

(aviation, UK, military) An instrument that displays attitude of an aircraft in pitch and roll.


go around

en-verb

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

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

ATC told the flight to go around because another plane was still on the runway.

(intransitive, aviation) To perform a go-around maneuver.


rate of climb

(aviation) The rate at which an aircraft gains altitude. A negative rate of climb implies descent.


VFR

en-noun

VFR (countable and uncountable, plural VFRs)

(aviation, uncountable) Initialism of visual flight rules, a set of rules allowing a pilot to fly and navigate by sight references, rather than by relying on instruments.

visual flight rules

The airline's business travel went up six percent, but VFR went up nine percent.

Risk awareness and risk perception also differ between VFRs and most tourist travellers, resulting in a lower uptake by VFRs of pre-departure vaccinations or malaria prophylaxis.

2008, World Health Organization, International Travel and Health: Situation as on 1 January 2008:

(aviation, countable, uncountable) Initialism of (a person) visiting friends and relatives/relations.


nose cone

(aviation) The forwardmost part of an aircraft, rocket or missile; it is shaped to minimize aerodynamic resistance.

Nasenkegel

the forwardmost part of an aircraft, rocket or missile; it is shaped to minimise aerodymanic resistance


CAG

CAG (countable and uncountable, plural CAGs)

(military, aviation, nautical) Initialism of commander of the air group.


run-up

(aviation, transitive) The process of warming up and testing an airplane before a flight.


turbofan

Turbofans are always multispool engines.

2005, Ronald D. Flack, Fundamentals of Jet Propulsion with Applications:

(aviation) A turbojet engine having a (typically ducted) fan that forces air directly into the hot exhaust and obtains a portion of the thrust from the turbojet and a portion from the turbojet section.


turboprop

A 29-year-old mechanic took off in a Horizon Air Q400 turboprop at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Friday night […]

2018, “Airplane taken from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has crashed”, in the Seattle Times:

(aviation) An aircraft that uses a turboprop engine.


sectional

(aviation) A sectional chart, a type of map used for navigation in the air.


point of no return

point of no return (plural points of no return)

The expression originated in air navigation planning. The point along the planned flight path beyond which an aircraft will no longer be capable of returning to the takeoff airfield or an alternate airfield due to insufficient fuel is calculated before takeoff. This is mandatory for overwater flights or flights without alternates on route.

punt de no-retorn

the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process

punt vanwaaruit geen terugkeer mogelijk is

(aviation) The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin.

航線臨界點 /航线临界点

(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin


reconfirm

en-verb

reconfirm (third-person singular simple present reconfirms, present participle reconfirming, simple past and past participle reconfirmed)

reconfirms (present singular third-person)
reconfirming (participle present)
reconfirmed (participle past)
reconfirmed (past)

(aviation, travel, dated) To advise an airline of your intention to use a reservation, or risk cancellation.


mainline

(aviation) An airline's main operating unit, as opposed to codeshares or regional subsidiaries.


radio beacon

(communication, aviation, nautical, navigation) A beacon that emits radio wave signals to guide ships or aircraft or to indicate the position of a ship, aircraft, or other object, person, or vehicle.

emergency position indicating radio beacon


on guard

en-adj

on guard (comparative more on guard, superlative most on guard)

more on guard (comparative)
most on guard (superlative)

(aviation) Transmitting on the aircraft emergency frequency.


crash pad

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

The first officer did not have a crash pad in the EWR area. A captain who had flown with the first officer when she was based at ORF stated that she planned to stay overnight at hotels once she began commuting from SEA to EWR. According to a cargo air carrier captain who met the first officer in December 2008 while they were jumpseat passengers, the first officer stated that she did not need a crash pad at EWR because she could stay in the crew lounge.

2010 February 2, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.5.2 The First Officer”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Loss of Control on Approach, Colgan Air, Inc., Operating as Continental Connection Flight 3407, Bombardier DHC-8-400, N200WQ, Clarence Center, New York, February 12, 2009, archived from the original on 2022-05-12, page 13:

Any place used for temporary lodging, especially without payment or permission.

(aviation) A place of temporary lodging for airline flight crews.


down line

If you miss a flight, the airline will likely cancel the down line.

(travel, aviation) the next and subsequent flights in an itinerary.


piano keys

(aviation, slang) The large white striped section at the ends of a runway, used as a landing aiming point and as a distance indicator.


vertical stabilizer

en-noun

vertical stabilizer (plural vertical stabilizers)

Coordinate term: horizontal stabilizer

(aviation) The fin on the tail of an aircraft; it includes the rudder on its trailing edge.

svislá ocasní plocha

aviation: the fin on the tail of an aircraft


METAR

(aviation, meteorology) Meteorological Aerodrome Report, the aviation routine weather report; a specially encoded weather observation report.


TAF

(meteorology, aviation) Terminal Aerodrome Forecast: a specially encoded weather forecast for a terminal aerodrome


aircraft attitude

aircraft attitude (plural aircraft attitudes)

(aviation) The orientation of an aircraft with respect to the horizon.


available ton mile

available ton mile (plural available ton miles)

(transport, aviation) tons of carrying capacity multiplied by miles travelled.


aerodyne

Back-formation from aerodynamic. Analysable as aero- + -dyne (“motor-powered flight”).

(aviation) A heavier-than-air aircraft, deriving its lift from motion.


breakeven load factor

breakeven load factor (plural breakeven load factors)

(aviation) The load factor necessary for an airline to break even. It is a function of the percent of seats filled at a particular yield versus the airlines operating costs.


available seat-mile

available seat-mile (plural available seat-miles)

(aviation) A measure of an airline flight's passenger carrying capacity, equal to the number of seats onboard an aircraft multiplied by the distance flown in miles. Seats that are not available for sale to revenue-paying passengers (e.g., seats reserved for crew rest, etc.) are excluded from this calculation.


ADS-B

w:Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast

(aviation) Initialism of Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast. (automated broadcast of aircraft location information from satellite navigation systems to air traffic control networks)


eight-ball

eight-ball (countable and uncountable, plural eight-balls)

The angle-of-attack error indicator, located to the right of the attitude "eight-ball," requires some explanation.

1960, John Marshall Eggleston, Sheldon Baron, Donald C. Cheatham, Fixed-base Simulation Study of a Pilot's Ability to Control a Winged-satellite Vehicle During High-drag Variable-lift Entries, page 11:

He kept his eyes outside, stole a few glances at the "eight ball" attitude indictors^([sic]) inside, and relied on Irwin's callouts.

2011, David A. Mindell, Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight, page 254:

(countable, aviation, slang) A spherical attitude indicator.


call the ball

en-verb

call the ball (third-person singular simple present calls the ball, present participle calling the ball, simple past and past participle called the ball)

calls the ball (present singular third-person)
calling the ball (participle present)
called the ball (participle past)
called the ball (past)

- Maverick, call the ball.

(US naval aviation) When landing on a US aircraft carrier: to sight the lights from the multi-colored optical landing system that shows a pilot to be on the correct approach path or how to correct the approach path.


consolidator

(aviation, travel) a business which buys air travel tickets in bulk, then sells them at discounted prices.


UDF

en-noun

UDF (countable and uncountable, plural UDFs)

(aviation) Abbreviation of unducted fan.


uncheck

en-verb

uncheck (third-person singular simple present unchecks, present participle unchecking, simple past and past participle unchecked)

unchecks (present singular third-person)
unchecking (participle present)
unchecked (participle past)
unchecked (past)

(travel, aviation) To remove a previously checked-in passenger from the check-in system, allowing changes to the ticket.


LH

en-noun

LH (countable and uncountable, plural LHs)

(US, army, aviation) Initialism of light helicopter.


backtracking

backtracking (countable and uncountable, plural backtrackings)

(aviation) The usage of a runway as a taxiway, especially at private strips and smaller airports.


RCS

radar cross section
radar cross section#English

(telecommunications, aviation) Initialism of radar cross section.


wifferdill

Doolittle executed a grand wifferdill—rapidly climbing to exchange airspeed for altitude—after completing the course, then a perfect landing.

2003, Dik Alan Daso, Doolittle: Aerospace Visionary, →ISBN, page 20:

When not breeding, they whirl in rings above the earth, dive for flies with gaping, froglike mouths, and perform whifferdales and rolls, glancing in and out of sight.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 24:

(aviation) An elaborate, multiaxis aerobatic manoeuvre, especially one in which an aircraft makes a series of very tight turns in order to reverse its direction of travel.


OM

OM (countable and uncountable, plural OMs)


loop the loop

en-verb

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

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

(aviation, intransitive) To perform any of several aerobatic manoeuvres in which the aircraft flies around a vertical circle.


pitot tube

Name for Italian-born French engineer Henri Pitot who invented the device in the early 1700s.

(aviation) A pressure measuring instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity, especially used to determine the airspeed of an aircraft.


flying brick

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

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


LSA

en-noun

LSA (countable and uncountable, plural LSAs)

Coordinate term: RPP

light sport aircraft
light sport aircraft#English

(aviation) Initialism of light sport aircraft.

logistics support aircraft
logistics support aircraft#English

(aviation, military) Initialism of logistics support aircraft.


fruiting

fruiting (countable and uncountable, plural fruitings)

How many breakdowns or serious impairments of function (quality of return, fruiting, degradation, etc.) did your radar and communications equipment have today?

1978, United States. Office of Aviation Medicine, Aviation Medical Reports, page 244:

In this way, the problems of fruiting, garbling and over-interrogation are overcome.

2015, Phil Croucher, Air Navigation With The Jeppesen CR-3, pages 6–51:

(uncountable, aviation) The occurrence of FRUIT (false replies unsynchronized/uncorrelated in time).


CFS

CFS (countable and uncountable, plural CFSs)

Canada Flight Supplement
w:Canada Flight Supplement

(Canada, aviation) Initialism of Canada Flight Supplement (a pilot's guide to aerodromes, air control zones, and airways in Canadian airspace and Canadian air traffic control zones).


switchology

(aviation, colloquial) The configuration of switches on panels.


flight level

(aviation) a pressure altitude measured in terms of hundreds of feet above sea level (ie. flight level 120 (FL120) is 12,000 ft. ASL)


LCA

LCA (countable and uncountable, plural LCAs)

large commercial aircraft
large commercial aircraft#English

(aviation, countable) Initialism of large commercial aircraft.


leans

If you don't use your flight instruments when flying in cloud, you can easily get the leans and enter a fatal graveyard spiral.

(aviation, with the) A dangerous sensory illusion where the pilot of an aircraft believes themselves to be in a bank when they are actually wings-level, or vice-versa, often resulting in spatial disorientation and loss of control of the aircraft.


aluminum shower

aluminum shower (plural aluminum showers)

As his screen displayed the falling and fragmenting wreckage of two aircraft that had collided at 2,650 ft. three miles northeast of Lindbergh Field, he muttered, "Jesus Christ, an aluminum shower."

1978 October 9, “Nation: Death over San Diego”, in Time:

Certainly one of the most stressful jobs in contemporary society is that of the air traffic controller. . . . This pressure, combined with the ever-present fear of causing a crash or collision (known with studied casualness as an "aluminum shower"), places controllers under tremendous stress on the job.

1981, Richard M. Steers, Introduction to Organizational Behavior, →ISBN, page 348:

John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton play two air-traffic controllers who are prickly and complex. . . . They use cynicism to protect themselves from the terrors of the job. One guy "has an aluminum shower in his future".

1999 April 22, Roger Ebert, "Pushing Tin" (film review), Chicago Sun Times (retrieved 20 Oct 2011)

[W]e must be able to determine when airplanes are too close for comfort.

2001, Frisco Rose et al., "Avoiding the Aluminum Shower," Eastern Oregon Science Journal, vol. 16 (Millennium Issue), p. 32

But he agrees that corporate jets are increasing the strain on air traffic controllers trying to prevent what’s known in the industry as an “aluminum shower,” a midair collision.

2007 August 26, Nelson D. Schwartz, “It’s Bird Eat Bird in a Cluttered Sky”, in The New York Times:

SAC made a big deal about getting everywhere the B-52's flew exactly on time. . . . [I]f you were late and the next aircraft scheduled in was early there was an increased possibility of an aluminum shower.

2009 August 30, Charlie Hough, “Last One Out is a Rotten Crewdog!”, in crewdogwarstories.blogspot.com, retrieved 2011-10-20:

(figuratively, aviation) The result of a midair collision of two aircraft.


pan-pan

From French panne (“breakdown”), reduplicated.

It should be a relatively simple matter (particularly on a modern yacht) to teach almost anyone to heave-to, take the position from an electronic navigator, then make a PAN-PAN call on the radio (see below).

1996, John Mellor, Handling Troubles Afloat, page 179:

You can use the same outline for Pan Pan calls.

2005, Bob Armstrong, Getting Started in Powerboating, page 170:

If you transmit a Pan-Pan call, then find that you no longer require assistance, you must cancel the message.

2006, Elbert S. Maloney, Chapman Piloting & Seamanship, page 411:

(aviation, shipping) A radio call indicating a minor emergency requiring some assistance, or priority in handling, but not endangering the safety of the vessel or those aboard.


furball

[…]But, as with the furball that had broken out around San Francisco, things escalated once again, as Teruzuki rolled better on her perception check, ambushing Sterett and blowing enough holes in her to force the U.S. destroyer to withdraw.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 22:21 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-11-07:

(military, aviation, nautical, slang) A large, disorganized battle involving many different aircraft (especially fighters) or warships.


red-eye

red-eye (countable and uncountable, plural red-eyes)

The noun is derived from red + eye; sense 2.3 (“strong but poor-quality whiskey”) and sense 3 (“overnight airplane flight”) are probably so named because they may cause people to develop bloodshot eyes.
The verb is derived from the noun.

I waited too late to book my holiday flight, so I had to take the red-eye.

In fact, you don't see many business travelers on the redeye — the flights that leave West Coast cities after 10 p.m. and touch down at East Coast airports around 6 a.m. […] Redeyes tend to be full of leisure travelers, budget travelers, people involved in bicoastal romances and students.

1990 January 14, Martha T. Moore, “Who flies the ‘redeyes’?”, in The Herald Statesman, volume 126, number 36, Yonkers, N.Y., page G7:

Fortunately, most of these were former French colonies, and through a combination of quiet diplomacy and well-placed French nationals in the various air-traffic-control centers, the 300-mile-long stream of American aircraft flew the width of Africa as uneventfully as a red-eye flight from LAX to JFK.

1994, Tom Clancy, Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 281:

The red-eye back to San Francisco was only about half full. Michael had a window seat and Willy stretched his six-foot-three inch frame out into the aisle as they waited for take-off.

2007, Ellen Klages, “Triangle”, in Portable Childhoods, San Francisco, Calif.: Tachyon Publications, →ISBN, pages 61–62:

He delighted in flying first class to New York on a red-eye and then putting in a full day's work. He functioned on pure adrenaline, often working twenty-hour days.

2014, John Glatt, “Up and Running: April to June, 1968”, in Live at the Fillmore East and West: Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock’s Greatest Legends, Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 136:

(countable, US, aviation, travel, colloquial, also attributively) An overnight airplane flight or train trip.


red-eye

en-verb

red-eye (third-person singular simple present red-eyes, present participle red-eyeing or red-eying, simple past and past participle red-eyed)

red-eyes (present singular third-person)
red-eyeing (participle present)
red-eying (participle present)
red-eyed (participle past)
red-eyed (past)

I flew in this morning, red-eying it in last night after hearing of this hearing, because what you are doing here is something that I am particularly interested in.

1988 January 28, “Witnesses: Roy Sampson, Portland, Oregon”, in Enforcement of the Indian Civil Rights Act: Hearing Held in Washington, D.C., January 28, 1988: […], [Washington, D.C.?]: United States Commission on Civil Rights, →OCLC, page 127:

When I arrived at the Center, Block's staff told me he had red-eyed it home from Alaska the night before; he had been surfing fifteen- to twenty-foot waves off the coast of Alaska.

2004, Brenda Hunter, “What is Cancer Saying about Our Lives?”, in Staying Alive: Life-changing Strategies for Surviving Cancer: […], Colorado Springs, Colo.: WaterBrook Press, Random House, →ISBN, page 25:

And though convinced she was making a fool of herself, she'd done as the frantic monk had begged, red-eyeing to Miami, island-hopping here.

2011, Glenn Kleier, chapter 7, in The Knowledge of Good & Evil, New York, N.Y.: Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 37:

(intransitive, aviation, travel, colloquial) Often followed by it: to travel on a red-eye (“an overnight airplane flight”).

lentää yön yli

to travel on an overnight airplane flight


taxiing

en-noun

taxiing (countable and uncountable, plural taxiings)

(aviation) The movement of aircraft on the ground in readiness for takeoff or after landing.


cheatline

From cheat + line, because the first cheatlines aimed to "cheat the eye", making aircraft appear more streamlined.

(aviation) In civil aviation, a decorative horizontal band of color applied to both sides of an aircraft's fuselage of as part of its livery.


water injection

(automotive, aviation) The process of squirting a small amount of water, in the form of a fine spray, into the air/fuel mixture going into a gasoline piston engine, in order to cool the engine cylinders, and, thereby, reduce detonation or knocking in high performance engines, especially when using a high compression ratio.

(aviation) The process of squirting water into the combustion chamber of a jet engine to allow it to produce greater thrust, partly from the production of high-pressure steam and partly from the cooling effect of the water allowing the engine to burn a greater quantity of fuel without overheating.


taildragger

(aviation) An aircraft with a wheel behind the main landing gear, underneath the tail.


tail dragger

(aviation) Alternative form of taildragger


taxying

taxying (countable and uncountable, plural taxyings)


talk down

en-verb

talk down (third-person singular simple present talks down, present participle talking down, simple past and past participle talked down)

talks down (present singular third-person)
talking down (participle present)
talked down (participle past)
talked down (past)

GET TALKED DOWN: When a pilot gets caught in weather, he may call the nearest tower for Ground Controlled Approach landing assistance, wherever the airport has GCA radar.

1960 Feb, “Business with FAA”, in Flying Magazine, page 109:

He got out, looked at me, and said, “I feel like Doris Day in Julie when she was talked down by air traffic control and landed the airplane.”[.]

2000, Larry King, Anything Goes!: What I've Learned from Pundits, Politicians, and Presidents, →ISBN, page 139:

Its Spielberg-inspired first commercial, in which Manhattan Island floated loftily through the sky and was talked down by air traffic control at Heathrow[.]

2008, Winston Fletcher, Powers of Persuasion: The Inside Story of British Advertising 1951-2000, →ISBN:

In other words, if you talk him down and he crashes, you're worse off than if you hadn't tried.

2008, Nelson DeMille, Thomas Block, Mayday, →ISBN:

(transitive, aviation, of ground control) To verbally assist someone to land an aircraft.


unstick

unstick (third-person singular simple present unsticks, present participle unsticking, simple past and past participle unstuck)

unsticks (present singular third-person)
unsticking (participle present)
unstuck (participle past)
unstuck (past)

(intransitive, aviation, of an aircraft) To leave the ground during takeoff.


touch down

touch down (third-person singular simple present touches down, present participle touching down, simple past and past participle touched down)

touches down (present singular third-person)
touching down (participle present)
touched down (participle past)
touched down (past)

The plane will touch down in Heathrow at about 2 o'clock.

(aviation) To land an aircraft or spacecraft.


block hour

Some airlines average more than twelve block hours a day from their long-haul aircraft.

(aviation) The time from the moment the door of an aircraft closes at departure of a revenue flight, until the moment the aircraft door opens at the arrival gate following its landing.


PWA

Pacific Western Airlines
w:Pacific Western Airlines

(historical, aviation, 1946–1987) Initialism of Pacific Western Airlines.


supercruise

supercruise (third-person singular simple present supercruises, present participle supercruising, simple past and past participle supercruised)

supercruises (present singular third-person)
supercruising (participle present)
supercruised (participle past)
supercruised (past)

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

The F-18 was able to supercruise 320 miles to the battlefield in 20 minutes and loiter there for an hour.

(aviation) To cruise at supersonic speed without using afterburners.


supercruise

(aviation) A mode or period of aircraft flight involving supercruising.


IFR

(aviation, pilot training) Initialism of instrument flight rules, a set of rules for a pilot flying on instruments, primarily as a means of navigating through inclement weather.


flyboy

Big Al was back in town, and Cooper, the happy-go-lucky flyboy who was one of the Original Seven, was squashed.

1999 March 14, Eugene Cernan, Don Davis, The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space, 1st edition, New York: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 227:

Boom! The flyboys are gonna love us for that!

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: The Storm:

(aviation, slang) An aircraft pilot, especially of a military combat aircraft.


DCA

dual-capable aircraft
dual-capable aircraft#English

(aviation, military) Initialism of dual-capable aircraft.


ditching

Model test and actual ditchings of various aircraft indicate that ditchings into the wall of water created by the major swell is roughly analogous to flying into a mountain.

1990, Operator's Manual for Army U-21G Aircraft:

(aviation) A deliberate crash landing on the sea or other body of water.


invasion stripes

(historical, aviation) A series of alternating black and white stripes painted on the fuselages and wings of Allied aircraft, for the purpose of increased recognition by friendly forces, prior to the invasion of western Europe on D-Day.


stick pusher

By 2154:45, the AOA had increased to the point that both the stickshaker and the stickpusher activated. The control column moved forward rapidly in response to the activation of the stickpusher, decreasing the pitch angle to -3.5°, the AOA to 0°, and the vertical load to 0 G. The stickpusher then deactivated, and the flight crew moved the control column past neutral to about 5° ANU, which caused the pitch angle to increase to 8° and the AOA to increase to 11°.

2007 January 9, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.16.1.2 Aerodynamic Stall and Upset Event”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Crash of Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701, Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N8396A, Jefferson City, Missouri, October 14, 2004, archived from the original on 2022-03-15, page 21:

(aviation) An automated mechanical device connected to the control column of some aircraft, which pushes the column forward, thus decreasing angle of attack, if the aircraft is approaching a stall.


stick shaker

About 2154:32, the captain contacted the controller and stated, "it looks like we're not even going to be able to stay up here ... look for maybe ... three nine oh or three seven." About 2154:36, the FDR recorded the activation of the stickshaker. FDR data showed that, at that point, the airplane’s airspeed had decreased to 150 knots, and its AOA was about 7.5°.

2007 January 9, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.1 History of Flight”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Crash of Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701, Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N8396A, Jefferson City, Missouri, October 14, 2004, archived from the original on 2022-03-15, page 3:

(aviation) An automated mechanical device connected to the control column of some aircraft, which shakes the yoke and control column to alert the pilot if the aircraft is approaching a stall.


DT

en-noun

DT (countable and uncountable, plural DTs)

(aviation) Abbreviation of dethermalizer.


twinjet

(aviation) An aircraft powered by two jet engines.


sky girl

(aviation, dated, now offensive) A female flight attendant.


cabin crew

cabin crew (plural cabin crews or cabin crew)

cabin crews (plural)
cabin crew (plural)

(aviation) The members of staff aboard a commercial aircraft, employed to ensure the safety and comfort of their passengers.


taxiway

(aviation) A road or path within an airport designated for the taxiing of aircraft connecting the runways with ramps, hangars, terminals and other facilities.


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


Boeing

Anglicized spelling of the German surname Böing.

(aviation) A US aerospace company known for their commercial aircraft.


Boeing

The airline's fleet were all Boeings, without a single Airbus.

(aviation) An aircraft produced by the Boeing company.


wring out

en-verb

wring out (third-person singular simple present wrings out, present participle wringing out, simple past and past participle wrung out)

wrings out (present singular third-person)
wringing out (participle present)
wrung out (participle past)
wrung out (past)

Another difficulty has been that autopilots are designed for ordinary flying. They can't "wring out" a plane, being limited to about 45° in bank and pitch. Aerobatics are an impossibility.

1951, Popular Science, March issue, page 46:

Others listening to the conversation felt the same as I did, especially after having seen a local pilot really "wring" out the airplane at their local air show two weeks earlier.

1983, Flying Magazine, June issue, page 94:

I had no conception of what it meant to ”wring out" an airplane until I rode with that magnificent man, and I can't remember his name. After he had scorched the paint off that AT-6, he very quietly said, ”Okay, take her back to the field."

2012, Howard Brown, When I Get To Heaven, page 39:

(aviation) To push (an aircraft) to its performance limits; to push the envelope.


HU

utility helicopter
utility helicopter#English

(obsolete, US, army, aviation) prefix for utility helicopter designations


MCT

en-noun

MCT (countable and uncountable, plural MCTs)

(aviation) Initialism of maximum continuous thrust.

minimum connecting time
minimum connecting time#English

(aviation, travel) Initialism of minimum connecting time.


trijet

(aviation) An aircraft powered by three jet engines.


MVFR

(aviation) Initialism of marginal VFR flying conditions.


FNU

(travel, aviation) Initialism of first name unknown. (used on birth certificates or airline reservations)


FB

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of fighter-bomber (used as a prefix)


AGM

air-to-ground missile
air-to-ground missile#English

(military, aviation) Abbreviation of air-to-ground missile.


EH

Eastern Hemisphere
Eastern Hemisphere#English

(travel, aviation) Initialism of Eastern Hemisphere (travel within or between IATA areas 2 and 3).


cabane

From French cabane. Doublet of cabana and cabin.

(aviation) The tripod, pylon, or struts usually at the centre-section of a biplane or high-winged monoplane.


gasper

(slang, aviation) An adjustable air outlet over a passenger seat in aircraft.


YF

Combination of prefix F and prefix modifier Y

(US, military, aviation) prototype fighter (prefix)


PF

PF (countable and uncountable, plural PFs)

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of patrol fighter.


kneeboard

(aviation) A clipboard carried in the lap of an airplane pilot, on which basic flight data is recorded.


RTG

(aviation) Abbreviation of radiotelegraph.


pushback

pushback (countable and uncountable, plural pushbacks)

→ Dutch: pushback

→ German: Pushback

(aviation) A procedure in which an aircraft is pushed backwards away from the gate by some external force, usually a special tractor.


CFIT

CFIT (countable and uncountable, plural CFITs)

controlled flight into terrain
controlled flight into terrain#English

(aviation) Acronym of controlled flight into terrain.


Lancastrian

(aviation, historical) A modified version of the Lancaster bomber, used in civilian service in the immediate postwar years.


ATC

air traffic control
air traffic control#English

(aviation) Initialism of air traffic control.

air traffic controller
air traffic controller#English

(aviation) Initialism of air traffic controller.


FIM

flight interruption manifest
flight interruption manifest#English

(aviation) Initialism of flight interruption manifest.


Concorde

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

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


MTOW

(aviation) Initialism of maximum take-off weight.


PIC

(aviation) Initialism of pilot in command.


PLA

(aviation) Initialism of power lever angle (“angle of the pilot's primary control lever”).


APEX

(aviation) Acronym of advance purchase excursion (an air fare)


regional jet

(aviation) a small narrow-bodied jetliner designed to carry 30-150 passengers in one class for flight segments of 2000 kms or less.


FSW

(aviation) a forward-swept wing aircraft


Immelmann maneuver

Immelmann maneuver (plural Immelmann maneuvers)


flying circus

Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1), the Red Baron's Flying Circus

(military, aviation, historical) A German fighter wing in World War I.


Immelmann turn

Named after the German pilot Max Immelmann.

(military, aviation, archaic) A WWI-era fighter pilot maneuver resembling the aerobatic wingover or hammer-head turn, originally developed by Max Immelmann.

(aviation) The roll-off-the-top aerobatic maneuver, where an aircraft in upright level flight pulls up through one-half of an inside loop until in level inverted flight and then rolls upright, ending up in upright level flight in the opposite direction at a higher altitude; a reverse split S.


Red Baron

From Red Baron, nickname of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, who flew a red fighter.

Do you think you're the next Red Baron?

Billy Bishop was the Canadian Red Baron

He's another Red Baron

(idiomatic, aviation, military) A hotshot fighter pilot; an ace fighter pilot.


Immelmann

From German Immelmann.
* (aviation): From Max Immelmann, a WWI German fighter ace.


AH

(US, military, aviation) prefix for attack helicopter, helicopter gunship designations


RATO

RATO (countable and uncountable, plural RATOs)

(UK, aviation, military) Initialism of rocket-assisted takeoff., an auxiliary rocket engine in a detachable unit that provides extra power for the takeoff of an aircraft.


STOL

(aviation) Acronym of short takeoff and landing. An aircraft that needs a shorter minimum horizontal distance to accelerate in order to ascend into the air than typical fixed wing types.


VOR

VHF omnidirectional range
VHF omnidirectional range#English

(aviation) Acronym of VHF omnidirectional range, a radio-navigation beacon operating on VHF radio.


nosewheel

(aviation) The wheel of an aircraft's nose gear.


critical angle

(aviation) The angle of attack beyond which an airfoil stalls, experiencing a decrease in lift and increase in drag due to separation of airflow from the upper surface of the airfoil.


blowdown

blowdown (countable and uncountable, plural blowdowns)

At higher airspeeds, the 737's maximum rudder deflection is limited by blowdown, helping to prevent flight-control inputs from overstressing the aircraft's vertical stabilizer.

According to Boeing, these movements were consistent with the effects of blowdown on those surfaces as documented during flight tests. However, the outboard aileron split recorded by the FDR after about 0150:27, which is discussed later in this section, was not consistent with the flight test data.

2002 March 13, National Transportation Safety Board, “Accident Sequence Study”, in Aircraft Accident Brief: EgyptAir Flight 990, Boeing 767-366ER, SU-GAP, 60 Miles South of Nantucket, Massachusetts, October 31, 1999, archived from the original on 2022-05-11, page 38:

(aviation) The action of aerodynamic forces to tend to cause a deflected control surface to return to its neutral position, or prevent the surface from deflecting past a certain point.


sponson

He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits ; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous,[…].

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

(nautical, aviation, military) A projection from the side of an aircraft, watercraft, or land vehicle.


sponson

en-verb

sponson (third-person singular simple present sponsons, present participle sponsoning, simple past and past participle sponsoned)

sponsons (present singular third-person)
sponsoning (participle present)
sponsoned (participle past)
sponsoned (past)

The belted cruiser Pamiat Azova or Remembrance of Azoff, is 377 feet long. She is an improved Dmitri Dontskoi, and carries her two 8-inch guns in sponsoned barbettes on either broadside

1899, John Scott-Keltie, editor, Statesman's Year-Book 1899:

(nautical, aviation, military, transitive, often with the particle "out") To mount on a projection on the side of a vessel.


reefed

en-adj

reefed (comparative more reefed, superlative most reefed)

more reefed (comparative)
most reefed (superlative)

(aviation, space flight, of a parachute) Semi-deployed, with the canopy initially restricted from fully opening, in order to avoid subjecting the canopy to excessive air loads or the payload to excessive g-forces from fully deploying at high airspeed.


SLUF

(US, military, aviation, slang)(dated) Short Little Ugly Fucker, nickname for the Vought A-7 Corsair II jet fighter-bomber


Sturmvogel

(aviation, military) the ground-attack version of the WWII Messerschmitt Me-262 jet-fighter


SWIFT

(aviation) Acronym of Southwest Airlines Integrated Flights Tracking.


TER

(military, aviation) Acronym of triple ejector rack.


(aviation) A Boeing airplane model, number seven thirty-seven, sold to airlines for passenger or cargo transportation.


lift-to-drag ratio

en-noun

lift-to-drag ratio (plural lift-to-drag ratios)

(aviation) The instantaneous ratio of lift to drag of an aerodynamic article such as an a wing, entire aircraft or bird.


glide ratio

(aviation) The instantaneous ratio of horizontal speed to rate of fall for a glider.


decalage

decalage (countable and uncountable, plural decalages)

(aviation) The difference in angle of incidence between the main wing and horizontal stabilizer, or between the canard and main wing, of an airplane.

(aviation) The difference in angle of incidence of the two wings of a biplane.

(aviation)The angle between two geometric lines that define an aerofoil.


splash-and-dash

(aviation) A ballooning maneuver whereby a Montgolfier balloon is lowered down to touch a body of water and lifts off again.


OSI

Other Supplementary Information
Other Supplementary Information#English

(aviation, travel industry) Initialism of Other Supplementary Information. A message sent to an airline by an agent, in a standardised format, advising relevant information such as being a VIP, language difficulty, or passport information.


EFATO

(aviation) Acronym of engine failure after take off.


(aviation) The speed by which a pilot must have decided whether to continue a takeoff or to abort.


From velocity, where this is the second important velocity.

(aviation) The airspeed at which an aircraft leaves the runway on takeoff.


rocket plane

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


XP

Combination of prefix P and prefix modifier X.

(aviation, military, obsolete, US) eXperimental, Pursuit, fighter (prefix)


VLJ

(aviation) Initialism of very light jet.


ETOPS

(aviation) Acronym of Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards. An aviation rule about how far two-engined aircraft can operate distant from a diversion airport at all times in case of a single-engine failure. Without ETOPS that is 60-minutes of flight time, Various ETOPS levels of qualification extend this to 90, 120, 180-minutes.

(humorous, aviation) Acronym of engines turn or passengers swim. A facetious backronym reinterpretation of ETOPS to explain the literal situation of ETOPS operations, due to the lack of range from single-engine operations on twin-engined aircraft, and circumstances over long-haul ocean routes.


CVR

cockpit voice recorder
cockpit voice recorder#English

(aviation) Initialism of cockpit voice recorder.


LJ

LJ (countable and uncountable, plural LJs)


pitbull

(military, aviation) NATO brevity code indicating a semi-active radar homing missile has begun active homing, and no longer requires its operator to maintain a radar track.


rollout

The pilot kept a vigilant eye out for runway obstructions throughout the rollout.

(aviation) The phase of a landing after touchdown but before the aircraft slows to taxi speed.


wastegate

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(mechanical engineering, automotive, aviation) A valve that allows exhaust gases to bypass an engine's turbocharger, in order to keep from overspeeding the turbocharger rotor or driving the boost pressure high enough to risk engine knocking or detonation.


microlight

(aviation) The smallest manned aircraft classification, composed of ultralights and verylights; smaller than light aircraft.


unducted fan

(aviation) A modified turbofan jet engine with the fan disc outside the engine duct of an aircraft.


propfan

(aviation) A modified turbofan jet engine with the propeller outside the engine duct of an aircraft.


aerobridge

/ˈɛəɹ.əʊˌbɹɪdʒ/

(UK, aviation) Alternative form of airbridge: an elevated corridor connecting an airport to a plane.


jet bridge

(aviation) An elevated corridor connecting an airport to a plane, usually enclosed and used for disembarking and embarking passengers and crew.

gangway

path for disembarking and embarking passengers


airbridge

Airbridge (logistics)
Beam lead technology
Berlin Blockade
Jet bridge

From air + bridge. In some cases, Calque of German Luftbrücke.

(US, aviation) Synonym of jet bridge: an elevated corridor connecting an airport to a plane.


roll back

en-verb

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

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

In the previous tests, it was suspected that the volume of fuel contained in pipework had effects, both in the time taken for the restriction to affect engine performance and the nature of the fuel flow fluctuations after the engine had rolled back. Therefore, it was decided that the restriction would be simulated with the use of an orifice plate which could be introduced adjacent to the component being investigated.

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.


turbosupercharger

(automotive, aviation, dated) A turbocharger, an exhaust-powered turbine used to power increased air intake to an internal combustion engine; an exhaust-turbine powered (in place of engine-powered) supercharger.


steering column

en-noun

steering column (plural steering columns)

(aviation) a column ending in the flight yoke, whose manipulation allows for the control of pitch


fanjet

(aviation) An airplane powered by turbofan engines.


propjet

(aviation) An airplane powered by turboprop engines.


rocket belt

(aviation) a wearable backpack device using rocket thrust to propel a person into the air

(aviation) a wearable backpack device that can propel a person into the air

(aviation) a belt with rockets attached that can propel a person into the air


bow thruster

A propulsion unit mounted in or on the bow of a vehicle.

(aviation) A fixed or adjustable direction propeller unit mounted on the bow of an airship for increased maneuverability.


flag carrier

I'll be interested to see how this service does. It will be basic with fares to match, so will be akin to a budget airline taking on a flag-carrier.

2021 June 30, Philip Haigh, “Regional trains squeezed as ECML congestion heads north”, in RAIL, number 934, page 52:

(aviation) A national airline (typically having the flag, or other national insignia, on the tail)


dogfighting

Here, in fighter-pilot language, you're taught the real essential — dogfighting, man-against-man, plane-against-plane — and in a way they never taught us.

1972 February 14, Kevin V. Brown, “Space-Age Dogfighting”, in Popular Science, page 74:

(military, aviation) Close combat between two military aircraft.


hangar queen

In the Air Forces, "Hangar Queen" is not a proud title. It refers to any grounded plane which is being systematically "cannibalized" (stripped of its parts) so that other planes may fly.

1944 January 10, “‘Hangar Queen’”, in Time, retrieved 2008-07-12:

(idiomatic, slang, military, aviation) A grounded aircraft which is kept so that its parts can be used in other aircraft.

[T]he F-35 . . . was not only meant to be an affordable fifth-generation fighter-bomber for the U.S. and her allies, but also to have lower maintenance costs than aircraft now in service. These claims may also turn out to be inaccurate, with the F-35 a potential hanger-queen like the F-22 Raptor.

2011 October 30, Mark M. Miller, “Second thoughts about the F-35”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 2011-10-30, page A19:

(idiomatic, slang, aviation) An aircraft which requires a great deal of regular maintenance and has an unfavorable ratio of maintenance time to flight time.


NZALPA

w:New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association

(aviation) Initialism of New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association.


LPA

LPA (countable and uncountable, plural LPAs)

light personal aircraft
light personal aircraft#English

(countable, aviation) Initialism of light personal aircraft.


bird strike

(aviation) A collision between a bird and an aircraft, especially one that causes an accident.


reverser

Something which reverses a particular action or condition.


PLB

(aviation jargon) Initialism of passenger loading bridge, a synonym of jet bridge.


ELT

emergency locator transmitter
emergency locator transmitter#English

(communication, aviation) Initialism of emergency locator transmitter.


emergency locator transmitter

emergency locator transmitter (plural emergency locator transmitters)

(communication, aviation) An emergency location radio beacon, used on aircraft.


snarge

Arriving mostly in sealed plastic bags, these included birds’ feet, whole feathers or tiny bits of down, and pulverized bird guts, known as snarge.

2009 January 25, Matthew L. Wald, “Identifying the Bird After a Strike, When Not Much Bird Is Left”, in New York Times:

Snarge can be a wad of a Canada goose lodged inside an airplane engine. Or it can be a broken and burned gull feather littered along the runway. Snarge can even be as small as a rusty-red smear on the nose of an airliner. But no matter what form it takes, every bit of snarge is different — and all snarge is important.

2022 April 14, Jason Bittel, “‘Snarge’ Happens, and Studying It Makes Your Flight Safer”, in New York Times, archived from the original on 2022-04-14:

(military, aviation, slang) The remains of a bird after it has collided with an airplane (in a bird strike), especially a turbine engine.


GSE

GSE (countable and uncountable, plural GSEs)

ground service equipment
ground service equipment#English

(aviation) Initialism of ground service equipment.

ground support equipment
ground support equipment#English

(aviation) Initialism of ground support equipment.


MPD

MPD (countable and uncountable, plural MPDs)

(aviation, travel industry) Initialism of multi-purpose document.

The WSO station had four multipurpose displays, MPDs, including a moving map that could show a TSD—tactical situation display.

2013, David Lyons, Blood Game: A Jock Boucher Thriller, New York, N.Y. […]: Emily Bestler Books, →ISBN, pages 8–9:

(aviation) Initialism of multi-purpose display.


bolter

trap

antonym(s) of “missed landing on an aircraft carrier”

(military, aviation) A missed landing on an aircraft carrier; an aircraft that has made a missed landing.


bolter

en-verb

bolter (third-person singular simple present bolters, present participle boltering, simple past and past participle boltered)

bolters (present singular third-person)
boltering (participle present)
boltered (participle past)
boltered (past)

trap

antonym(s) of “miss a landing on an aircraft carrier”

Commander Kleemann came back and boltered again on his second attempt. lt is unheard of for him to bolter twice in a row. Then on his third attempt he got aboard with an OK three-wire trap.

1982, Bert Kinzey, F-14 A & B Tomcat: in detail & scale, page 46:

In the Diamondback's ready room, a tailhook bolt hangs by a string from the ceiling over one pilot's seat; he was the last to "bolter" that day, meaning he missed the wires while landing and had to make another pass.

1994, U.S. News & World Report - Volume 116, Issues 1-8, page 163:

Tomcat 209 had one engine out, and if his tailhook failed to engage an arrestor wire, he wouldn't have the power necessary to complete a touch-and-go and would bolter off the forward end of the flight deck again.

1994, Keith Douglass, Countdown, page 298:

The majority had bet I'd come down on the 2 wire, or, worse yet, knowing I did not want to bolter, the 1 wire.

(military, aviation) To miss a landing on an aircraft carrier by failing to catch the arresting gear wires with the aircraft's tailhook.


deicing boot

1976 December 31, Aviation Unit and Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Manual: Army Models U-21A, RU-21A, and RU21D, Change No. 18, US Army, Aviation Unit and Aviation Intermediate Reference Manual TM 55-1510-209-23-1, Volume 1, WAR-5,
An aircraft shall not be flown with a damaged deicing boot.

IT'S BEEN MORE than 50 years since B.F. Goodrich installed the first inflatable deicing boots on an airplane (a Northrop mail airplane), and they continue to be the simplest, lowest-cost and lightest way to protect most airplanes from ice accumulated while in flight.[…]Other rubber companies have attempted to enter the deicing-boot business over the years, but only Goodrich has succeeded.

1985 October, J. Mac Mclellan, “Breaking the Ice: One name still rules”, in Flying, page 10:

2009, K. C. Khurana, Aviation Management: Global Perspectives, Global India Publications, page 51,
Deicing boots were invented by the B.F. Goodrich Corporation in 1923 in Akron, Ohio.

(aviation) An inflatable rubber membrane attached to aircraft surfaces to permit mechanical deicing in flight.


deconflict

deconflict (third-person singular simple present deconflicts, present participle deconflicting, simple past and past participle deconflicted)

deconflicts (present singular third-person)
deconflicting (participle present)
deconflicted (participle past)
deconflicted (past)

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

(military, aviation) To change the flight path of a craft or weapon to reduce the chance of an accidental collision or conflict with other obstacles, the terrain or weather


HMA

(dated, aviation, military) Initialism of His Majesty's Airship (ship prefix for very early military airships of the United Kingdom).


stealth fighter

en-noun

stealth fighter (plural stealth fighters)

(military, aviation) A fighter aircraft with a smaller-than-usual radar signature because of its unique body shape, outer coating, and thermal dissipation.

隱形戰機 /隐形战机

military aircraft that is invisible to radar


terminal control area

terminal control area (plural terminal control areas)

(aviation) a volume of controlled airspace set up at the confluence of airways in the vicinity of one or more major airports to protect traffic climbing out from and descending into the airports


waterbomber

Some 50 firefighters, 10 tankers and waterbombers battled the grass and scrub blaze, which began about 12.30pm.

2009 February 28, Anthony Dowsley, Jane Metlikovec, “Relief for Victorians as weather fails to hit extremes”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 2009-02-28:

(firefighting, aviation) An aircraft that engages in waterbombing, usually in the course of fighting a wildfire.


OAL

(travel, aviation) Initialism of other airline.


HMV

(aviation) Initialism of heavy maintenance visit.


PIO

PIO (countable and uncountable, plural PIOs)

pilot-induced oscillation
w:pilot-induced oscillation

(aviation) Initialism of pilot-induced oscillation.


set down

en-verb

set down (third-person singular simple present sets down, present participle setting down, simple past and past participle set down)

sets down (present singular third-person)
setting down (participle present)
set down (participle past)
set down (past)

The bush pilot set down on a sandbar.

(aviation, transitive, intransitive) To land.


go Winchester

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

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

We go Winchester before we go target." Winchester was thirty-thirty, the UHF frequency we used in flight school when we were both flying solo

1990, G. C. Hendricks, The second war, page 52:

He had come from another controller, so he only had two Mavericks and [his wingman] had four Mk-82s, so they went Winchester pretty quick.

2007, Steve Call, Danger close: tactical air controllers in Afghanistan and Iraq, page 149:

Nobody had gone Winchester before - Charlotte and Tony had just made British Apache history. Billy sent our ammo requirements to Kev Blundell in Bastion

2009, Ed Macy, Apache: Inside the Cockpit of the World's Most Deadly Fighting Machine, page 321:

(military aviation) To run out of ammunition, requiring a return to base.


beartrap

(aviation, nautical) A device that traps a probe on a rotorcraft, securing it to the helicopter deck of a vessel.

(aviation, nautical) A system of rotorcraft recovery aboard watercraft in heavy sea states, which uses the beartrap device to land securely and transport the aircraft into the hangar.


clearway

A clearway may be provided to extend the takeoff distance available (TODA) beyond the end of the hard surface which defines the declarable length of the available takeoff run (TORA).

2007, Antonín Kazda, Robert E. Caves, Airport Design and Operation, page 100:

(aviation) An area projecting from the end of a runway that is kept clear of obstructions exceeding a height that increases with distance from the end of the runway.


RIO

You'll pick up your RIO when you get to the ship, and if you don't, give me a call. I'll fly with you.

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

radar intercept officer
radar intercept officer#English

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of radar intercept officer.


ACMI lease

ACMI is an initialism of aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance.