pan-pan

From French panne (“breakdown”), reduplicated.

pan pan (alternative)
panpan (alternative)
Pan Pan (alternative)
Pan-Pan (alternative)
PAN-PAN (alternative)

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.


red-eye

en-noun

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

red-eyes (plural)
red eye (alternative)
redeye (alternative)

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)
red eye (alternative)
redeye (alternative)

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


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.


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

taildraggers (plural)
tail dragger (alternative)

(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)
touchdown (alternative)
touch-down (alternative)

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.


ground effect

(aeronautics) Any aerodynamic effects occurring due to a vehicle's body or appendages moving in close proximity to the ground.


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 7, 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.


widebodied

en-adj

widebodied (comparative more widebodied, superlative most widebodied)

more widebodied (comparative)
most widebodied (superlative)
wide-bodied (alternative)

Widebodied jets, like the 747, the DC-10, and the L-1011, introduced the possibility of low-cost air travel.

(aeronautics) Of an airliner: that can seat more than six passengers in each row, in economy seating.

leveärunkoinen

An airliner that can seat more than six passengers in each row, in economy seating.


widebody

widebodies (plural)
wide-body (alternative)

The world airline fleet of long-range aircraft consists almost entirely of widebodies.

(aeronautics) An airliner capable of seating seven or more passengers in a single row of economy seating, with two aisles or more.


wide-body

wide-bodies (plural)
widebody (alternative)

The world airline fleet of long-range aircraft consists almost entirely of wide-bodies.

(aeronautics) An airliner capable of seating six or more passengers in a single row of economy seating.


air superiority

en-noun

air superiority (countable and uncountable, plural air superiorities)

(military, aviation) A dominance in the airpower of one side's air forces over the other side's during a military campaign.


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 shaker

stick shakers (plural)
stickshaker (alternative)
stick-shaker (alternative)

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.


stick pusher

stick pushers (plural)
stickpusher (alternative)

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.


DT

DT (countable and uncountable, plural DTs)

DTs (plural)
DT. (alternative)
Dt. (alternative)
Dt (alternative)
D/T (alternative)

(aviation) Abbreviation of dethermalizer.


twinjet

(aviation) An aircraft powered by two jet engines.


(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

Southwest Airlines' fleet consists of all Boeings, without a single Airbus.

(aviation) An aircraft produced by the Boeing company.


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.


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.


sky girl

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


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, genealogy) 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).


gasper

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-gasper.wav

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


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.


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)

pushbacks (plural)
push back (alternative)
push-back (alternative)

→ 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.


flt.

flts. (plural)
FLT (alternative)
flt (alternative)
FLT. (alternative)


cabré

From French cabré, from cabrer (“to rear up”).

(aeronautics) With the nose up and the tail down.


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 controller
air traffic controller#English

(aviation) Initialism of air traffic controller.


ATC

air traffic control
air traffic control#English

(aviation) Initialism of air traffic control.


FIM

flight interruption manifest
flight interruption manifest#English

(aviation) Initialism of flight interruption manifest.


Concorde

[ˈkʰɒ̃ŋkɔːd̥]

[ˈkʰɑ̃ŋkɔɹd̥]

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

"In" people always have to smile in Vogue / They only travel by Concorde

1979, “Fashion Pack”, in Never Trust a Pretty Face, performed by Amanda Lear:

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


MTOW

(aviation) Initialism of maximum take-off weight.


PLA

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


PIC

(aviation) Initialism of pilot in command.


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.


narrowbody

narrowbodies (plural)
narrow-body (alternative)

(aeronautics) An airliner capable of seating, at most, six or fewer passengers in a single row of economy seating, with one aisle.


FSW

forward swept wing
forward swept wing#English

(aeronautics) Initialism of forward swept wing.

(aviation) a forward-swept wing aircraft


flying circus

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

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


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

Immelmanns (plural)
Immelman (alternative)
Imelmann (alternative)
Imelman (alternative)

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


Immelmann maneuver

Immelmann maneuver (plural Immelmann maneuvers)


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.


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

VOR (countable and uncountable, plural VORs)

VHF omnidirectional range
VHF omnidirectional range#English

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


foreplane

(nautical, aeronautics) A relatively flat surface located well forward of a vehicle's center of gravity used for stability and, when movable, used for steering and attitude control; common on submarines, also used on surface ships and aircraft.


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

sponsons (plural)
sponsing (alternative)

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)
sponsing (alternative)

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.


He boasted about how quickly the company had brought the 737 Max to market — and praised the Federal Aviation Administration’s “streamlined” certification process.

2019 April 3, Chris Isidore, “Boeing boasted about streamlined approval for the 737 Max. Now it’s cleaning up the mess”, in CNN:

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


propulsor

From the participle stem of Latin prōpellō (“propel”) + -or.

(chiefly aeronautics) A propellor enclosed in a short cylinder, that can typically be swivelled to change the angle of thrust.


glide ratio

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


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.


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

splash-and-dashes (plural)
splash and dash (alternative)
splash-dash (alternative)

(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)


pitbull

pitbulls (plural)
pit-bull (alternative)
pit bull (alternative)

(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.


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.


VLJ

(aviation) Initialism of very light jet.


CVR

cockpit voice recorder
cockpit voice recorder#English

(aviation) Initialism of cockpit voice recorder.


rollout

rollouts (plural)
roll-out (alternative)

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.


airbreathing

(aeronautics, of an engine or missile) Using the air from the atmosphere for combustion


microlight

I’ve flown in flimsy microlights, soaring serenely above rich farmland. I’ve ridden tactical combat helicopters missions, skimming the desert floor and banking hard around sand dunes.

2020 December 5, Nic Robertson, “Saudi Arabia has changed beyond recognition. But will tourists want to visit?”, in CNN:

One of the things making the trip possible is Rutherford’s microlight aircraft. Microlights are small one or two-seat planes used for leisure or personal transport. If she completes her trip, Rutherford will also claim the record for the youngest person to circumnavigate the world solo in a microlight aircraft.

2021 August 18, Rebecca Cairns, “This teenage aviator hopes to be the youngest woman to fly solo around the world”, in CNN:

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


propfan

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


unducted fan

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


navaid

instrument landing system
instrument landing system

(particularly nautical, aviation) Any form of aid to navigation such as a lighthouse or ILS (instrument landing system)


aerobridge

/ˈɛəɹ.əʊˌbɹɪdʒ/

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


airbridge

airbridges (plural)
air bridge (alternative)
aerobridge (alternative)

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.


jet bridge

jet bridges (plural)
jetbridge (alternative)

(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


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


rocket belt

rocket belts (plural)
rocketbelt (alternative)
rocket-belt (alternative)

(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


fanjet

(aviation) An airplane powered by turbofan engines.


propjet

propjets (plural)
prop-jet (alternative)

(aviation) An airplane powered by turboprop engines.


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

dog fighting (alternative)
dog-fighting (alternative)

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

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


hangar queen

hangar queens (plural)
hangar-queen (alternative)

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.


reverser

Something which reverses a particular action or condition.


bird strike

bird strikes (plural)
birdstrike (alternative)

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


sustainer

(aeronautics) A rocket engine that remains with a spacecraft during its ascent after the separation of the booster engines.


ELT

emergency locator transmitter
emergency locator transmitter#English

(communication, aviation) Initialism of emergency locator transmitter.


PLB

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


emergency locator transmitter

emergency locator transmitter (plural emergency locator transmitters)

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

emergency position indicating radio beacon


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

deicing boots (plural)
deice boot (alternative)
deicer boot (alternative)
de-icing boot (alternative)
deicing-boot (alternative)

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

waterbombers (plural)
water-bomber (alternative)
water bomber (alternative)

Near-synonyms: air tanker, airtanker, AT (broadly synonymous)

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.


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

beartraps (plural)
bear trap (alternative)

(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.


winglet

→ Ukrainian: ві́нглет (vínhlet)

(aeronautics) A winglike structure at a wingtip set at an angle to the plane of the wing designed to reduce drag by its effect on wingtip vortices.


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.


pushrod

pushrods (plural)
push rod (alternative)

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

On 17 August 2005, a Saab 2000, at the ramp, with controls locked, was subjected to jet blast of around 126 kt (233 km/h) from a passing B747. This resulted in the bending of the left aileron control pushrod, causing it to fail at the time of takeoff. The crew had to make an emergency landing.

2013 May 7, Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile, “1.16.9.5: Known events”, in Report: Accident on 9 August 2007 off the coast of Moorea (French Polynesia) to the DHC6-300 registered F-OIQI operated by Air Moorea, archived from the original on 2021-01-31, page 55:

(mechanical engineering) A rigid reciprocating rod that, by its movement, transmits force to actuate a mechanism.

(aviation) A rod used in the transmission of flight control inputs to an aircraft's control surfaces.


UAV

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


integrity

en-noun

integrity (countable and uncountable, plural integrities)

/ɪnˈtɛɡɹəti/

/ɪnˈtɛɡɹɪti/

Borrowed from Middle French intégrité, from Latin integritās (“soundness, integrity”), from integer. Doublet of entirety.

der

(aviation) The ability of systems to provide timely warnings to users when they should not be used for navigation.


GMDSS

(nautical, aviation) Initialism of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (an international set of safety procedures, equipment types, and communication protocols).


digital target

(aviation) A computer-generated symbol representing an aircraft's position, based on a primary return or radar beacon reply, shown on a digital display.


digitized target

en-noun

digitized target (plural digitized targets)

(aviation) A computer-generated indication shown on an analog display resulting from a primary radar return or a radar beacon.


flight line

(aviation) The precise movement of a civil photogrammetric aircraft along a predetermined course at a predetermined altitude during the actual photographic run.

(aviation) The area of an airfield where aircraft may be parked and serviced, including hangars, but not including taxiways or runways.


TTSN

(aviation) Initialism of total time since new: the duration of time for which an aircraft has been in active use since its manufacture.


onwing

(aviation) On the wing(s) of an aircraft.


cumulogranite

"That cumulogranite might've just put the fear of God into that squid pilot chasing us," the OSO reminded him.

(aviation, slang) Solid terrain, such as mountains, obscured by clouds and thus posing a risk to the pilot of an aircraft.


medical examiner

medical examiner (plural medical examiners)

medical examiners (plural)
ME (alternative)

aviation medical examiner
medical examiner

(aviation) A physician who examines pilots to ensure that they are medically fit to fly.


fenestron

Borrowed from French fenestron (“small window”), ultimately from Latin fenestra (“window”).

(aviation) A protected tail rotor of a helicopter, operating like a ducted fan.


FQI

(aviation) Initialism of fuel quantity indicator.


plasmasonic

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

(of a speed, aeronautics) far enough above the speed of sound as to cause ionization of the air through shock heating deriving from the sonic shockwave, with resultant radio blackout, and plasma sheath surrounding the object travelling at speed


PAPA

(aviation) Acronym of Parallax Aircraft Parking Aid.


SPS

(aviation) Initialism of stall protection/prevention system.


rocketplane

(aviation) Alternative spelling of rocket plane.


RCAF

Royal Canadian Air Force
w:Royal Canadian Air Force

(Canada, military, aviation) Initialism of Royal Canadian Air Force.


CAF

(Canada, military, aviation, historical) Initialism of Canadian Air Force, predecessor of the Royal Canadian Air Force


PCA

(aviation) Abbreviation of propulsion controlled aircraft (system/unit), an aircraft with a control system with two or more engines arrayed abreast, allowing descent, ascent, turns by adjusting the throttle control to the engines (sometimes used attributively).


afterburning

(aviation) The injection of extra fuel into a jet engine downstream of the turbines in order to achieve extra thrust.


trial balloon

trial balloons (plural)
trial-balloon (alternative)

Calque of French ballon d’essai (“small balloon released into the sky to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air before a manned ascent in a larger balloon; (figuratively) prospective action to test acceptance”): ballon (“balloon”), essai (“trial, try; assay”).

calque

For many weeks in succession the little trial balloons thrown up to show the course of the wind were driven back upon the shores of France.

1870, F[ulgence] Marion, “The Necrology of Aeronautics”, in Wonderful Balloon Ascents: Or, The Conquest of the Skies. A History of Balloons and Balloon Voyages. From the French (Illustrated Library of Wonders), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner & Co., →OCLC, page 183:

A small trial balloon was then sent up and its course followed by a thousand eyes. In one bound it flew against the bell-tower of the town-house, then rose again and made directly for the Northern Ocean.

1872 August, “Travels in the Air. Concluding Paper.”, in Lippincott’s Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, volume X, Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott and Co., →OCLC, page 147, column 2:

In the same year the brothers Montgolfier were carrying on their experiments at Annonay. Their first serviceable balloon—the outcome of various attempts—was made of linen and lined with paper. [...] The excitement caused by the new-fangled machine soon spread to Paris, where many scientific men turned their attention to the subject. Among them was M. [Jacques] Charles, who was led to experiment with hydrogen. He manufactured a small trial balloon of silk, which he covered with an elastic varnish, and he had the satisfaction of seeing it rise up in the air, until it disappeared in the clouds.

[1877], T. C. Hepworth, “Voyages in Cloudland”, in Robert Brown, editor, Science for All, London, Paris, New York, N.Y.: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., →OCLC, page 55:

That day, in order to get a little recreation, Pierre drove out to the village of Vorontsovo to see a great air-balloon, which Leppich had built for the destruction of the enemy, and a trial balloon, which was to be let off on the next day.

1889, Lyof N[ikolayevich] Tolstoï [i.e., Leo Tolstoy], chapter XVIII, in Nathan Haskell Dole, transl., War and Peace […] In Four Volumes, volume III, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Co. […], →OCLC, part second, page 195:

Whenever a balloon ascension is to take place M. Rampont, at the Hôtel des Postes, hastens to send off a few trial balloons for the purpose of ascertaining the course of the wind. When the direction is unfavorable the departure is postponed; on the contrary when it is favorable, orders are sent immediately to the station at which the ascension is to take place.

1892, Robert Lowry Sibbet, “Paris, December 26th, 1870”, in The Siege of Paris by an American Eye-witness … In Three Parts, Harrisburg, Pa.: Meyers Printing and Publishing House, →OCLC, 2nd part (During the Siege), page 319:

(aeronautics, historical) A small balloon released into the sky to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air before a manned ascent in a larger balloon; a ballon d'essai.


interplane

interplane strut

(aviation) Between the planes (wings) of a biplane or multiplane.


GIB

You undoubtedly know that each F-4 Phantom jet carried two pilots in separate, tandem cockpits. Major Dennis Harper was the frontseater and was the AC or Aircraft Commander. Jim was the backseater or the GIB.

2002, Lynda Twyman Paffrath, Angels Unknown, San Mateo, C.A.: Lightbourne Books, →ISBN, page 257:

When I originally checked out in the airplane, we got a few orientation rides in the backseat to familiarize us with the systems, but I was not very knowledgeable about all their intricacies. I came to have a much better appreciation of what the GIBs had to put up with in the back.

2007, Mike McCarthy, Phantom Reflections: The Education of an American Fighter Pilot in Vietnam, Westport, C.T., Lonton: Praeger Security International, →ISBN, page 154:

(aviation, slang) Initialism of guy in back (someone who sits in the back of a jet).


LSO

landing signal officer
w:landing signal officer

(aviation, nautical, military) Initialism of landing signal officer.


MDA

en-noun

MDA (countable and uncountable, plural MDAs)

minimum descent altitude
minimum descent altitude#English

(aviation) Initialism of minimum descent altitude.


TEL

(automotive, aviation, organic chemistry) tetraethyllead (or tetraethyl lead, tetra-ethyl lead); a gasoline additive to boost octane rating


flow control

(aviation, US) The practice of holding aircraft on the ground in anticipation of congestion at destination airspace and airports.


flightworthy

en-adj

flightworthy (comparative more flightworthy, superlative most flightworthy)

more flightworthy (comparative)
most flightworthy (superlative)


F/O

(military, aviation) Abbreviation of flying officer.


CCM

en-noun

CCM (countable and uncountable, plural CCMs)

(aeronautics) Initialism of Cabin Crew Member (“cabin crew, flight attendant”).


on base

The Piper was on base for a landing on runway 9.

(aviation) Flying the base leg of an approach.


RTF

(aviation) Initialism of return to flight.


short finals

(aviation) The last section of an aircraft's approach to a runway.


localizer

localizers (plural)
localiser (alternative)
localizor (alternative)

(aviation) The component of an instrument landing system that provides runway centerline guidance to aircraft, but not glideslope information.


APU

auxiliary power unit
auxiliary power unit#English

(aviation) Initialism of auxiliary power unit.


RPP

(aviation, Canada) Initialism of recreational pilot permit.


autorotation

autorotation (countable and uncountable, plural autorotations)

(aviation) The rotation of the blades of a helicopter driven solely by the action of ascending air

autorotazione

rotation of the blades of a helicopter by ascending air


deadstick

en-verb

deadstick (third-person singular simple present deadsticks, present participle deadsticking, simple past and past participle deadsticked)

deadsticks (present singular third-person)
deadsticking (participle present)
deadsticked (participle past)
deadsticked (past)
dead stick (alternative)
dead-stick (alternative)

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

(aviation) To land an aircraft without power.


deadstick

dead stick (alternative)
dead-stick (alternative)

(aviation) Describing the landing of an aircraft with no power from the engines.


semirigid

semirigids (plural)
semi-rigid (alternative)

Semirigids were less expensive to build than rigids, and could be laid flat when deflated, making them much more convenient to store or transport long distances, while a semirigid's internal structural reinforcement allowed it to be built larger than a nonrigid and to fly faster without buckling or telescoping.

(aviation) An airship or dirigible which maintains its shape using a combination of internal pressure and a rigid structural framework.


GSA

(aviation, travel) Initialism of general sales agreement, a contact between an airline and a travel company to provide customer service in a region where the airline does not have an office.


EAS

470 kts is a known engineering constraint. The FCS is certified to 333 kts. However, a Loss of Control (LOC) will probably not occur unless the EAS is in excess of 470 kts, which will lead to an LOC due to over-gained and under-damped FCS gains.

2007 February 14, NASA, “1.4.2 Black Zones”, in Contingency Aborts 21007/31007, archived from the original on 2021-02-26, page 13:

equivalent airspeed
equivalent airspeed#English

(aviation) Initialism of equivalent airspeed.


Sukhoi

From Russian Сухо́й (Suxój), from сухо́й (suxój, “dry”).

(aviation) A Russian aircraft manufacturer.


SEAT

(US, aviation, firefighting) Acronym of single-engine air tanker.


go-around

After the autopilot was disconnected, the aircraft drifted above the glide path, and twice the captain coached the first officer to get the aircraft down to the glide path. The first officer reduced thrust in response to the captain’s first mention to get the aircraft down, and he reduced thrust to idle at about 80 feet agl. Moments later, the captain, aware that the aircraft was left of the centre line but not knowing the distance travelled down the runway, and not sure that a safe landing could be made, ordered a go-around, which the first officer acknowledged. The thrust levers were advanced, the first officer selected the go-around mode for the flight director, and he started to increase the pitch of the aircraft to the command bar indications, 10 degrees nose up. About one second after the first officer acknowledged the go-around, the stick shaker (stall warning) activated.

1999 April 15, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, “1.1 History of the Flight”, in Aviation Investigation Report A97H0011, Loss of Control on Go-around (Rejected Landing), Air Canada Canadair CL-600-2B19 C-FSKI, Fredericton Airport, New Brunswick, 16 December 1997, archived from the original on 2024-05-25, page 1:

(aviation) An abort of a final approach where the pilot circles the airport to make another attempt at landing.


combined cycle

(aeronautics) using multiple propulsion techniques in an interlinked synergistic way to give improved performance


stationkeeping

If you are using the night vision goggles they can aid in formation flight/stationkeeping.

1974, United States Army Aviation Digest, volume 20, page 15:

(aviation) The flying of aircraft in formation.


wingsuit

(aviation) A special jumpsuit, used in extreme sports like a parachute, which adds surface area to the wearer's body to create lift.


tailwheel

(aviation) A wheel attached to the tail of an aircraft that supports it when on the ground.


derotation

en-noun

derotation (countable and uncountable, plural derotations)

(aviation, rare) The lowering of an aircraft's nose gear to the runway following touchdown on the main gear during landing.


zero-zero

Test vehicles used during this extensive programme were a launching stand for the zero-zero ejections...

Both cockpits were enclosed under a large canopy and both crew sat on zero-zero ejector seats.

1988, René J. Francillon, McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920:

To lessen these forces, as well as achieve zero-zero seat capability—the ability to eject while sitting motionless on the ground—rocket sustainers were added.

2002, Walter J. Boyne, Air warfare: an international encyclopedia: Volume 1, page 190:

(aviation, military) Pertaining to the ejection of the occupant of an aircraft from a grounded stationary position (i.e. zero altitude and zero airspeed).

Category IIIc ILS would enable landings in true zero-zero conditions (where the pilots can see nothing, not even the surface of the runway they're on), but the problem of blind taxiing - a necessary capability in order to make use of ILS-IIIc - remains unsolved.

(aviation) Pertaining to weather conditions of zero ceiling and zero visibility (i.e., opaque cloud all the way down to ground level), or to aircraft operations in such conditions.


LHX

light helicopter
light helicopter#English

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of light helicopter - experimental.


JSF

(aviation, military, US) Initialism of Joint Strike Fighter.


F/A

(US, military, aviation) fighter and attack aircraft (prefix)


VNE

(aviation) Initialism of velocity never exceed.


paper ticket

(travel, aviation) A conventional airline ticket, consisting of a coupon for each flight together with other administration coupons.


readback

Deverbal from read back, as in read that back to me, please.

(aviation, telecommunications) The repetition of a message one has received, in order to acknowledge it and to demonstrate accurate comprehension (especially of commands).


no-fly list

no-fly lists (plural)
no fly list (alternative)

The no-fly list created by U.S. authorities, which singles out passengers who are potential terrorist threats, is the target of frequent criticism that it's incomplete and unreliable.

2005 April 18, Timothy J. Burger, “Extending the No-Fly Zone”, in Time:

(law, aviation) A confidential list containing the names of people who are not permitted to board an aircraft, prepared by government authorities in various jurisdictions and distributed to commercial airlines.


planform

(aviation) The shape and layout of a fixed-wing aircraft's fuselage and wing.


phugoid

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek φῠγή (phŭgḗ, “fleeing, flight; escape; retreat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- (“to flee”)) + English -oid (suffix meaning ‘having the likeness of, resembling’, forming adjectives and nouns). The word was coined by the British aerodynamicist and engineer Frederick W. Lanchester (1868–1946) in his book Aerodonetics (1908), the author mistaking the meaning of φῠγή (phŭgḗ) to be “flight” in the sense of “the act of flying”: see the quotations.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

nb...

􂀿...􂁀 With Appendices on the Theory and Application of the Gyroscope, on the Flight of Projectiles, etc.

The Phugoid theory deals with the longitudinal stability, and the form and equations of the flight path of an aerodone.

1908, F[rederick] W[illiam] Lanchester, “The Phugoid Theory—The Equations of the Flight Path”, in Aerodonetics: Constituting the Second Volume of a Complete Work on Aerial Flight […], London: Archibald Constable & Co. […], →OCLC, § 18 (Introductory), page 37:

(aeronautics, aviation) Of the motion of an aircraft, missile, or other flying object: continuously oscillating in a vertical plane due to the object pitching up and climbing, thus slowing down; then pitching down and descending, thus speeding up.

fugoidi-

of the motion of an aircraft, missile, or other flying object: continuously oscillating in a vertical plane


phugoid

As the amplitude of the phugoid is increased beyond the limits of the semicircle, there is a rapid shortening of the time period as shown by the manner in which the time curve falls away almost immediately after that critical form of flight path is passed. […] [I]f we select phugoids of greater and greater velocity, for a given aerodone the form of the tumbler curve approximates more and more closely to a circle of radius #61;2H#95;n.

1908, F[rederick] W[illiam] Lanchester, “The Phugoid Theory—The Flight Path Plotted”, in Aerodonetics: Constituting the Second Volume of a Complete Work on Aerial Flight […], London: Archibald Constable & Co. […], →OCLC, § 35 (The Time Period and Form of the Phugoid Path. Special Cases (continued).), page 63:

As well as physical debris, the report drew on recent analysis by Australian defense scientists of burst frequency signals from Flight 370 to satellites that indicated the aircraft had been descending fast, likely in an automated series of swooping dives called fugoids.

2016 November 2, Rob Taylor, “Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 likely in steep dive before crash”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-26:

(aeronautics, aviation) The motion of an aircraft, missile, or other flying object continuously oscillating in a vertical plane due to the object pitching up and climbing, thus slowing down; then pitching down and descending, thus speeding up.


Pixie

(informal, aviation, travel) Air Niugini


RMI

radio magnetic indicator
radio magnetic indicator#English

(aviation) Abbreviation of radio magnetic indicator.


OTA

en-noun

OTA (countable and uncountable, plural OTAs)

(travel, aviation) Initialism of online travel agency/agent.

(aviation) Initialism of on-time arrival.


low cost carrier

low cost carrier (plural low cost carriers)

low cost carriers (plural)
low-cost carrier (alternative)
LCC (alternative)

(aviation, travel) An airline that sells very inexpensive tickets but which does not provide (or charges for) typical services like meals or the carriage of baggage.

格安航空会社

かくやすこうくうがいしゃ


STOLport

(aviation) An airport designed for STOL or short-field operations.


PAT

PAT (countable and uncountable, plural PATs)

priority air traffic
priority air traffic#English

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of priority air traffic.


HTOL

(aviation) Initialism of horizontal takeoff and landing.


ADS

(aviation) Initialism of automatic dependent surveillance.


VSS

(aviation, space science) Virgin SpaceShip — spaceship prefix for Virgin Galactic spacelines


VMS

(aviation, space science) Initialism of Virgin Mothership, used by Virgin Galactic spacelines.


mogas

mogas (countable and uncountable, plural mogases or mogasses)

(aviation) Automotive gasoline suitable for use in some piston-engined gasoline powered aircraft.


autogas

autogas (countable and uncountable, plural autogases or autogasses)

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

(US, Canada, aviation) Automotive gasoline suitable for use in piston-engined gasoline-powered aircraft.


ekranoplan

ekranoplans (plural)
ekranoplane (alternative)

Borrowed from Russian экранопла́н (ekranoplán), itself derived from экра́н (ekrán, “screen”) as used in экранный эффе́кт (ekrannyj effékt, “ground effect”), from French écran, + the root of French planer (“to glide, to hover”).

ground-effect vehicle
ground-effect vehicle

(aviation, nautical) a ground-effect vehicle


ekranoplane

(aviation, nautical) Alternative spelling of ekranoplan.


WIG

(aviation, nautical) Initialism of wing-in-ground.


WISE

(aviation, nautical) Acronym of wing-in-surface effect.


wave off

en-verb

wave off (third-person singular simple present waves off, present participle waving off, simple past and past participle waved off)

waves off (present singular third-person)
waving off (participle present)
waved off (participle past)
waved off (past)

(aviation, nautical, military) Of an aircraft carrier landing signal officer, to signal a pilot to go around.


(military, aviation, US) Misspelling of P-3.


groundcrew

groundcrews (plural)
ground crew (alternative)

(aviation) The crew that handles and maintains aircraft on the ground.


MIG

(aviation) Misspelling of MiG (aircraft).


ADF

(aviation) Initialism of automatic direction finder.


PTOL

(aviation) Acronym of point takeoff and landing.


plating carrier

en-noun

plating carrier (plural plating carriers)

From the plates, shaped like a credit card with a raised airline name, formerly used when paper tickets were issued.

(aviation, travel industry) The airline that a ticket has been issued on behalf of.


dive bomber

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


FOHE

(aviation) Initialism of fuel oil heat exchanger: a heat exchanger that uses hot oil to heat fuel, used to prevent sensitive fuel-line components from freezing or being clogged with ice.


ACARS

(aviation) Acronym of aircraft communications addressing and reporting system.


probe-and-drogue

(aeronautics) Pertaining to a method of aerial refuelling whereby a probe from the receiving aircraft fits into a trailing hose with drogue attachment from a tanker aircraft.


coterminal

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

(aviation) One of a number of terminals or airports which are interchangeable for the purposes of ticketing.


lazy eight

lazy eights (plural)
lazy 8 (alternative)

(aviation) An aerobatic maneuver consisting of 1/4 looping up, wingover (left or right), 1/2 looping down+up, wingover (right or left), 1/4 looping down.


UAT

UAT (countable and uncountable, plural UATs)

(aviation) Abbreviation of universal access transceiver.


SST

SST (countable and uncountable, plural SSTs)

Here he found a selection of French crèmes fraîches at prices implying transport via SST.

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

supersonic transport
w:supersonic transport

(aviation) Initialism of supersonic transport.


C of A

certificate of airworthiness
certificate of airworthiness#English

(aviation) Initialism of certificate of airworthiness.


VLOC

(aviation) Abbreviation of VOR/Localizer.

(aviation, travel) Abbreviation of vendor locator.


ULCC

ultra low cost carrier
ultra low cost carrier#English

(aviation) Abbreviation of ultra low cost carrier.


CWT

(aviation) Initialism of center wing tank (a fuel tank located in the fuselage between an aircraft's wings).


NOTAM

Translingual: NOTAM

French: NOTAM

(aviation) Abbreviation of notice to airmen or (gender-neutral) notice to air missions, to inform pilots of hazards.


AFF

(aviation, parachuting) Initialism of accelerated freefall.


rockoon

(aviation, astronautics) A rocket, powered by solid fuel, that is not lit while on the ground but first carried into the upper atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and automatically ignited to allow it to achieve a higher altitude.


PAPI

PAPI (countable and uncountable, plural PAPIs)

precision approach path indicator#English

(countable, aviation) Acronym of precision approach path indicator.


MCA

MCA (countable and uncountable, plural MCAs)

minimum crossing altitude
w:minimum crossing altitude

(aviation) Initialism of minimum crossing altitude.


SLD

supercooled large droplet
supercooled large droplet#English

(meteorology, aviation) Initialism of supercooled large droplet.


OPV

optionally piloted vehicle
optionally piloted vehicle#English

(military, aviation, US) Initialism of optionally piloted vehicle.


optionally piloted vehicle

optionally piloted vehicle (plural optionally piloted vehicles)

(US, military, aviation) An aircraft that may be manned or unmanned, able to function in either mode without modification.


antiair

anti-air (alternative)
anti air (alternative)

(military, aviation) Synonym of antiaircraft.


death spiral

“We call this getting yourself in a square corner, when you run out of ideas and experience at the same time,” said Mr. Barr, a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. “[…] Even for a good pilot, that could produce a death spiral.”

1999 July 21, Mike Allen, Matthew L. Wald, “Maneuver by Kennedy's Plane Suggests He Was Disoriented”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(aviation) The downward, corkscrew-motion of a disabled aircraft which is unrecoverably headed for a crash.

syöksykierre

motion of an aircraft headed for a crash


graveyard spiral

graveyard spiral (plural graveyard spirals)


LHD

LHD (countable and uncountable, plural LHDs)

amphibious assault ship
amphibious assault ship

(nautical, military, aviation) Initialism of landing, helicopter, dock: A type of amphibious assault ship that has a dock for handling landing crafts, and a deck for handling helicopters.


SRV

suborbital reusable vehicle
suborbital reusable vehicle#English

(aviation) Initialism of suborbital reusable vehicle.


slow roll

slow rolls (plural)
slow-roll (alternative)
slowroll (alternative)

(aviation) A maneuver in which the aircraft makes a complete rotation around its roll axis while maintaining a straight and level flight path.


water landing

(aviation) An emergency landing in water, especially by aircraft not designed to land on water.


emergency landing

emergency landing (plural emergency landings)

(aviation) A sudden landing of an aircraft, made in case of an on-board emergency or another reason requiring an immediate landing.

迫降

landing made in an emergency — see also crash landing


final approach

final approach (plural final approaches)

(aviation) The last part of a landing before touchdown, involving a descending flight path directly in the direction of the runway.


tailstrike

(aviation) Unintended contact of the rear of an aircraft's fuselage with the ground during a takeoff or landing.


gravity drop

(aviation) The deployment of an aircraft's landing gear by the use of gravity.


belly landing

(aviation) A landing of an aircraft without the landing gear being deployed.


floatstick

(aviation) A device used to measure the fuel level on modern aircraft.


crossfeed

crossfeeds (plural)
cross-feed (alternative)
xfeed (alternative)

(aviation, astronautics) The supplying of one fuel tank of an aircraft or rocket with fuel from another, or of an engine with fuel from a tank connected to a different engine.


crossfeed

en-verb

crossfeed (third-person singular simple present crossfeeds, present participle crossfeeding, simple past and past participle crossfed)

crossfeeds (present singular third-person)
crossfeeding (participle present)
crossfed (participle past)
crossfed (past)
cross-feed (alternative)
xfeed (alternative)

(aviation, astronautics) To supply one fuel tank of an aircraft or rocket with fuel from another, or an engine with fuel from a tank connected to a different engine.


explosive decompression

en-noun

explosive decompression (countable and uncountable, plural explosive decompressions)

(aviation, medicine) A situation where the ambient air pressure suddenly drops faster than the air in the lungs can escape, creating a risk of barotrauma to the lung tissue.


decision height

decision height (plural decision heights)

(aviation) The height at which a pilot performing a precision approach must decide whether to land on the runway or to perform a go-around maneuver.


overgross

en-verb

overgross (third-person singular simple present overgrosses, present participle overgrossing, simple past and past participle overgrossed)

overgrosses (present singular third-person)
overgrossing (participle present)
overgrossed (participle past)
overgrossed (past)

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈɡɹəʊs/

Not a problem. Not enough weight to overgross the plane.

1999, Dana Stabenow, So Sure of Death, page 32:

Unalakleet was the only good fuel stop available as my outbound load from Kotzebue for that long leg was already far overgrossing my poor 145 h.p. Cessna 172.

2010, CloudDancer, Clouddancer's Alaskan Chronicles, Volume III: The Tragedies, →ISBN:

(aviation, transitive) To load (a plane) with too much weight, thereby impairing its ability to fly.


rejected takeoff

en-noun

rejected takeoff (plural rejected takeoffs)

(aviation) A takeoff of an aircraft which is aborted by the pilot.


rudderpost

(aviation) A vertical support on an aircraft's tail section, that connects the rudder to the vertical stabilizer.


unfeather

en-verb

unfeather (third-person singular simple present unfeathers, present participle unfeathering, simple past and past participle unfeathered)

unfeathers (present singular third-person)
unfeathering (participle present)
unfeathered (participle past)
unfeathered (past)

unfeather the propeller

(aviation) To disengage the controls that rotate the blades of a propeller perpendicular to the axis of the propeller.


thrust reverser

en-noun

thrust reverser (plural thrust reversers)

(aviation) A feature of modern aircraft that diverts the exhaust of the aircraft engines forward to function as a brake.


evacuation slide

evacuation slide (plural evacuation slides)

In case of an emergency, evacuation slides will inflate.

(aviation) An inflatable slide used to evacuate passengers from an aircraft.

hätäliukumäki

an inflatable slide used to evacuate passengers from an aircraft


overweather

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈwɛðə(ɹ)/

This quest for greater knowledge to be utilized in connection with its aircraft of the near future is to be sought through TWA's new experimental overweather laboratory plane.

1936, Flying Magazine, volume 19, number 6, page 35:

(aviation) Flying high enough to avoid storms and turbulence.


CSG

CSG (countable and uncountable, plural CSGs)

carrier strike group
carrier strike group#English

(military, nautical, aviation) Abbreviation of carrier strike group.

carrier surface group
carrier surface group#English

(military, nautical, aviation) Abbreviation of carrier surface group.

carrier surface assertion group
carrier surface assertion group#English

(military, nautical, aviation) Abbreviation of carrier surface assertion group.


special service requirement

special service requirement (plural special service requirements)

(aviation, travel industry) A request for special treatment for a passenger such as a special diet or mobility assistance, sent from an agent to an airline, to which a reply will be returned.

OSI

Similar, but not replied to by the airline


higher intermediate point

higher intermediate point (plural higher intermediate points)

(travel, aviation, fare construction) A place on an itinerary to which there is a higher fare than the destination or next fare break point.


higher intermediate fare

higher intermediate fare (plural higher intermediate fares)

(aviation, travel industry, fare construction) An airfare that is higher at a midpoint than the destination or next fare break point.


currency adjustment factor

currency adjustment factor (plural currency adjustment factors)

(travel industry, aviation) (Formerly, no longer in use) An IATA defined amount used to adjust Fare Construction Units in international airfare calculations.


NOTAR

(aviation) Acronym of no tail rotor, a helicopter anti-torque system which replaces the use of a tail rotor.


double open jaw

double open jaw (plural double open jaws)

(travel, aviation) A fare construction on a single return ticket where the origin and destination of the first flight are both different from the origin and destination on the return flight.


open jaw

(travel, aviation) A fare construction where the destination is not the same as the origin point for the return, or where the origin differs from the return destination.


MAP

MAP (countable and uncountable, plural MAPs)

missed approach point
missed approach point#English

(aviation) Initialism of missed approach point.


ground-effect vehicle

ground-effect vehicle (plural ground-effect vehicles)

(aviation, nautical) An aircraft that uses aerodynamic ground effect to attain level flight near the surface of water.


transient luminous event

transient luminous event (plural transient luminous events)

Transient luminous events can be another source of ionization in the upper atmosphere.

2010, Rafael Escribano Torres, Isabel Tanarro Onrubiay, Spectroscopy of the atmospheres, CSIC, page 34:

During World War II (and probably before), high flying pilots were reported to have observed unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP), often now called transient luminous events (TLE’s), particularly in the vicinity of thunderstorms.

2012, Don Lipman, “Red sprites, blue jets, and elves What are these mysterious, elusive phenomena?”, in The Washington Post:

Known as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), these unusual features were first spotted by accident in 1989.

2018, Mary Halton, “Hunting mystery giant lightning from space”, in BBC News:

(astronomy, meteorology, aviation) Any of a variety of upper atmospheric optical phenomena associated with thunderstorms.


control tower

As he taxied out to the far side of the field, 38-year-old Captain Benton R. ("Lucky") Baldwin was cleared for takeoff. The control tower gave him his choice of two runways—No. 13 or No. 18.

1947 June 9, “National Affairs: Holocaust at LaGuardia”, in Time:

(aviation) An airport building from which the air traffic control unit monitors and directs the movement of aircraft on and around the airport.


nosegear

(aviation) An undercarriage or landing gear located underneath the nose of an aircraft.


QRH

(aviation) Abbreviation of quick reference handbook.


ALS

ALS (countable and uncountable, plural ALSs or ALSes)

(aviation, countable) Initialism of approach lighting system.


wheelbarrowing

(aviation) The loss of control caused by excessive forward pressure on the elevator control of an aeroplane with a nosewheel during takeoff or landing.


supermaneuverability

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

(aviation) The quality of aircraft defined as a threshold of attitude control exceeding that which is possible by pure aerodynamic maneuverability.


slam dunk approach

slam dunk approach (plural slam dunk approaches)

slam dunk approaches (plural)
slam-dunk approach (alternative)
slamdunk approach (alternative)

(aviation) a final approach whereupon the airplane intercepts the ILS glideslope from above, instead of as normally from below


slamdunk approach

slamdunk approach (plural slamdunk approaches)

slam dunk approach
slam dunk approach#English

(aviation) Alternative spelling of slam dunk approach.


slam-dunk approach

slam-dunk approach (plural slam-dunk approaches)


dogship

It is now planned to have complete drawing release for the pilot production AMCS units before the first missile is fired from any aircraft. (Initial firings will be from an A3 dogship).

1970, United States. Congress. Senate. Government Operations, TFX Contract Investigation:

The Sperry Gyroscope Company's DC-3 “dogship” proved the concept in test flights at the Sperry plant in Long Island, New York.

2005, Malcolm J. Abzug, E. Eugene Larrabee, Airplane Stability and Control, page 103:

After this, the Mikoyan OKB undertook a redesign of the fuel system; the changes were to be verified on the third production MiG-31, '201 Blue' (f/n 0102-01), a long-serving 'dogship'.

2011, Yefim Gordon, Dmitriy Komissarov, Flight Craft 8: Mikoyan MiG-31: Defender of the Homeland, page 16:

(aviation, informal) An experimental model of an aircraft.


industry discount

industry discount (plural industry discounts)

(aviation) A discounted air fare for airlines staff.


global indicator

global indicator (plural global indicators)

(aviation) A two-letter indicator used in fare construction to indicate the basic routing that the fare applies to.


NUC

neutral unit of construction
w:neutral unit of construction

(aviation, travel) Initialism of neutral unit of construction.


SIGMET

Abbreviation of Significant Meteorological Information.

(meteorology, aviation) A weather advisory concerning the safety of all aircraft.


cocarde

Unadapted borrowing from French cocarde.

(aviation) Alternative form of cockade, an emblem on an airplane's wing indicating its nationality.


Kármán line

Named after Hungarian-American engineer Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963), who calculated this limit.

named-after

Karman line (alternative)
von Karman line (alternative)
von Kármán line (alternative)

As well as being important for aircraft and spacecraft, the Kármán line is useful for lawyers—the laws that govern space are not the same as the laws that govern Earth's atmosphere!

2020, Stephen Hawking, Lucy Hawking, Unlocking the Universe, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

The boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, known as the Kármán line, has been a source of controversy for years.

2021 July 11, Sarah Betancourt, “Virgin Galactic to launch space plane with Richard Branson onboard”, in The Guardian:

As for what was worn during the Paris festivities, the dress code wasn’t specifically themed as Marie Antoinette – necklines did plunge deep, in the late 18th-century style, but hemlines had been guillotined somewhere near the Kármán line.

2025 May 20, Marina Hyde, “Was this a hen do or a humanitarian mission to liberate Paris? Either way, give Lauren Sánchez an award”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(aeronautics, astronomy) The altitude at which the atmosphere becomes too thin to support aerodynamic flight.


broken bird

He threw off his helmet, released himself from the belts, straps, hoses and wires and climbed down from the broken bird.

1999, Peter J. Azzole, Hell to Pay, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 58:

(aviation) An unflyable aircraft, particularly one that has been grounded or downed.


technical stop

The aircraft completed a nine hour flight to Athens, where a technical stop was made for refuelling. A Transit Check was completed and the aircraft departed for Jeddah in less than one hour. The aircraft arrived in Jeddah at about 0840 hours on 3 July.

1993 June, Presidency of Civil Aviation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, “1.17.8.4 Flight Schedule”, in McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-61, C-GMXQ, accident at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 11 July 1991, archived from the original on 2022-05-14:

w:International Civil Aviation Organization

(aviation) A stop performed for purposes other than loading or unloading traffic, such as refuelling, maintenance, or repairs.


SCA

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
w:Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

(aeronautics) Initialism of Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.


Tripehound

From tripehound, from the similar sound to triplane. Referring to the informal name given by British and allied WW1 airmen to the German Fokker triplane.

(aviation, slang, dated) A Sopwith Triplane.


rollaboard

rollaboards (plural)
roll-aboard (alternative)

Convinced overhead bins will bust open, rollaboards will rain down like enemy fire and oxygen masks will drop, I clutch the armrests and begin to sweat like Roy Jones Jr. in the 12th round of a prizefight.

(aviation) A wheeled suitcase that is carry-on luggage.


rollaboard

(aviation) (of luggage) having wheels for use as carry-on luggage


FIT

en-noun

FIT (countable and uncountable, plural FITs)

(uncountable, aviation, travel industry) Initialism of fully inclusive tour.

(uncountable, aviation, travel industry) Initialism of fully independent travel.


LTE

LTE (countable and uncountable, plural LTEs)

(aeronautics) Initialism of loss of tail rotor effectiveness (by a helicopter).


VMC

VMC (countable and uncountable, plural VMCs)

(aviation) Initialism of visual meteorological conditions.


soft launch

(aeronautics) The launch of a missile in such a way that the rocket motor ignites outside of the launch tube, ejecting the missile non-explosively.


cannular

(aviation, of the combustor of a jet engine) Having multiple individual burner cans within a single annular pressure vessel.


SPB

super pressure balloon
super pressure balloon#English

(aviation) Initialism of super pressure balloon.


absolute ceiling

absolute ceiling (plural absolute ceilings)

absolute ceilings (plural)
ceiling (alternative)

(aviation) The maximum altitude above sea level that an aircraft or missile can maintain horizontal flight under normal conditions.

絕對升限 /绝对升限

the maximum altitude above sea level that an aircraft or missile can maintain horizontal flight under normal conditions


BPR

(aviation) Abbreviation of bypass ratio.


absolute altitude

absolute altitude (countable and uncountable, plural absolute altitudes)

(aviation) The vertical distance between the airplane and the surface below.


second officer

(aviation) The flight engineer of an aircraft.


flight engineer

flight engineer (plural flight engineers)

(aviation) A member of the flight crew in certain (mainly older) aircraft who monitors and operates many to most aircraft systems.


fare basis

(travel, aviation) An alphanumeric or alphabetic code used to indicate the type of fare used on an airline ticket, even if the fare is not shown.


UNCK WT

(aviation) (on an airline ticket) Abbreviation of unchecked weight.


baggage check

(travel, aviation) the part of a boarding pass, or a separate stub, that identifies the passenger's baggage and permits it to be collected at the destination.


pudknocker

I'll tell you. We got two categories of pilots around here. We got your prime pilots that get all the hot planes. And we got you pudknockers who dream about getting the hot planes.

(aviation slang) A pretentious but unskilled pilot.


MSL

The company shard specific data from today’s flight on social media, revealing that the New Shepard capsule that carried Katy Perry, Gayle King and their crewmates to space hit 346,802 feet above ground level (AGL) and 350,449 above mean sea level (MSL).

2025 April 14, Jackie Wattles, Ashley Strickland and Taylor Nicioli, “Blue Origin launches star-studded crew on space tourism rocket”, in CNN:

(aviation, meteorology, oceanography) Initialism of mean sea level.


buttock line

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


windmill restart

windmill restart (plural windmill restarts)

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


LPT

LPT (countable and uncountable, plural LPTs)


airmiss

(aviation) An incident where two aircraft almost collide; a near miss.


adcol

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


LCC

LCC (countable and uncountable, plural LCCs)

low cost carrier
low cost carrier#English

(aviation, travel) Initialism of low cost carrier.


TTL

TTL (countable and uncountable, plural TTLs)

ticket time limit
ticket time limit#English

(aviation and travel) Initialism of ticket time limit.


(aeronautics, NASA, meteorology) Initialism of Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel, a project launched in August 2012 to observe hurricanes.


UNMR

(travel, aviation) Abbreviation of unaccompanied minor.


clue card

global distribution system
global distribution system

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


GDS

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

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

Global Distribution System
global distribution system#English

(travel, aviation) Initialism of Global Distribution System.


global distribution system

global distribution system (plural global distribution systems)

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


ticket time limit

ticket time limit (plural ticket time limits)

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


victory roll

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


wing warping

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


TLE

TLE (countable and uncountable, plural TLEs)

transient luminous event
transient luminous event#English

(meteorology, aviation) Initialism of transient luminous event.


EMALS

w:Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System

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


DAPO

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


elephant ear

elephant ears (plural)
elephants' ear (alternative)

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

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

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


traffic conference area

traffic conference area (plural traffic conference areas)

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


STOVL

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


STOBAR

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

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


MSC

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


ticketer

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


STPC

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


FLIFO

(travel, aviation) Abbreviation of flight information.


end item

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


three green

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

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


hot and high

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

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


flight interruption manifest

flight interruption manifest (plural flight interruption manifests)

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


pitchable

pitchable tips


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


airprox

(aviation) A near miss between aircraft.


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


vendor locator

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


AABSHIL

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


agency debit memo

agency debit memo (plural agency debit memos)

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


agency credit memo

agency credit memo (plural agency credit memos)

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


taileron

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


SOTI

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


SOTO

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


SITO

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


SITI

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


rotating beacon

rotating beacon (plural rotating beacons)

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


stripless

a stripless system for air traffic control

(aviation) Without the use of paper control strips.


ground loop

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

cheval de bois

a sudden, potentially damaging turn made by an aircraft


ground loop

en-verb

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

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

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

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

(aviation) To suffer a ground loop manoeuvre.


AHRS

attitude heading reference system#English

(aviation) Initialism of attitude heading reference system.


get-there-itis

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

(aviation) The determination of a pilot to reach a destination even when conditions for flying are very dangerous.


Hindenburg

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

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

Hindenburg

the German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship