NAV AIR SPEAK

"NAV AIR SPEAK" involves a lot of words that don't get used in land-lubber conversations.

Airdale, airedale - Naval aviator, aka 'BROWNSHOE'. Can also refer to any member of the aviation community, officer or enlisted. From envy, often modified by non-aviation types with the adjective "f***ing".

Alpha Mike Foxtrot - Acronym for "Adios, Mother***er". Polite form: "Adios, My Friend." Also seen as initials, ‘AMF.’

Bingo - (1) Fuel level or status requiring either an immediate return to base or vector to a tanker, 'bingo fuel'. As a verb, the act of returning to base or a tanker because of low fuel state.

Cumshaw - Procurement of needed material outside the supply chain, usually by swapping, barter, or mutual back-scratching. Often involves coffee or other food items. Officially frowned upon, but a widespread practice

FIFI – "F*** It—Fly It." Spoken by the maintenance men when they can’t find the solution to a gripe, in the hopes that it will fix itself (it never does).

Gedunk Medal – National Defense Service Medal. Considered meaningless, it was awarded to anyone who served in a certain time frame during and subsequent to the Vietnam War

Hangar Queen – (Aviation) An aircraft that never seems to be in flyable condition, it often sits in a corner and provides spare parts for serviceable aircraft instead.

Peak and Tweak – An activity intended to bring electronics, avionics, or other systems to optimum operating condition. Something the TWIDGETS do.

PFM – Pure F****ing Magic. A nontechnical explanation for why something works. "Hell, I dunno how it works. It’s PFM."

Sandcrab - A sideways-walking, scavenging beach creature. Refers to a civilian Naval contractor or civil service

Skivvy Folder - Parachute rigger

Suck and Blow Sailor – Airedale. "Suck and Blow" also refers to jet aircraft, for obvious reasons. Early jets were called "blow jobs."

TFOA – Things Falling Off Aircraft. An unintentional event. Highly embarrassing, and thereby something to be avoided! Can be ordnance but also can be other important pieces such as landing gear doors, control surfaces, ejector racks, fuel tanks, etc.

Twidget - Any of the electronics/computer/communications technicians.

Aircraft Nicknames

A-3D Skywarrior: Whale, All Three Dead (it had no ejection seats!)

A-4 Skyhawk: Scooter, Tinker Toy, Tink,  Heinemann’s Hotrod (for Ed Heinemann, its designer)

A-5 Vigilante: Vigie

A-7 Corsair II: SLUF (Short Little Ugly F****er)

AD-1 Skyraider: Spad

AH-1G Cobra: Snake

AH-1W: Whiskey

B-1 Excalibur: Bone (from "B one")

EA-3 Skywarrior: Electric Whale

EA-6B Prowler: Queer (from the ‘Q’ squadron designation)

F-3D Skyknight: Drut (now try that backwards)

F-4D Skyray: Ford

F-4 Phantom: Lead Sled, Double Ugly, Rhino, Flying Footlocker

F-5: Freedom Fighter, Skoshi Tiger, Dinky Toy

F-14 Tomcat: Turkey, Tomkitty, Cat, Tomgrape

F-15 Eagle: Beagle (E variant, contraction of "Bomb Eagle"), Mudhen (dark gray –E variant), Albino (light gray –C variant)

F-16 Fighting Falcon: Lawn Dart, Icepick, Viper

F-100: Clunk (because of the sounds it would make while sitting in the hangar with no one near it)

F-102 Delta Dagger: Deuce

F-104 Starfighter: Zipper

F-111 : Aardvark

F-117 Nighthawk: Cockroach (they run away when the lights come on), Stinkbug

LOH-58 Kiowa: Loach

OH-6 Cayuse

S-2F Tracker: Stoof

S-3 Viking: Hoover

T-2 Buckeye - Guppy

T-37 : Dog Whistle, Converter, Tweety Bird, Tweet

UH-1 Iroquois: Huey

US-2B: Stoof

WF-1 Tracer: Willy Fudd, Stoof with a roof

Buccaneer: Banana Bomber

Sea King HC.4: Junglie

 

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