Aviation Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Citations in the Category Aviation

Aeronautics, airplanes, aeroplanes, aircraft, airports, jets, aerodromes, helicopters, landing strips, air terminals, airlines, pilots, flight attendants, airfares, aerospace, etc. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

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squawk n. Writeups (logbook entries) pilots leave for mechanics may be referred to as “squawks,” which is the word I’m guessing you mean and yes, they can sometimes have amusing overtones or sometimes be downright funny. [English Aviation Jargon] [full cite] (Nov. 15, 2005)

stand-up overnight n. Sickler said he typically flies four or five legs a day, frequently works 12-hour days and spends four or five days every week in a hotel. He said a quarter of his shifts are what the airline industry calls “stand-up overnights’”continuous duty” or simply “naps.” Those shifts typically begin in mid- to late evening, when the pilots show up for work at the airport. They fly to one location, arriving late. Then they are taken to a hotel, where they often get just four to five hours of sleep, and sometimes less. Then, Sickler said, they fly the plane back early the next morning. Airlines like to book pilots for stand-up overnights because it allows for easier scheduling. [English Aviation Employment Jargon] [full cite] (Sep. 4, 2006)

straight leg n. They possess one thing which elevates them above the miserable “straight leg” (non-jumping solder): the touch of insanity it takes to step out of an airplane at fifteen hundred feet. [English Aviation Military Slang] [full cite] (Mar. 4, 2007)

strike off wastage n. It could also be expected that one or two aircraft will be routinely lost per 10,000 flying hours, due to what is termed “strike off wastage,” or accidents, in common parlance. The total bill therefore requires a very huge outlay. [English India Aviation Jargon] [full cite] (Nov. 24, 2007)

supermanning n. The Navy said Thursday a Texas-based helicopter crewman who fell to his death in October was performing a stunt called “Supermanning.” The stunt involved hanging from an open cargo door and letting the rushing wind “fly” his body, attached only by a safety belt. [English Aviation Military] [full cite] (Jan. 1, 2006)

SUV of the sky n. Small private planes known as “very light jets,” or VLJs, are starting to show up in the sky and on the tarmacs of small local airports.…Displays of the aircraft, called the “SUVs of the sky,” drew scores of curious aviation buffs at a recent trade show in Hartford for private pilots and aircraft owners. [English Aviation Slang Acronym] [full cite] (Oct. 31, 2007)

sweep n. Someone at my company was jumpseating on FedEx and he said the crew told him he was on a flight that would do what was known as sweeps. Staying in the air for about an extra hour in case a plane broke down somewhere at an outstation. [English Aviation Jargon] [full cite] (Jan. 4, 2008)

tail-dragger n. They began amassing more planes, paying special attention to the more versatile models that have a third wheel in back as opposed to the front—“tail-draggers,” as they call them. [English Aviation] [full cite] (Sep. 21, 2007)

Thanksgiving express lane n. The most significant change is that the Pentagon will open unused military airspace from Florida to Maine to create “a Thanksgiving express lane’” for commercial airliners. It will be open next week for five days—Wednesday through Sunday—for the busiest days of Thanksgiving travel. [English Aviation New or Nonce] [full cite] (Nov. 15, 2007)

tired iron n. Old airplanes are such a risk that the aviation industry even has a term for them—‘tired iron.” This tired iron should have been retired. [English Aviation] [full cite] (Jan. 22, 2006)

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