rat-racing

n. a playful form of high-speed flying in which airplanes pursue or attempt to out-maneuver each other, similar to a game of cat-and-mouse. Subjects: English, Aviation, Military

Comments? | Cites | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Citations: 1955 Joseph A. Dear @ Germany Michigan Evening Sentinel (Holland, Mich.) (Nov. 15) “Remote Radar Stations Keep Air Force ‘Cocked’” p. 10: Some of our pilots satisfy their nostalgia by rat racing with Canadian[s]…from another base. 1961 Mansfield News-Journal (Ohio) (Apr. 15) “Model Club to Compete” p. 8: The Mansfield Thunderbirds model plane club expects to send about 20 members to compete in stunt and rat-racing events to be sponsored in Cleveland May 7 by the Cleveland Stunt Men. 1977 John Saar Washington Post (June 10) “American ‘Rat Racers’ Train Hard to Defend South Korea” p. A18: They call it “rat-racing”—high G-turns that crunch the pilots down in their seats, blasts of afterburner acceleration, simulated missile firings, electronic games of tag staged in the skies five miles up over South Korea. 1991 Jeffrey L. Ethell Fighter Command (July 1) p. 12: A pilot’s first taste of “rat racing” in trail, leader trying to shake those following, came with the Texan. 1991 Robert J. Goebel Mustang Ace: Memoirs Of A P-51 Fighter Pilot (Oct. 1) p. 64: I’ve forgotten what we were doing—probably rat-racing, a kind of follow-the-leader in line astern where we chased each other all over the sky. 2000 U.S. Department of Air Force @ Kelly Air Force Base, Texas (FDCH Regulatory Intelligence Database) (Aug. 2) “U.S. Pilots, Planes Travel To ‘Olympics Of The Air’ Aboard Air Force C- 5”: She says the experience of “rat-racing around at 150 to 200 knots” in her G-300 is comparable to what she experiences in the SR-71.

Posted 8 Apr 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend