Not just fighters. The second name is usually the (preferred) nickname of crews over the official one
B-1B “Lancer” aka “BONE”
C-17 “Globemaster III” aka “MOOSE”
F-15E “Strike Eagle” aka “MUD HEN”
C-5M “Super Galaxy” aka “FRED”
B-52 “Stratofortress” aka “BUFF”
Usually the nickname comes from the aircraft’s appearance or features, or a standard phrase used to describe it colloquially by crews. “BONE” is a moniker from the designator, B-ONE. “MOOSE” is a combination of head on looks, but more importantly the sound from the vent boxes during refueling sounds like a noise call. Etc
Not in the case of the F/A-18E/F Rhino at least. Navy's F-4E originally had that nickname due to its enlarged nose for a larger radar. When the F/A-18E/F joined the fleet however, calling launches via "Hornet" and "Super Hornet" was insanely risky. You could easily set the cat for the wrong weight, so they reused the Rhino nickname for the F/A-18E/F to more easily verbally identify it and avoid potentially disasterous cat issues.
Right, but the E-2C and E-2D are both in service at the same time, so we use Hawkeye for the E-2C and Tracer for the E-2D specifically when flying around the carrier. The airplane is still called the Advanced Hawkeye, but you need a way to differentiate them on the ship because the E-2D is 2000 lbs heavier, which makes a difference for catapults and arresting gear.
The F-4E was a non-naval variant. The USN did not have any F-4E’s. And the E had a longer, but skinnier nose and a slightly smaller radar dish to accommodate an M61 gun under the nose - something the naval variants (and earlier USAF variants) did not have.
F-4E never hit the navy, with the gun package in the nose forward of the gear it couldn’t make the cut for the turn in to the carrier and was never considered. This was F-4E pre-slats
I'm a Phantom Phanatic and I've never heard of the Navy ever operating the F-4E in any capacity (whereas the USAF did use a pair of borrowed Navy F-4Bs for evaluation purpose in 1962).
I think that Rhino was a Marine, not USN, nickname for their F-4s. As others have already pointed out, the Phantom had a big nose from the start, the nickname is unrelated to the later F-4E USAF variant.
Just commenting that I’m a Rhino driver and I love that there’s no conclusive reason we chose “Rhino” over anything else because this is the first time I’ve heard intakes or radome mentioned. Like in the FRS I heard 4 different things from 4 different instructors. No one knows definitively in our community, or if they do I haven’t met them in a decade of flying these things.
My username Weaselkeeper is because I was an F-4G Wild Weasel Crew Chief so we weren’t Phantom Phixers we were Weaselkeepers and Rhino was often used in place of Phantom USAF wide.
But yeah, the E/F Hornet was sold to congress/Navy as an "upgrade", when really it's a new aircraft with a cosmetic resemblance that refused a few bits of the C/D, in a weight class more comparable to the F-15 than the original F-17.
Because a lot of times the people that fly these airplanes don't like the official name. For example in the Air Force referring to the F-16 as the 'Fighting Falcon' is seen as a slight
The “Fighting” part is pretty silly, but a Falcon is the supreme air-air predator in the Raptor world. It’s actually a very good name for a nimble dogfighter.
The F16 came out around the same time as the original Battlestar Galactica , the fighters on that show were Vipers and the F16 community felt that they looked very similar and started calling them the Viper instead of the Falcon
Fair, but at that point they're definitely not naval aviators because that distinction is based pretty much on the fact that naval aviators train to fly and fight at sea.
If anything, the Colonials might simply make the distinction that the Air Force has pilots, the Navy had aviators, and the Colonial Fleet has warriors.
I'm pretty sure they always refer to their TIE Fighter operators as pilots.
It also occurs to me a few comments late in this discussion that space fighter pilots are not strictly aviators because their duties don't primarily involve flying through the air. Not sure what the space version of "aviate" would be. Asterate?
“TIE pilots served in the Starfighter Corps of the Imperial Navy[3] by piloting the various TIE Series starfighters…. The TIE pilots formed the elite of the Imperial Navy's Flight Branch.”
Meanwhile, the Japan Air Self Defense force's Mitsubishi F-2, based on the Viper, is nicknamed the "Viper Zero" with the pilots allegedly calling themselves "Snake Charmers" presumably because they can make the Viper dance.
Like the B-1 (B-one) being called the Bone. B-52 the BUFF, A-7 the SLUFF. F-117 was the Wobbly Goblin. What the Air Force named them and what the pilots called them are usually digferent.
Wobblin’ Goblin was a nickname made up by the press. It had a FBW system and it handled fine, very similar to the A-7. It was just “the Black Jet” or “The Asset.” Once it came out of the black and they moved to New Mexico, it got the nicknames “Cockroach” and “Stinkbug.”
YF-117's "Scorpion I" (79-10780) and "Scorpion 2" (79-10781) were delivered with the original tail design. But these were found to not provide the required stability and control authority during flight, so later YF-117s and all of the production F-117As had the larger tails. Larger tails were retrofitted to at least Scorpion 1 (which today is on a stick at Nellis AFB).
But even then, the nickname for the YF-117s was 'Scorpion.'
Lockheed made a similar "mistake" on the A-12 the decade before. So when it came time for the YF-22, they intentionally overcorrected so as to not repeat that a third time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p1r56ynDqvg
At the 56 minute mark.
Fighter Pilot Podcast had a pilot on and he said that was the name they referred to it as. I’m sure it was more of an inside joke name and was never meant to be a public name for it like Viper or Rhino.
I think that sometimes there is a natural tendency to reject the name given by the higher-ups, especially if the original name is perceived to be less than stellar: “ I reject your ‘Thunderbolt’…and will henceforth use ‘Warthog’!”
More that the nicknames were already in use before the official name was approved. The Viper definitely was, not positive about Warthog but its likely. The name designations usually don't happen until near fielding which is many years after they start flying for test.
The RoNAF used to fly Westland Sea Kings as SAR helicopters. When they were replaced in Norwegian service, the helicopter picked was the AW101 Merlin, known as CH-149 Cormorant in Canadian service. In Norway the politicians decided that the new SAR helicopters needed a feminine name to balance out Sea King. So in Norway the Merlin is officially known as SAR Queen.
Flight crew usually give them the nicknames. I believe they get the names from their experience(or from other’s experience) with the plane or to make them easier to refer to.
Also, some of them just sound cooler.
For example: P-47(Jug) for appearance, B-1(BONE) likely for being easier to refer to, or F-16(Viper), which sounds a lot better than “fighting falcon”
My favourite one is the B-52 (BUFF), which stands for ”Big Ugly Fat F*cker/Fella”. It got this name because many early planes had many issues which led to many crashes, and it just kind of looks ugly.
I think she might have also inherited the "Aluminium Overcast" nickname from the B-36, because the Thud is bigger than you might assume at first glance (but not nearly B-36 huge 😂)
Here in Taiwan, "Viper" only refers to the newer gens (block 70+) f16s... Is that not the same everywhere else? So the older planes were F16 Falcons, newer ones are F16 Vipers.
They actually have three names. The MDS (Mission Designation System) e.g. F-16, the name the service gave them e.g. Fighting Falcon, and the name it’s popularly known by, e.g. Viper.
theguineapigssong@reddit
Former Air Force pilot here. Renaming things and people is an important part of pilot culture.
MaleficentCoconut594@reddit
Not just fighters. The second name is usually the (preferred) nickname of crews over the official one
B-1B “Lancer” aka “BONE”
C-17 “Globemaster III” aka “MOOSE”
F-15E “Strike Eagle” aka “MUD HEN”
C-5M “Super Galaxy” aka “FRED”
B-52 “Stratofortress” aka “BUFF”
Usually the nickname comes from the aircraft’s appearance or features, or a standard phrase used to describe it colloquially by crews. “BONE” is a moniker from the designator, B-ONE. “MOOSE” is a combination of head on looks, but more importantly the sound from the vent boxes during refueling sounds like a noise call. Etc
1046737@reddit
KC-10 Extender aka "Big Sexy" or "Gucci" (it was way more comfortable than other Air Force tankers and transports of the time.
SentientFotoGeek@reddit
BUFF is short for "Big Ugly Fat F***er".
Oxygen_Converter@reddit
And FRED is Fucking Ridiculous Economic Disaster
studpilot69@reddit
Fat Amy is to make fun of the F-35’s chonkiness. Actula F-35 drivers are calling it the Panther.
Oxygen_Converter@reddit
Well of course the drivers want it to have a cool nickname. But they can't stop the rest of us asking how it is to ride fat Amy.
MacheteGarcia@reddit
I wish they had gotten to the B-1R model.
Rbkelley1@reddit
I read something recently that said they may actually be trying to revive that program. Could be bullshit though.
EvilGeniusSkis@reddit
A B-1R full of AIM-174s quite the beast. I bet if the 174 existed 20 years ago we would have the B-1R.
MaleficentCoconut594@reddit
That would’ve been epic 😂
SentientFotoGeek@reddit
LOL
WhiskeyMikeMike@reddit
The viper, rhino, warthog, etc are nicknames given by airmen because of their appearances.
lordderplythethird@reddit
Not in the case of the F/A-18E/F Rhino at least. Navy's F-4E originally had that nickname due to its enlarged nose for a larger radar. When the F/A-18E/F joined the fleet however, calling launches via "Hornet" and "Super Hornet" was insanely risky. You could easily set the cat for the wrong weight, so they reused the Rhino nickname for the F/A-18E/F to more easily verbally identify it and avoid potentially disasterous cat issues.
Disownedpenny@reddit
This is the same reason that the E-2D uses Tracer and the E-2C uses Hawkeye.
molniya@reddit
Weird, when the E-2 succeeded the E-1 Tracer. At least they didn’t coexist.
Disownedpenny@reddit
Right, but the E-2C and E-2D are both in service at the same time, so we use Hawkeye for the E-2C and Tracer for the E-2D specifically when flying around the carrier. The airplane is still called the Advanced Hawkeye, but you need a way to differentiate them on the ship because the E-2D is 2000 lbs heavier, which makes a difference for catapults and arresting gear.
BuffsBourbon@reddit
But both are Hummers.
And everyone loves a good hummer.
Disownedpenny@reddit
Also true
Madeitup75@reddit
The F-4E was a non-naval variant. The USN did not have any F-4E’s. And the E had a longer, but skinnier nose and a slightly smaller radar dish to accommodate an M61 gun under the nose - something the naval variants (and earlier USAF variants) did not have.
_BringTheReign_@reddit
F-4E never hit the navy, with the gun package in the nose forward of the gear it couldn’t make the cut for the turn in to the carrier and was never considered. This was F-4E pre-slats
Madeitup75@reddit
Right.
GurthNada@reddit
I'm a Phantom Phanatic and I've never heard of the Navy ever operating the F-4E in any capacity (whereas the USAF did use a pair of borrowed Navy F-4Bs for evaluation purpose in 1962).
Madeitup75@reddit
Me either, just reluctant to say NEVER EVER a SINGLE time.
Iheartmastod0ns@reddit
Agree with another comment that its more for gear and lense settings.
Its also why the Growler is referred to as a Grizzly since it and the Prowler had a slight overlap.
GurthNada@reddit
I think that Rhino was a Marine, not USN, nickname for their F-4s. As others have already pointed out, the Phantom had a big nose from the start, the nickname is unrelated to the later F-4E USAF variant.
BuffsBourbon@reddit
It was more for setting the gear and lens than the cat.
WhiskeyMikeMike@reddit
For the rhino it was the same case as the f-4 and they went with that for the super hornet also as a little tribute to it.
JPaq84@reddit
In the F18 case, it also had a lot to do with the intakes, which resembled Rhino nostrils.
DonnerPartyPicnic@reddit
It was the iff antenna on the nose
Tailhook91@reddit
Just commenting that I’m a Rhino driver and I love that there’s no conclusive reason we chose “Rhino” over anything else because this is the first time I’ve heard intakes or radome mentioned. Like in the FRS I heard 4 different things from 4 different instructors. No one knows definitively in our community, or if they do I haven’t met them in a decade of flying these things.
And I love that.
weaselkeeper@reddit
Calling an F-18 a Rhino in an homage to the F-4 Phantom which was the first Rhino.
Sullypants1@reddit
I thought only super hornets are “rhinos”.
Tailhook91@reddit
This is what I personally believe, but I guarantee if you ask 20 different Rhino dudes you’ll get at least 10 different answers.
weaselkeeper@reddit
My username Weaselkeeper is because I was an F-4G Wild Weasel Crew Chief so we weren’t Phantom Phixers we were Weaselkeepers and Rhino was often used in place of Phantom USAF wide.
Budget-Lawyer-4054@reddit
“You see there tow hooks? They look like tusks. That’s why we call it the warthog”
“It looks more like a puma”
europorn@reddit
Looks more like Chupathingy.
Budget-Lawyer-4054@reddit
Now what did I tell you about making up animals!
Kaiisim@reddit
I think you actually reveal the real answer "community".
Pilots are an elite group that will create and use very specific lingo as a way to prove membership.
Like the fact you refer to yourself as a "driver" not a pilot. But if you said you were an aviator we'd know marine.
Calling it a Rhino was probably an in joke between the first pilots, "the suits call it a falcon, but it flies like a god damn rhino" type thing.
Lampwick@reddit
Hornet. F-16 is nominally the Fighting Falcon
But yeah, the E/F Hornet was sold to congress/Navy as an "upgrade", when really it's a new aircraft with a cosmetic resemblance that refused a few bits of the C/D, in a weight class more comparable to the F-15 than the original F-17.
Rbkelley1@reddit
The 16 with the conformal fuel tanks definitely looks like a viper. Still wondering why the super hornet is the rhino. I don’t see it.
BuffsBourbon@reddit
F-16 looks more like a shark than a snake.
WhiskeyMikeMike@reddit
Think of a pit viper with the trianglular head
SmackTO@reddit
Isn’t Viper a nod to the fighters in Battlestar Galactica? The original series, not the reboot.
WhiskeyMikeMike@reddit
Yes, that as well.
Raguleader@reddit
The Colonial Viper doesn't really look like a snake either.
Dave_A480@reddit
Because the service officially picks something they like.....
Such as 'Lightning II'....
And the pilots see the plane and go 'Fat Amy' and 'Battle Penguin'.....
Oh hi there F-35....
sensor69@reddit
Because a lot of times the people that fly these airplanes don't like the official name. For example in the Air Force referring to the F-16 as the 'Fighting Falcon' is seen as a slight
Equivalent-Tour7607@reddit
What about the F14
syzygialchaos@reddit
The “Fighting” part is pretty silly, but a Falcon is the supreme air-air predator in the Raptor world. It’s actually a very good name for a nimble dogfighter.
loudsound-org@reddit
A lot of the time the nicknames come about during testing before the official name is decided.
27803@reddit
The F16 came out around the same time as the original Battlestar Galactica , the fighters on that show were Vipers and the F16 community felt that they looked very similar and started calling them the Viper instead of the Falcon
BuffsBourbon@reddit
That’s kind of cool actually…although Battlestar Glactica were naval aviators.
Raguleader@reddit
If we want to split hairs, they were astronauts.
BuffsBourbon@reddit
Splitting hairs, I’d argue the difference of intent and mission of “astronauts” and military aviators engaged in combat.
Raguleader@reddit
Fair, but at that point they're definitely not naval aviators because that distinction is based pretty much on the fact that naval aviators train to fly and fight at sea.
If anything, the Colonials might simply make the distinction that the Air Force has pilots, the Navy had aviators, and the Colonial Fleet has warriors.
BuffsBourbon@reddit
Like the Imperial Navy in Star Wars?
Raguleader@reddit
I'm pretty sure they always refer to their TIE Fighter operators as pilots.
It also occurs to me a few comments late in this discussion that space fighter pilots are not strictly aviators because their duties don't primarily involve flying through the air. Not sure what the space version of "aviate" would be. Asterate?
BuffsBourbon@reddit
Correct, they do.
Nerding out here (TIE pilots are naval aviators):
“TIE pilots served in the Starfighter Corps of the Imperial Navy[3] by piloting the various TIE Series starfighters…. The TIE pilots formed the elite of the Imperial Navy's Flight Branch.”
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/TIE_pilot
Raguleader@reddit
Meanwhile, the Japan Air Self Defense force's Mitsubishi F-2, based on the Viper, is nicknamed the "Viper Zero" with the pilots allegedly calling themselves "Snake Charmers" presumably because they can make the Viper dance.
Hoopy_Dunkalot@reddit
Dope
Common-Charity9128@reddit
Adjutant_Reflex_@reddit
Which, funny enough, has its own nickname with “Mud Hen.”
Really is a world where you could absolutely get someone’s head spinning by lining up a Viper, Rhino, Fat Amy, and a Mud Hen.
showMeYourPitties10@reddit
Now I have to listen to Dos Gringos
FuckTheLonghorns@reddit
Because it tastes like fuck!
flightist@reddit
For what it’s worth, Fat Amy is chefs kiss perfect.
863rays@reddit
Mud Hen is the Strike Eagle. The regular F-15 is just the Eagle.
MASSochists@reddit
Feed, Moose
sensor69@reddit
And Viper is just such a cooler word
daygloviking@reddit
And it’s an electric jet, like the Vipers from BSG
Raguleader@reddit
If you look at the timing for when the F-16 entered service, it seems very plausible that the nickname was inspired by BSG.
daygloviking@reddit
Not just plausible.
It’s what happened.
Luthais327@reddit
Question.
Do any f35 pilots call it "Fat Amy" or is that just the pilots of other airframes?
sensor69@reddit
It's an insult, they don't call it that themselves
thatCdnplaneguy@reddit
Like the B-1 (B-one) being called the Bone. B-52 the BUFF, A-7 the SLUFF. F-117 was the Wobbly Goblin. What the Air Force named them and what the pilots called them are usually digferent.
RobinOldsIsGod@reddit
Wobblin’ Goblin was a nickname made up by the press. It had a FBW system and it handled fine, very similar to the A-7. It was just “the Black Jet” or “The Asset.” Once it came out of the black and they moved to New Mexico, it got the nicknames “Cockroach” and “Stinkbug.”
syzygialchaos@reddit
Those involved with the original design program also called it the Hopeless Diamond, always liked that one.
RobinOldsIsGod@reddit
Right; the Hopeless Diamond was Lockheed’s original optimized design for a truly “invisible” stealth aircraft was basically a flattened diamond. It had no wings, no tail surfaces. That obviously wouldn’t work, even as a lifting body. The design went through iterations on paper, before arriving at the Have Blue test article.
Drenlin@reddit
Wasn't it due to the prototypes' handling rather than the finished product? I remember reading about them being fairly difficult to land initially.
RobinOldsIsGod@reddit
YF-117's "Scorpion I" (79-10780) and "Scorpion 2" (79-10781) were delivered with the original tail design. But these were found to not provide the required stability and control authority during flight, so later YF-117s and all of the production F-117As had the larger tails. Larger tails were retrofitted to at least Scorpion 1 (which today is on a stick at Nellis AFB).
But even then, the nickname for the YF-117s was 'Scorpion.'
Lockheed made a similar "mistake" on the A-12 the decade before. So when it came time for the YF-22, they intentionally overcorrected so as to not repeat that a third time.
F14Scott@reddit
Don't forget Fat Amy.
fliesupsidedown@reddit
I prefer Battle Penguin
theoneyouenvy@reddit
F-117 was also known as “Wet Dream” because it came in the night and nothing you could do to stop it.
TheCraftyWombat@reddit
No one who flew EVER called it "the wet dream." Stink bug, cockroach, Scooby wedge, -117s. That's what they were referred to.
theoneyouenvy@reddit
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p1r56ynDqvg At the 56 minute mark.
Fighter Pilot Podcast had a pilot on and he said that was the name they referred to it as. I’m sure it was more of an inside joke name and was never meant to be a public name for it like Viper or Rhino.
Drenlin@reddit
It was also called the "wobblin' goblin" due to the prototypes' flight characteristics while landing.
DisregardLogan@reddit
That’s weirdly cold ngl
Raguleader@reddit
Best nicknames sound like insults but are actually brags. Or sound like brags and are actually insults.
redmambo_no6@reddit
Dad was a plane captain in an A-7 squadron. There was only one F.
thatCdnplaneguy@reddit
Your right, copied the B-52 format. Short little ungly F…
theyoyomaster@reddit
The F-117 had a bunch but the actual pilot community called it the stinkbug.
fliesupsidedown@reddit
Grumman S2-F Tracker - Stoof F111 in RAAF service - Pig Caribou/C7 - Gravel Truck Mirage - Miracle
Desperate_Shock7378@reddit
F35 = “fat Amy” or the “battle penguin” in the UK.
JimfromMayberry@reddit
I think that sometimes there is a natural tendency to reject the name given by the higher-ups, especially if the original name is perceived to be less than stellar: “ I reject your ‘Thunderbolt’…and will henceforth use ‘Warthog’!”
loudsound-org@reddit
More that the nicknames were already in use before the official name was approved. The Viper definitely was, not positive about Warthog but its likely. The name designations usually don't happen until near fielding which is many years after they start flying for test.
Noha307@reddit
There's an article that was published in USNI Proceedings decades ago that does a great job of explaining it: Of Hosenoses, Stoofs, and Lefthanded Spads
TbonerT@reddit (OP)
That’s a great article!
Hoopy_Dunkalot@reddit
The nickname for the F-47 should be rich.
SevenBlade@reddit
F-47 Rich
Sounds like a dating profile.
Hoopy_Dunkalot@reddit
To be clear, I wasn't suggesting the word "Rich", I was using it ironically. But, if it fits, it fits.
Was thinking something cool like "Spur"...that way when it escorts a B-1, the formation would be a B-ONE Spur.
Words are fun.
Rbkelley1@reddit
I was thinking platypus or Mallard.
BleaKrytE@reddit
Felon fits too, it's even got a Russian friend.
gusterfell@reddit
Taco. Because if it’s shape, of course.
QuillsROptional@reddit
The RoNAF used to fly Westland Sea Kings as SAR helicopters. When they were replaced in Norwegian service, the helicopter picked was the AW101 Merlin, known as CH-149 Cormorant in Canadian service. In Norway the politicians decided that the new SAR helicopters needed a feminine name to balance out Sea King. So in Norway the Merlin is officially known as SAR Queen.
Ego-Death@reddit
Because if it was the F-16 Bundles of Kissy Wissies no one would buy them.
CannonAFB_unofficial@reddit
Call a F-16 a fighting falcon to a viper driver and see what happens.
spacegenius747@reddit
Flight crew usually give them the nicknames. I believe they get the names from their experience(or from other’s experience) with the plane or to make them easier to refer to.
Also, some of them just sound cooler.
For example: P-47(Jug) for appearance, B-1(BONE) likely for being easier to refer to, or F-16(Viper), which sounds a lot better than “fighting falcon”
My favourite one is the B-52 (BUFF), which stands for ”Big Ugly Fat F*cker/Fella”. It got this name because many early planes had many issues which led to many crashes, and it just kind of looks ugly.
Raguleader@reddit
One of my favorites is the F-105 Thunderchief, aka the Thud, for the sound it makes when it lands.
Also known as the Triple Threat: She could bomb you, strafe you, or land on top of you.
aflyingsquanch@reddit
Thud was nicer than the other options of Widowmaker or Lawn Dart
Raguleader@reddit
I think she might have also inherited the "Aluminium Overcast" nickname from the B-36, because the Thud is bigger than you might assume at first glance (but not nearly B-36 huge 😂)
aflyingsquanch@reddit
I was shocked at how big the F-105 was the first time I stood next to one.
Raguleader@reddit
She's a big lady, but a handsome one.
aflyingsquanch@reddit
She is but my first love will always be for the F-4. IMHO, the prettiest jet fighter we ever built. Just perfect lines.
MoccaLG@reddit
Teely - Poopmeister flanking!
Eclipsed830@reddit
Here in Taiwan, "Viper" only refers to the newer gens (block 70+) f16s... Is that not the same everywhere else? So the older planes were F16 Falcons, newer ones are F16 Vipers.
EngineerFly@reddit
They actually have three names. The MDS (Mission Designation System) e.g. F-16, the name the service gave them e.g. Fighting Falcon, and the name it’s popularly known by, e.g. Viper.
cmdr_suds@reddit
A-10 Thunderbolt II/Warthog