Naming

[6 Gun]

I was inspired by Jay Pratt as he has named his planes.Named mine 6GUN.
Bob

[Beagle]

I was thinking about all the things that you end up knowing after building a plane and came up with:

Aluminatti

The there's a racey twist on that name:

Aluminaughty

Cheers!

[KatieB]

Haha! I love it!

The RV's in my life all have names. Sarahndipity, Mojo (a good friend's RV-6A) and of course Tony Boy. Ships are named because when you depend on a machine to carry you safely over an environment of certain death, you develop a relationship with it. You feed them and care for them and pay close attention to them when things don't feel right. I think airplanes are exactly the same, and when you build one yourself, a name means even more.

We named a bunch of our production airplanes because, frankly, when you have so many in the shop in various stages of completion, it was more fun to refer to them as a name than a number. One of my favorites was Dorothy, the Jabiru that was tossed onto its back during the SNF tornado. I named her that on Facebook when she flew again after repairs. Then there is Captain America. It was supposed to be a joke because of its homely blue and red stripes, but the name stuck. It went to a flight school in southern IL and became a popular trainer. It makes me happy to walk into the pilot's lounge and see the many first-solo shirt tails pinned to the wall with "Captain America" written on them.

Thanks for bringing up this old thread, it's a good one!

[airguy]

Midway through the fuselage my wife named my 9A "Esmeralda." When I asked her about the origin for that name, she said "Because it sounds kinda slutty and you spend all your time with her."

Esmeralda it is...

[GalinHdz]

Originally Posted by airguy

Midway through the fuselage my wife named my 9A "Esmeralda." When I asked her about the origin for that name, she said "Because it sounds kinda slutty and you spend all your time with her."

Esmeralda it is...

My airplane is white so my wife started calling it "Blanquita", which is a common Spanish nick-name for a white girl. After a while, the name just stuck. Then a few years ago, my youngest daughter incorporated features from my two daughters and my two granddaughters and came up with an image of "Blanquita". The image now adorns the cowl.

[snopercod]

My wife suggested "Pudknocker" (from the scene at Pancho's in The Right Stufff)

[Saber25]

My RV-4 is Miss Fusion. A well engineered conglomeration of parts and pieces lovingly manufactured and assembled by me some 30 plus years ago. She has the ability to combine many facets of flight and most of them very well, and I think of her as a continuous fusion of activities. Rarely do I fly her and not finish the post inspection with an affectionate pat on the spinner and some kind words.

The Pitts S1S is Chica Chiquita, Spanish for little girl and the yellow and red trim make her look as if she's always dancing and I'm her incompetent partner. She's eye candy to other pilots and bystanders and I'm proud to be her guy.

Cheers, Hans

[roadrunner20]

My 7 is called, Roadrunner.

It harkins back to my former life as an ultramarathon runner & training in high altitude Albuquerque. Saw many roadrunners on the trails in those days.

It was also the location of my first solo flight at Double Eagle(KAEG)

[gerrychuck]

I've never been much for naming my stuff, even boats, and had no intention of naming my 6A other than getting the call sign "GERZ" to make sure everyone knows whose plane it is!

That changed in 2013 though. In late 2012 I barely survived a prolapsed mitral valve and emergency valve replacement surgery. As I was recovering, odds were 50/50 at best that I would get my medical back. During that time, I hired a young female AME (A & P to you Americans) to help me with some mods on the plane. She posed the question, have you ever thought of naming the plane? I said no, I really hadn't thought about it, and she said it was such a "beautiful bird" (her words) that it seemed like it deserved a name. After that conversation I started thinking about it, and decided that IF I got my medical back, I would commemorate that event by giving the plane a name. Once I thought of it that way, the name came to me in about 2 minutes; a name that would impart the gift of getting my flying privileges back. A couple of months later I did get my medical back, and I went out and had vinyl cut right away. My plane has worn the moniker "Second Wind" on her nose ever since, to remind me that I was given both a second chance to fly and a second chance to live.

I would never name a plane, car, boat or motorcycle just for the sake of giving it a name. I agree with those who have said that the name has to come along by itself and mean something. "Second Wind" definitely has very deep meaning for me!

[VPYVO]

My RV7 is called Kamina
That word in Africa means "Its mine"
Warts and all.
First aircraft I ever owned. Or built.