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Has it Got a Name?

Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
I was always surprised that when non-flying visitors dropped by my garage as the RV-8 was taking shape, the most common question they asked was ?Has it got a name?? I would usually respond with ?well, yes?.it?s an RV-8?? but they would quickly come back with ?No, a name ? like a boat!?

I suppose this should have surprised me as much as it did, seeing as how my trusty Grumman of 20+ years was known far and wide as the ?Tweety Bird? (it was faded yellow with a three foot tall Tweety Bird character on the tail when I bought it. Even when I repainted it, the Tweety stayed?albeit as a small decal on the nosewheel pant). I wrote many an article in the AYA newsletter calling it that ? but I never really thought of a name as an essential item for an airplane. My wife (now Ex?) wanted to call the RV ?The Frog? because of all the ?Ribets, Ribets, Ribets?..? Yeah, she?s Ex?. ;)

However?..I know that there are lots of folsk out there with good names (and even better stories !) for their RV?s ? so here?s today?s non-technical thread ? What?s in a name?

(BTW - I think I finally have a name for the -8, but I think it?s more appropriate if I wait until she comes out of the paint shop to reveal it?besides, maybe I?ll change my mind after I hear from everyone!) :cool:

So Doug ? where?d ?Flash? come from?!

Paul
 
yeah - I'd get that question all the time (still do). I'm more of a numbers sort of person, so I never know how to answer. I'm stuck with, "uhm - It's just N72KH."
 
Ironflight said:
...snip So Doug ? where?d ?Flash? come from?!
Paul
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Honest to goodness, I named it after the dog from the 'Dukes of Hazzard'. I always used to laugh when Rosco would go, "C'mon, Flash!!!" I sometimes say that when I walk in the hanger...

From http://www.cmtcanada.com/on_cmt/shows/dukes_of_hazzard/characters.asp


char_flash.jpg
Flash Flash is not only a companion - but also man's best friend. Rosco owns him and sometimes he even comes on patrol with him. He's lazy - let's face it, he's an old hound. He hates Boss Hogg but can sense the good in the Dukes boys. Or maybe they just have Milkbones...




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I named my Searey Oliver II and my 7A Oliver III after my Macaw that I lost. Oliver enjoyed flying in our Cherokee. Now he flies on with us in spirit.

Roberta
 
Name

Sojourner........from the Bible. It spoke of the prophets and Apostles sojourning in different towns and places. That's what the dictionary also says......"to spend time away from home in a strange place........."

Since we also intend to use it for missionary/angel flight/benevolent use, it fit, ;)
 
What's in a name...

"Enterprise" since it is my personal "starship" and it takes me places I have never gone before.

Jerry K. Thorne
RV-9A N2PZ (N 2 PriZe)
www.n2prise.org
(N2PRISE is on my Tennessee License Plate)
 
Czi

Named her after wifey..."Crazy Woman".

On a side note, she also picked the N number....need I say more?

I'm a lucky guy.
:D
 
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n468ac said:
"The other woman":D
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BullsEye! However, wife Linda insists on calling my mistress "Mistletoe" believing everytime I get near her...money gets kissed goodbye. :rolleyes:
 
Like Allen and Rick it used to be ?The Other Woman?. I caught a lot of flack when the airplane moved into the house (albeit only three feet of the fuse while we were hanging the engine) three months before we were married and Diana moved in.
tailmovein.jpg


Now that it?s been flying for a year we?ve got a new name, but it will have to wait to go public until after it?s out of the paint shop.
 
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I call her the 'Aluminum Mistress'. :rolleyes: If I treat her right and give her what she needs I'll be rewarded with years of pleasant flying experiences. If I treat her roughly or carelessly she'll kill me in a murder-suicide :eek: Greg N4603X (res) RV9A (EFI) 0-320-H2AD
 
Greg Dillon said:
I call her the 'Aluminum Mistress'. :rolleyes: If I treat her right and give her what she needs I'll be rewarded with years of pleasant flying experiences. If I treat her roughly or carelessly she'll kill me in a murder-suicide :eek: Greg N4603X (res) RV9A (EFI) 0-320-H2AD
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BY FAR the best!! :rolleyes:
 
Jeff...

Forget all the names....I just think it is hilarious seeing a fuselage protruding into the kitchen! That's a classic photo :D
 
Interesting timing on this one... was just asked the other day what I called my plane. Does it have a name? I have always liked Huntress. But I guess it really needs guns for that one.
 
Name that plane

In the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, Boris never referred to our heros by name...they were always "Moose and Squirrel". With a nickname like mine, the RV-8 will be called "Rocky" and have a picture of Rocky the Flying Squirrel on the tail.
 
I was reading Yeager's book back when I was building. He names all his planes "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife because he says no plane named after her could ever hurt him. About that time, Betty contributed a Garmin 430 to the cause. And then I ran across this great noseart at Osh.

20020212_Panel_7.jpg



Some guys spend a long time studying my panel, but nobody has ever had to ask what she's named <grin>.
 
Ive thought of many names but have not yet decided . However one does stick out and remains to do so . "NIGHTMARE" .

This is not an insult to my plane just merely a fact of life whilst building. You wake up in the wee hours of the night all stressed about the "problem" you need to overcome.Then just when you sorted one out a new one appears.

Sound familiar??
 
Noseart

Well, I'm going for the warbird theme, so with some noseart (yet to be drawn, but it's in my head, I swear) the name is going to be "Great Balls o'Fire".
 
In tribute to my wife, who is Japanese, "YELLOW PERIL" is the name of my RV-6A. She's got a great sense of humor (my wife), is a social rebel--even against her own culture, and the plane is very yellow. She also has on many occasions referred to "her" as my aluminum girlfriend!

If you google Yellow Peril you will find many aviation and social references that apply to my wife, well sort of. It also throws my passengers for a loop as they don't know whether to be scaried or what. Greg
 
I knew from the beginning that I would be racing my RV8. It was part of the reason I decided to build a plane, so that I could modify it over and over to make it faster (yes, I am an engineer geek).

So, I named her after the famous Reno formula 1 race plane "Nemisis". But, mine would just be a fun racer, cross country racer, so I named her "Nuisance". She will never be anyone's "nemisis" but maybe, if I could get her to go a little faster, a competitor will consider her a nuisance.

Please note that she is not "a nuisance" to me, just "Nuisance".

John
 
Sometimes it semed the mental part of building was harder than the physical, so as a play on words, she became "Metal Exercise." Today is the first day she has not resided in my garage; she is at the paintshop, bound next for the airport and final assembly. It seems odd to have a two car garage again!
 
Plane and pilot article...

You guy's need to read the Lyn Freeman Partial panel article "Aye,Aye,Sir" from September 1999 Plane and Pilot.
Very funny and "Dead On" your topic.
 
My RV-8 will be named Nightmare II. Not because I can't sleep, it was the name of my Class A racing runabout some 54 years ago.
Paul
 
I plan to name my 8 "Digger". Both because when I have had the opportunity to ride in RV's it seems that when you point the nose up they just keep digging. It was also the name of my brother in laws Rot Weiller.
 
Somehow I knew that

Nuisance said:
I knew from the beginning that I would be racing my RV8. It was part of the reason I decided to build a plane, so that I could modify it over and over to make it faster (yes, I am an engineer geek).

So, I named her after the famous Reno formula 1 race plane "Nemisis". But, mine would just be a fun racer, cross country racer, so I named her "Nuisance". She will never be anyone's "nemisis" but maybe, if I could get her to go a little faster, a competitor will consider her a nuisance.

Please note that she is not "a nuisance" to me, just "Nuisance".

John
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Our Archer was painted Red/Silver/Black and my wife being from St. Louis named it the "Red Bird". We had that airplane for 22 years and loved it but retirement loomed and thoughtful minds said we need a plane I can maintain on retirement pay. The RV-6A has turned out to be a wonderful choice but it had to be unique. For the last 7 years we built it we sketched color schemes and the final design and colors (Blue/Red/White) led to its name. The base color is dark blue with an abstract red bird outlined in white on the fuselage wings and tail. We call it the "Blue Bird".

Bob Axsom
 
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Well I have been flying N339A for a year and a half now (240 Hrs) and don't have an official name.....however,

Whilst flying back from Hutchinson, KS a couple of weeks ago I think a may have stumbled upon a great name. It seems that the BUG population is huge here out west and everytime I fly, I spend half an hour or better cleaning them off. The trip from Hutch was especially bad and took an hour to get it all cleaned up.

The name....."Bug Masher" :D
 
Hello Scott..

339A said:
Well I have been flying N339A for a year and a half now (240 Hrs) and don't have an official name.....however,

Whilst flying back from Hutchinson, KS a couple of weeks ago I think a may have stumbled upon a great name. It seems that the BUG population is huge here out west and everytime I fly, I spend half an hour or better cleaning them off. The trip from Hutch was especially bad and took an hour to get it all cleaned up.

The name....."Bug Masher" :D
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A couple more name to consider: :D
"splat"
"fly swatter"


Kent
 
And another...

Well... having been in the uniform rental and sales business since 1963, it seemed appropriate to name my bird 'Special Delivery'. Keep the stories coming!

You're in Vegas and you need a catalog and samples... No problem! :)

Ernie Butcher
N99SU -8 Since '01
EFD Houston
 
name that plane

I'm going to name mine "Callipygian". That will also be the reqirement to get a ride. ;)
 
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names

The "Borrowed Horse" name, has been on several of my airplanes.

I am proud of my country, and how it was formed.

We had a guy Paul Revere that helped us win our independence from the British. He and his volunteers the, Minute Men, borrowed horses and road out from Boston to spread the word that the "British are Coming, The British are coming"!!

I like those men and their spirit of country. I wish we still had some of those people today. My airplane is a proud statement of my independence, and self-control of my destiny.
I name my airplane "Borrowed Horse" to remember those great men.
 
Piddler said:
I'm going to name mine "Calipygian". That will also be the reqirement to get a ride. ;)
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Seems like I read where you posted that elsewere on this site. I remember because I had to look it up. :) I like that name, might have to use it myself if I ever get the oppertunity to name my very own plane! :rolleyes:
 
I bought my plane from the prior owner in the Memphis area, home of the "Memphis Belle". She's painted in the scheme of the 352nd Fighter Group; the "The Blue Nosed Bast*rds of Bodney". Other than sheer pleasure, flights her main purpose is $100 burger runs.

Therefore, I christened her "Blue Belle". :D

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If I had built an -8...

I would have painted it like "Death Rattler".

Harry Tope was one of the nicest guys you could ever want to meet. It was unfortunate that he perished in this plane but at least he died doing something he loved.

My only question is, what does it look like now?
 
Dreamcatcher

The dream of finishing and flying my RV-7 is what keeps me going during the build process, but I'll catch that dream some day, and start chasing new dreams in my Dreamcatcher.
 
N8RV's paint will be gray on gray, with some black thrown in for good measure. Kinda smokey gray ...

Plus, during the building process, the only place I could go to relax with a fine cee-gar when it got too cold to sit on the front porch was the shop. I was convinced that, after all the years of building, N8RV would probably smell faintly of cigar smoke. Thus, "Smokey".

Fortunately, the only odors that I can pick out when I open the canopy are wisps of leather and that manly admixture of oil, avgas and metal. Ahhhh ... :D
 
magic carpet

It is obviously more common for the military-inspired paint schemes to include a name, and some nose art.
Civilian planes don't get named as often.

But the -8 really is a Magic Carpet.
 
whats in a name

afraid I've not named my bird...I guess somtimes these things just happen, and then you know it!
...like when I'm pulling on the hose of my uncooperative shop vac,.... it's always " ......now, come along R2! ...." It just fits.!:)
my friends say I worry too much about stuff, but 'Aerial Retentive' just doesn't have that ring to it!
My nickname is chuck, but who wants 'Chuck-wagon' on the side of a -9a?
High maintenance?........naw, then it sounds like an old girlfriend.

hmmmmmmm
 
the aluminum for my 4 hasn't even been touched by van's yet, but I already have the final look in my head.
I'll do it black, with alot of designs taken from the snow birds. A gold strip down the side about 6" wide, and just behind the canopy in the middle of that line, the RCAF maple leaf, all in gold.
Bottom is to have the "diamond" shape seen on the bottom of the snow birds, but in gold.
Name of the plane, is to be "5 o'clock Charlie". I love the show MASH, and in one episode they had an enemy fly a plane that was barely able to stay aloft fly over the MASH at 5 o'clock every day and drop a mortar shell out of the cockpit. They took bets on if he would hit anything. Five o'clock charlie was his name they gave him.
I figure that with the similarities my career has with the show, and the fact my plane is military inspired it fits!
 
I really like FLYTOBOAT's name for his airplane. FLYTOBOAT, be sure you paint it on the airplane with two Ls. I think it should be spelled CALLIPYGIAN. It means "a woman with shapely buttocks". You've got the right idea for requirements for giving rides.
 
Valkyrie!

I'm glad to see this thread get resurrected - there have been a LOT of RV's named since it last floated to the top. As I read through it, I realized that I never made an entry in it after I chose the name for my -8! Here is what I wrote about it back when she earned her name....

"With the airplane finally ready to make it?s public debut (out of the paint shop), I guess it is time to give her a name! Seeing as how my ancestral home is on the Iron Range of Minnesota, it seems appropriate that my airplane be named to recognize the Scandinavian roots of my heritage. My NASA call sign of ?Iron Flight? was chosen to honor my grandfather, who worked in the iron mines that have generated so much of the industrial might of our nation. In Norse Mythology, the great warriors and gods are linked to iron ? the metal of swords and hammers. In those legends, the god Odin is said to be served by a race of beings whose duty it is to transport the spirits of the greatest warriors to their reward in Valhalla. These beings are often represented as riding winged horses, and therefore it seems fitting that my airplane be given their name, as I can think of no more appropriate appellation than?.the Valkyrie!"
Paul
 
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