Originally Posted by
Sputnik
Fighter pilots heck, most high school students know the meaning of the term.
I can't imagine any other commonly used synonym for feces making it to the official name of an aircraft...but maybe I'm just idealistic.
Anyway, it was a pointless aside, thanks for the great info.
Sputnik:
Hilarious!
I posted with irony some months ago that when EA-18s are getting shot off the catapault from the carrier, they truly will be a "steaming Growler."
IIICorps:
You continue to surprise me. I fancy myself a pretty good aircraft historian...never heard of the Wyvern before. But I noted in the pic (and then verified via Wiki) that there is only one exhaust port on it...under the cockpit, and is for a turboprop.
The Griffon was also used in the Shackleton bomber (until the mid 1970s, in the South African Air Force). That was the source of the Griffon used in the "Red Barnon 51," (RB-51); a highly modified P-51 that set a speed record for piston-powered airplanes (499 mph, if memory serves).
Then, of course, it crashed at Reno, and everyone thought Steve Hinton was dead. There was
nothing left of the airplane...but after he was cut from the wreckage, I think he walked away.
I figure you know this; it's for the others who may peruse the thread.
Actually, I read within the last month of an airplane registered as the RB-51's old serial or N-number. Someone salvaged a piece of the original and built an airplane around it...and the FAA gave it the original registration again.