Fighter Pilot Terminology
 

My friend used some lingo from his fighter pilot days. I didn't really understand not only what the phrase meant, but the meaning it tried to convey.

1) Ground abort
2) Make it to the merge

And I thought lawyers talk funny! At least I say what I mean, and mean what I say. :)

1.) flight/event cancelled. Probably after start up but before takeoff. Weather, maintenence, etc.

2.) The "merge" is where a fight starts when talking classic dog fighting. Basically pointed at each other, as soon as we pass, that is the merge and fights on.

"Making it to the merge" means you probably started out beyond visual range, and you are trying to survive BVR shots/tactics so you can make the merge. Duck and dive, so you can get in close and punch him in the face.

And to translate the answer, BVR is Beyond Visual Range.

As a metaphor, "make-it-to-the-merge" means get past the trivial, uninteresting, prerequisites, or busy-work to get down to the real action or conflict, whatever that is.

Did he get the job? No, he had a DUI so he didn't even make it to the merge at the interview.

Now, if your friend used this terminology whilst describing how his date went last night, those two terms mean something completely different....:D

Thanks guys.

It was a metaphor. He (F-18) was describing what usually happens to a guy (F-14) when meeting a woman for prurient, salacious, lecherous and licentious purposes.

You sir, win the Internet!

Air Force specific

Container - you can never say box
Cranium - you can never say head
So to speak - I don't want to get another warning from the mods so I will refrain from explaining

I'm no fighter pilot,... but in this day and age, I'd say the fight should be over long before the merge.

Yes, but how do you show that with your hands at the bar?

By mimicking typing on a keypad and hitting switches on a throttle/stick instead of using your hands to imitate airplanes.

Merge: The point where the command and control asset's (AWACS) radar can no longer differentiate separate radar hits. The friendly airplane and the bogey have "merged" into a single radar return.

"Dark star, BRA _____ group"

"Merge plot"

"ah %^#$@#"

"And, uh, hound-01... wing king says don't goon this up, those gomers are good" :D

That is why there are no REAL Fighter Pilots anymore. ;)

Any fighter pilot who thinks it can't come down to guns anymore is in the running to be the last fighter pilot in history to die in a gun fight...

They tried that back in the 'nam or so I've heard.

Rick is correct

Box sarcasm.

If that we're the case, they would've put a gun on the JSF. :rolleyes:

Sarcasm, unboxed.

And 16 and 15E's never use the gun on CAS missions...

^^^ This.

In fact I flew a couple sets of gun only ACM yesterday. (Bragging...)

WAIT!
I just watched 'Live Free of Die Hard' and it had a F-35B attacking John McClane with a guns! Are you saying this is INaccurate??? :eek:

I remember them telling us back in the mid-90s to "settle down....we didn't say it wouldn't have some form of CIWS - just probably not the Vulcan cannon." :D

The Gun - Fun, but not practical that much in the AA world. CAS and interdiction, yes.

When your butt is hanging out there in a genuine combat merge, a better option is mutual support with a HOBS heater.

The last true gun kill the U.S. had was in Vietnam. A-10 on heli doesn't count. Who is going to fly through missile envelopes to use the gun these days? Damned dangerous.

The Vietnam gun syndrome came about because missiles didn't work. Now, they do, and very well. We've offloaded BFM into the AIM-9, and it can pull more G's than we can. ;)

If you get really bored, here are some other terms you might've heard your friend say.....
Brevity Code

I guess we've come full circle and we're back to missiles make the gun unnecessary? Very surprising to hear anyone who has flown a fighter in the last 20 years hold that opinion.

HOBS heaters are great but what if you're out? F-22s don't currently carry them, BTW.

No one's going to fly through a WEZ just to use the gun. However, there are plenty of reasons they may not have a missile shot (EP, flares, bandit maneuvers, none left, malfunctions, ROE constraints, etc.).

Missiles can work well but they're hardly 100% reliable as you seem to indicate. I personally had the AIM-9 you give so much BFM credit to hang on my rail during a launch attempt. My flight lead's first combat AIM-7 shot went stupid during a Desert Storm engagement and too many other AIM-7s to count had rocket motors fail to light after extended periods of carriage.

IMO, if we had a protracted conflict with a willing adversary who puts up lots of fighters (think Korean peninsula), we will have more gun kills.

"Dark Star, Judy Judy. I'm goin' to the merge."

Revised:
"Lead, Dash 2 is tumbleweed. I'm goin' to the merge." :D

Punchline - - - even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile!

Heard this whilst flying around CAE.

BIG PHOTO, BIG PHOTO, THIS IS COLUMBIA APPROACH ON GUARD, STOP STREAM.

Probably not fighter pilot lingo, but pretty cool.

Big photo is an electronic attack aircraft.

Stream is the use of chaff.

source: STANDARD ELECTRONIC ATTACK