I was reading an article yesterday by the late Air Commodore Stan Quill, who was a top RNZAF fighter pilot, written in 1984. He mentioned some British engine names of the 1920’s and 1930’s and that they didn’t think they named engines any more like they used to. I have to agree with him, the names of the engines were so inspiring, sounding like the stuff that Boys Own stories were made of, and full of an air of daring do. here are some he mentioned…
The Eagle
The Goshawk
The Merlin
The Falcon
The Napier Lion
The Bristol Taurus
I wonder if the engine department boffins and Johnnies read a lot of those ppiffing boy’s comics in their lunchbreak. The names are so evocative of that great period too. I’ll add a few more
The Kestrel
The Sabre
The Centaurus
The Gipsy Queen
They are names you’d call a boat after, are they not? Can anyone think of other great British engine names?
By: Eric Mc - 3rd March 2005 at 14:49
The Hawker Siddeley HS146 project dates from around 1971/72. Unfortunately, Michael Heseltine (that great supporter of British aviation), when Minister of Aviation, refused to put in any Government funding to the project. HS put it on the back burner until 1978 when the whole project was resurrected. By then, of course, HS had become part of BAe. I could just about tolerate the BAe 146 tile but the renaming of the plane as the Avro RJ series was a total nonsense.
By: John C - 3rd March 2005 at 12:07
I thought the 146 was known as “4 oil leaks connected by an electrical fault” or “the toxic time bomb” 😀 There is another nickname, but it is offensive and unfortunately my Political Correctness, Diversity and Dignity at Work brainwashing forbids me to pass it on 🙂
JC
By: dhfan - 3rd March 2005 at 11:30
Cheers paulc
I believe that the 146 also had it’s roots in HS at least…
OAW
Hatfield drawing office sequence. By my EXTREMELY biased reasoning that makes it DH. 🙂
I don’t care what name they put on the building, it’s still de Havilland to me.
By: paulc - 3rd March 2005 at 11:26
yes – I am sure the original ones for Dan Air & Queen’s Flight were ‘HS’ rather than Bae
HS146 = 4 oil leaks flying in close formation 😉
By: Arm Waver - 3rd March 2005 at 10:57
Cheers paulc
I believe that the 146 also had it’s roots in HS at least…
OAW
By: paulc - 3rd March 2005 at 10:44
Armwaver,
the DH121 I think became the ‘ground gripper’ or Trident if you prefer.
By: JDK - 3rd March 2005 at 10:36
Collect 200 Euros, Go to Jail. We done. 😀
By: HP57 - 3rd March 2005 at 10:32
1. Corsair, the biplane (also on floats) 2. the gull winged F4U and the A7 Corsuair II (or SLUF)
Cees
By: JDK - 3rd March 2005 at 10:28
Corsair
Name all three.
By: Arm Waver - 3rd March 2005 at 07:35
Wasn’t the Trident based on a DH project too…?
By: dhfan - 3rd March 2005 at 00:21
What a wonderful chap you are. 😀
Bl***y Avroliner, mutter, mutter, mutter, mutter, mutter, mutter, mutter, etc.
By: Eric Mc - 2nd March 2005 at 21:41
I flew to Jersey on a De Havilland DH146 a few years ago (and very nice it was too).
By: Dave Homewood - 2nd March 2005 at 20:23
Another interesting fact is how names get recycled. Especially in the USA.
There have been several different naval aircraft called the Corsair and the Helldiver.
The Typhoon in Britain is another case.
I’m sure there was an old ungainly Vimy-style airliner of the 1920’s also called Britannia, wasn;t there? Or am I thinking of an individual nickname rather than a product name?
By: dhfan - 2nd March 2005 at 19:38
…Hawker Siddeley HS125 executive jet.
D.H.125 if you don’t mind. 🙂
Originally referred to internally as the Jet Dragon.
Hawkers said they were going to retain the de Havilland name, in the States in particular, as the image was so well respected.
Took them about 10 minutes to change that.
By: Eric Mc - 2nd March 2005 at 19:18
Well, the latest BAE fighter is called Typhoon and the latest RR engines are the Tay and Trent. The current BAE jet trainer is called Hawk and the RAF’s basic trainer is called Tucano.
I think the numbers era is probably over. Many 60s and 70s projects seemed to be given numbers instead of names – The Avro 748 for instance, or the Hawker Siddeley HS125 executive jet.
Numbers can be almost as resonant as names. In many respectys, the Boeing 7-7 nomencalture is a marketing ploy. The 707 project was originally the 367-80 remeber. The DC series of airliners were also named that way as marketing ploys.
The American military seem to prefer using the DoD title – F4. F-14, B-52 etc rather than the manufacturer’s name.
By: Charley - 2nd March 2005 at 18:44
My point on the naming of aircraft was that British and Commonwealth planes are always referred to by names, if they ever had numbers whilst in development then these are long-forgotten. Axis and US planes are primarily known by numbers and letters and rarely referred to by names (e.g. an Me110 hardly ever gets called a “Zerstorer”). That’s why it’s sad modern RR engines and BAE planes don’t get impressive names instead of numbers.
By: dhfan - 2nd March 2005 at 16:12
I believe Anson was an Admiral so it probably was something to do with the French.
By: Arm Waver - 2nd March 2005 at 14:18
My favourites are Sidestrand and Overstrand which I believe are villages in Norfolk? But why?
Paul
A strong connection to the area by Boulton & Paul I believe is the reason…
By: vildebeest - 2nd March 2005 at 14:05
My favourites are Sidestrand and Overstrand which I believe are villages in Norfolk? But why?
Paul
By: Eric Mc - 2nd March 2005 at 14:04
Hotspur was originally a character from Roman mythology.
The Britannia is a late 1940s design.
Place names are the most common theme amomgst British manufacturers, particularly pre – WW2.
Sometimes the place name system got corrupted into something slightly weird. For example, the Bristol Beaufighter was so called because it was developed using components from the Beaufort.
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March 1, 2005 at 3:22 am