LANGUAGE OF THE AIR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2812, 1 July 1916, Page 10

LANGUAGE OF THE AIR

SLANG IN CLOuDLAND.

'"As in other walks in life, during thp last few months a slang has sprung into being.in aeronautical circles. 'Quirk," tor' instance, _is the term used :n the ijayal.Air.Serrice'tO denote a young "-entloman- just-learu'ing to fly. His !fe arm S tha Flying- Corps "is" a Hnn. The-'.joy-stick" is that vorider' tul-Rmtraptiou which at one and the Banie time coutrols Loth the upward, downward, aiid :sideway inovenient of the a 9.r?plano,. Some. of..tho crack pilots, in stead of leaving the,ground in a iesnect- ?,™ e '., God-feai-ing-manncr—tha't ■ is," to taxi"-ruu the machine across the ground witnout allowing the wheels of :.hi> aeroplane to "leave it for aljout. fifty yards, then to rise gradually at an angle at' soir« .degroos with the earth—prefer":/ tunming"their machiue. Which fatter feat is: directly upou leaving the ground to climb at an angle of at least -15 legrcec. .To "pancake" is for a machine to fall Hat to the earth. "Nose-dive" is when it comos down nose first. A "tail-slide" is rfhen it falls backwards. A "spin" is perhaps tho most unpleasant sensation possible in mid-air. It usually occui-h after over-banking, with the result- that the aeroplane spins round like a top, and finally crashes to tho earth. W'hen an airman says of tile air tea-tit- is vhunipv" he means that it is full of .patens 'of ra'rilied air, which cause the aeroplano to rock and to toss like a boat in a stormy sea. An airman ucver talks through his hat-, Sucli. a thing were a physical impossibility. . He does not possess a hat. For that portion of his nttire he always refers to as a "grummet." An aeroplane man will always con'-emp-tuously refer tp an airship as a "gasbag." Such a thing as a 'trip in the air is nover spoken of, but rather .as "going for a joy-rido" or as "doing a stunt." "Crashing" is the delicate art of Iringin" tho machiua rapidly to earth and smash". ing something,, usually quite a lot! "pylon pilot" is a gentleman who prefers flying before a large and admiring crowd. And finally it would bo considered an indignity to r-ifer to an-aeroplane us anything, else than a "bus." Among some of the pet nair.es fm- buses "are tile "bloater" aud the "Bristol-bullet:"

A case, of mistaken identity, so speak, recently occurred to a British pilot, who is now pining his young ami promising life away sumewhsre : drlen within the confines of a German .nilitary prison. This enterprising young gentleman one. misty morning, when returning from a marauding expedition, <!.ad the misfortune to mistake Ostend for Dunkirk. After making an extremely, graceful landing he approached an officer who, was standing by, and wlio appeared to be taking an inordinate interest in the proceedings, saluted politely, and exclaimed : "Conib to report, sir.'' ■ Back came tho reply in faultless English. "Delighted, I'm sure, but won't- you come and have a drink? Leave yoiK' machine there. That'll bo all right. My men will look after that for you"—and they did.