Re: F-22 Raptor

[brucet@mindspring.com (bruce thompson)]

>Sam Girouard wrote:
>>
>> It may interest some of you that, for the first time, a major piece of
>> military hardware has been named after a dinosaur. Today the first F-22
>> "Raptor" tactical fighter, for the United States Air Force, was "rolled
>> out" amidst much fanfare at the Lockheed plant in Marietta. I'm not
>> sure if they were referring to the dinosaur or the bird of prey, but
>> I'm fairly sure it's the former.
>
>I wouldn't be.  I'd like it to be so, but I don't think it is.  The
>United States Air Force has a long-established habit of naming aircraft
>after birds, going at least back to the late 1930s and the P-40
>Warhawk.  In more recent times we've seen the EF-111 Raven, SR-71
>Blackbird, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, and F-117 Nighthawk.  I think it
>very likely that the F-22 'Raptor' is intended to mean the bird, not the
>dinosaur.
>
>-- JSW

        Maybe the unofficial nickname the jet will acquire will be
dinosaurian.  In pilots' slang, the EF-111 is the Aardvark, the F-16 is the
Lawn Dart, and the A-10 Thunderbolt II is the Warthog.  Maybe a dino name
will be coined for this one.  Though truly, I don't think "the F-22
Rhamphorynchus" will strike terror in the enemy in the next war...

bruce

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