Dude F14 "Tomcat" and/or "Río"

[peirof]

Hi, 

 

I had always referred to this aircraft as F14 Tomcat... but for some time I see that Youtubers (above all), refer to it as F14 "Rio" or F14 "Tomcat River". Could someone explain to me what is the correct way to name it? And how do airplane nicknames arise? The manufacturer, Country Air Force, nato

 

In the original post has post F14 River, direct translation of F14 Rio, spanish to English

Edited July 27, 2021 by peirof

[near_blind]

I've heard it referred to as the Tomcat, the Bombcat, the Turkey, the Flying Tennis Court, and the 'Geographic Center of any Dogfight', but I've never heard it referred to as a river. 

 

Nicknames come from any number of places. Western aircraft manufactures tend to give an aircraft a name for marketing purposes. As they get tested and put into service, a slew of other ones will arise from physical appearance, flight performance, safety records, or even word play. The Tomcat was the Turkey because it looked like a turkey with the spoilers, flaps, and speed brakes extended when landing. The Fighting Falcon started being called the Viper because it resembled a prop from a popular TV show at the time, and as the Lawn Dart because there were flame out issues with the early engines that lead to a number of crashes. You'll find most aircraft have an official name, a nick name with positive connotations from people that flew it, and one with negative connotations that comes from people that didn't fly it. 

The exception here is Soviet Aircraft. To my knowledge Soviet Design bureaus never assigned nicknames to their aircraft formally. Ground crews and pilots would generally come up with some (The MiG-21 was the Balalaika, the Su-25 was the Grach, the An-72 was Cheburashka etc.). The names western enthusiasts most commonly associate with them are arbitrary names assigned by NATO. The names are intentionally meant to be... unique... so they won't be mistaken for other things. In the NATO convention, the first letter of the name (usually) corresponds to the type of aircraft. Cargo planes start with C, Fighters and Attackers with F, Bombers with B, Helicopters with H, A for air to air missiles, K for air to ground missiles, S for surface to surface missiles. Russians generally don't use these, because, well, no one appreciates their ride being called Frogfoot, Fishbed or Flagon, but seem to have tacitly accepted Flanker and Fulcrum as pretty cool. 

[peirof]

hace 1 hora, near_blind dijo:

I've heard it referred to as the Tomcat, the Bombcat, the Turkey, the Flying Tennis Court, and the 'Geographic Center of any Dogfight', but I've never heard it referred to as a river. 

 

Nicknames come from any number of places. Western aircraft manufactures tend to give an aircraft a name for marketing purposes. As they get tested and put into service, a slew of other ones will arise from physical appearance, flight performance, safety records, or even word play. The Tomcat was the Turkey because it looked like a turkey with the spoilers, flaps, and speed brakes extended when landing. The Fighting Falcon started being called the Viper because it resembled a prop from a popular TV show at the time, and as the Lawn Dart because there were flame out issues with the early engines that lead to a number of crashes. You'll find most aircraft have an official name, a nick name with positive connotations from people that flew it, and one with negative connotations that comes from people that didn't fly it. 

The exception here is Soviet Aircraft. To my knowledge Soviet Design bureaus never assigned nicknames to their aircraft formally. Ground crews and pilots would generally come up with some (The MiG-21 was the Balalaika, the Su-25 was the Grach, the An-72 was Cheburashka etc.). The names western enthusiasts most commonly associate with them are arbitrary names assigned by NATO. The names are intentionally meant to be... unique... so they won't be mistaken for other things. In the NATO convention, the first letter of the name (usually) corresponds to the type of aircraft. Cargo planes start with C, Fighters and Attackers with F, Bombers with B, Helicopters with H, A for air to air missiles, K for air to ground missiles, S for surface to surface missiles. Russians generally don't use these, because, well, no one appreciates their ride being called Frogfoot, Fishbed or Flagon, but seem to have tacitly accepted Flanker and Fulcrum as pretty cool. 

 

True, mistake of tranlation F14 Rio. RIO in spanish its transladated as RIVER

[Viking 1-1]

RIO is not related to the aircraft.

 

RIO is the guy on the backseat, the "Radar Intercept Officer".

 

So videos on YouTube with "Rio" in it deal with the things happening on the backseat...

[near_blind]

Yeah, that'll do it. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by near_blind

[RaisedByWolves]

Glad to see sense was made of original post.