Werewolf or Black Shark?

[Shein]

When I was a kid growing up I played Comanche CD-ROM. In that game, the KA-50 was consistently referred to as the "Werewolf." I'm rather fond of the name, so much so that I even renamed my DCS shortcut to DCS Werewolf instead of black shark. I know the black shark is the official nickname of it now, but where do you guys stand? does anyone else miss the Werewolf name? Figured I'd make a poll and see...

Edited December 31, 2011 by Shein
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[Jona33]

Black shark for me.

[Luigi Gorgonzola]

Always Black Shark - Черная акула also sounds nicer ;)

[Macross]

Nato calls it the Kamov Ka-50 Hokum. I think black shark is better than werewolf.... werewolf makes me think of those stupid teenie movies for some reason.

[Shein]

Nato calls it the Kamov Ka-50 Hokum. I think black shark is better than werewolf.... werewolf makes me think of those stupid teenie movies for some reason.

 

yeahhhh I was afraid of that...

[OutOnTheOP]

Y'know I always thought the NATO naming scheme was a bit... random. I mean, what the *$%# is a "Hokum"?

 

Apparently, it's

1. out-and-out nonsense; bunkum.

2. elements of low comedy introduced into a play, novel, etc., for the laughs they may bring.

3. sentimental matter of an elementary or stereotyped kind introduced into a play or the like.

4. false or irrelevant material introduced into a speech, essay, etc., in order to arouse interest, excitement, or amusement.

 

 

Which is a bit.... well, random.

 

.... But I have to say, the Mi-28 "Havoc" sound pretty badass. I guess if you give enough typewriters to enough monkeys....

[Scooternutz]

How about the KA-50 Nurse Shark?

[AlphaOneSix]

On rare occasion, the Russians appear to have been quite pleased with the "random" NATO code names for their aircraft. Two that I know of offhand are the MiG-29 ("Fulcrum") and the An-124 ("Condor").

 

The names are chosen purposefully, although I have no idea regarding the specifics of individual names...Wikipedia has this to say:

 

To reduce the risk of confusion, unusual or made-up names were allocated, the idea being the names chosen would be unlikely to occur in normal conversation, and be easier to memorise.

[EtherealN]

Y'know I always thought the NATO naming scheme was a bit... random. I mean, what the *$%# is a "Hokum"?

But I have to say, the Mi-28 "Havoc" sound pretty badass. I guess if you give enough typewriters to enough monkeys....

 

Just in case: they actually are random in the sense that they really aren't related to anything specific to the aircraft (or vessel or whatever) they're assigned to. They're there to make communication clear, and (at least for aircraft) allocated in the sense that the initial letter indicates the type of aircraft. So Fulcrum, Fagot, Flogger, Fishbed, Foxbat are Fighters, Bear, Backfire and Blackjack for Bombers, Hokum, Hind, Havoc for helicopters and so on and so forth.

 

(Not saying you didn't know, but just in case. Some people tend to react to the Mig-15's reporting name and think they were being deliberately mocking, but it's actually a musical instrument. I grew up close to a street named after the same musical instrument (I lived on Guitar street), much to the amusement of some :P .)

 

For those interested:

A pretty exhaustive list can be found here, a lot of interesting ones in there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_reporting_name#Aircraft

[Smokin Hole]

What's interesting is how this community tends to ignore the NATO terminology in favor of the Russian. Thus, "shilka", "Strela", "Tunguska", "Buk", etc. I think that's a good thing.

[213]

that's because a russian company makes the game. or if a company simply wants to defer to its original name.

[Jona33]

What's interesting is how this community tends to ignore the NATO terminology in favor of the Russian. Thus, "shilka", "Strela", "Tunguska", "Buk", etc. I think that's a good thing.

 

Names are also just plain easier than Numbers and letters.

[Eddie]

What's interesting is how this community tends to ignore the NATO terminology in favor of the Russian. Thus, "shilka", "Strela", "Tunguska", "Buk", etc. I think that's a good thing.

 

I think that's mainly down to the fact that many member of the community have either come from flying Russian A/C in Lock On or are still flying Russian A/C now (BS). If it's how you learnt to operate with your first sim it's likely you'll stick with it.

 

There are also plenty of members like me who have to think about it for a few second/check google every time someone says Buk rather than Gadfly or S-300 rather than SA-10 etc.

 

To me the Ka-50 is and always will be the Hokum.

[enigma6584]

Black Shark all the way. It is a killer lurking in the weeds waiting for the opportunity to pop up and make the kill.

[213]

Names are also just plain easier than Numbers and letters.

 

what do you mean? nato also uses names.

 

i think there's a certain appeal to the nato names. not just the sound, but the fact that they tend to be rather obscure, yet short words.

[EtherealN]

Names are also just plain easier than Numbers and letters.

 

Tunguska - Grison.

Buk - Gadfly

Tor - Gauntlet

S-300 - Grumble, Gladiator, Gargoyle etcetera depending on variant.

[159th_Viper]

Tunguska - Grison.

Buk - Gadfly

 

Personally prefer the Tunguska event/Beech references to the Ferret/Annoying Fly NATO references :P

[Isegrim]

It looks more like a shark for me.

 

And its normaly painted black.

 

BLACKSHARK :yes:

[EtherealN]

And its normaly painted black.

 

Errr... No? :P

 

There is a single bird, used in airshows, that is painted black with the shark teeth. Thus: "Black Shark", as well as the bird in the TV-show. ;)

 

Operational Ka-50:

[Boberro]

I also prefer Russian names, some have nice meaning, BUK (beech tree), OSA (wasp), Shilka (Zeus, ZUS(:D)) and so on. I'd like to know more Russian names for Western equipment too.

 

As for the Ka-50 I like Black Shark or Chornaya Akula per se :D

[AlphaOneSix]

Oops, misunderstood...

[Shein]

See I always thought the cockpit looked wolf like, and the coaxial configuration is just so... mutated looking, I dont know the werewolf name always seemed fitting to me. Maybe the game I played as a kid just hard wired it into me.

[Mikoyan89]

Isegrim is right , now they are all painted black

 

http://englishrussia.com/2011/06/23/the-flight-training-centre-in-torzhok/

 

Every pics i see on internet about the kamov in Torzhok AB, show black ka 50s and they are recent pics

[Jona33]

Sorry guys, I was always thinking that Sa-11 would be used by NATO more than Gadfly rather than no names. Should have been clearer. My mistake.

[Flаnker]

In Russia, Ka50 helicopter called Black Shark (the name of the werewolf is not used).In Russia, names like Flanker, black jack, do not use

Tu160 aircraft we call the "white swan"

Edited January 2, 2012 by Flаnker