WWII Aviation "Slanguage"

WWII AVIATION SLANGUAGE
from the booklet I've Got Wings!

Ace - a combat pilot with five or more victories.
Blanket Drill - sleeping.
Blind Flying - a date with a girl you've never seen.
Bumps - the effect of updrafts and downdrafts encountered in flight.
Bunk Flying - talking aviation in quarters.
Buzzing - flying dangerously low over people or property on the ground; (taboo).
Caterpillar Club - a jump for life in a parachute qualifies for membership.
Chinese Landing - one wing low.
Clinker - a poorly executed maneuver.
Conservatory - a power-operated, glass-enclosed machine gun turret
Contact - a warning called out by the pilot to inform the mechanic the ignition switch is on.
Cracking Good Show - highest possible praise of a performance.
Dead Stick - gliding plane, after the engine has conked.
Dogfight - combat between two planes.
Drive It In The Hangar - stop talking aviation.
Dummer - a bonehead act.
Dust Bin - underside rear gun turret in an enemy aircraft.
Eggs - bombs.
Fat Friends - balloons.
Flak - anti-aircraft fire.
Flying The Iron Beam or - Iron Compass - pilot flying along railroad.
Flying Pig - aerial torpedo.
Flying the Gauges - instrument flying.
Gain Some Altitude - come to a more erect standing or sitting position. Used to correct the "civilian slouch" in new cadets.
Geese - enemy bomber formation.
Get Eager - do your best; strive to the utmost.
Give It The Gun - advance the throttle to accelerate engine speed.
Glasshouse - power operated turret.
Go Into A Tailspin - get mad.
Going Upstairs - gaining altitude, climbing.
Good Show - a commendable action.
Grab A Brace - come to a position of super attention; usually directed of new cadets.
Hangar Pilot - mechanic who talks a great flight.
Hedge Hopping - low flying.
He's In A Flat Spin - a bit touched.
Hit The Deck - when an aviator lands.
Hitting The Silk - to make a parachute jump.
Hot Crate - a speedy plane.
H. P. - a hot pilot.
Jinking - dodging anti-aircraft fire.
Lame Duck - damaged plane.
Laying The Eggs - dropping bombs.
Life Saver - a parachute.
Mustard - smart pilot.
Office - the pilot's cockpit, usually in a large airplane.
Onions - flaring anti-aircraft shells.
Overshoot - to glide beyond the landing field before landing.
Pea Shooters - the high-powered planes of the Air Forces.
Pulpit - the cockpit.
Ready Room - the room where pilots on duty assemble, ready for instant call to action.
Reef Back - pull back the stick in flying a plane.
Roll Up Your Flaps - stop talking.
Shoot Landings - to acquire practice in landing a plane.
Short Snorter - a member of an unofficial flyers' club, each member of which carries a one dollar bill autographed by fellow short snorters. Any members being unable to show the bill upon request of a fellow member, must forfeit a comparable bill or note to each short snorter present.
Shot Down In Flames - jilted by a girlfriend.
Show - action in the air.
Slop On The Coal - open the throttle to give a plane more gas.
Solo - flying alone; hence doing anything else without company.
Spin Off - take a nap; or go to bed.
Spit Curl - a side slip in a plane.
Sugar Report - a letter to or from a girlfriend.
Tear Off A Strip - to give someone a bawling out.
Tin Fish - an aerial torpedo.
Woofing - the telling of tall tales.