Do you name your plane?

tawood

tawood

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Tim
In my younger days, I never thought to name my planes...but the recent past 2 I've owned I have...or I should say, my girlfriend and I have.

My Cessna 150, she named "Roxanne", because of the bright red interior lighting for night use (think of The Police song, "Roxanne", you don't have to put on the red light).

The Piper Cherokee I bought last week has already been named Gigi, short for "Ghigau". A bit long to explain, but if you're interested you can look up the rationale here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghigau

How about you? Do you name the plane you own/rent/fly?
 
Five months into what turned out to be a seven-month, post-buy, owner-assisted annual, my wife named our Comanche "Missy".

The only mistress I was allowed to have
 
Mine has a name.....it's in 12" letters on the rear third of the airplane. Everyone knows it, even the FAA.
 
Haven't thought of a good name yet for my 8A. Waiting for the muse to strike. Gertie might do. Lord knows she's old enough for that to suit.

I have named one or two of my better bikes. Rosie is one.
 
I refer to the lance I rent as "The Beast".
 
Since we live in Mexico: La Naranja Danzante (The Dancing Orange)
 
Of course.

Warrior was "Baby".

Ercoupe was "Sweetie".

Pathfinder was "Atlas".

RV-8A is "Amelia".

Each had/has their own personality.
 
azure said:
My Cardinal is "the Branded Bird". Anyone who has seen it knows why.
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Any chance you bought Tom Benenson's old Cardinal? :)
FLY0410_arwk_1000x674.jpg
 
Amongst my friends and myself, we always just call it "Juliet Delta" or "1 JD" pronounced "one Jay-Dee" because of the tail number N291JD.
 
I think @SCCutler coined mine the "Wooden Wonder", thanks to the wings' primary structure...and the remarkable capabilities she has afforded me in the last 17 years.

She has been called many other names during her tenure. Not always nice ones, and sometimes by me. Usually that is when I am oh... bashing my knuckles / unable to reach a nut on an engine accessory or something unrelated to components stamped "Bellanca".....so that is not really fair to the old girl.
And, she is still wincing over the equally unfair moniker "Termite Tenement" although I tell her to not take it personally!
 
Ha. I have heard the wooden wonder as well for mine. My wife thought "Ruthgar" was a good Viking sounding name... So it stuck. Now our little one points up at any plane and tells us it's Ruthgar! :)
 
Cats? Yes. The striped one is named "Spot".
Birds? Yes. Had a pair of short coupled black masked love birds, "Grumman" and "Northrup".
Dogs? Yes (only if in a rare creative mood)
Even my pick-up truck...named it Leroy (seemed to fit).

Planes? No.
 
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A mechanic named the Frankenkota. I've shortened it to 'Kota.
 
I'm starting to call the club 172 Yellow Elephant. Tail numbers end in YE and that name came out in a discussion about how not to talk on the radio if you wanted to fly over ATL north to south.
 
The grey one....over there.
 
Anyone actually put the name on the cowl, like they did in WWII?

My last name is "Wood", and I've always wanted a Woody Woodpecker on my cowl...but then I'd call the plane "Wood's Pecker", which might be taking things too far!
 
tawood said:
Anyone actually put the name on the cowl, like they did in WWII?

My last name is "Wood", and I've always wanted a Woody Woodpecker on my cowl...but then I'd call the plane "Wood's Pecker", which might be taking things too far!
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Nah, I don't think so......you should definitely do it!!
 
I've never named any of my vehicles outside of "The _______" where ________ is the model.
 
My wife calls my plane "70's Bush". It's got the awesome 70's paint job, and if it was a real woman in the 70's, it wouldn't be "waxed", if you get my meaning.
 
EdFred said:
I've never named any of my vehicles outside of "The _______" where ________ is the model.
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That's just asking for the sea gods to smite you if you apply that thinking to boats. ;) Our boat is named "Heart & Soul" to make sure we keep on Poseidon's good side.
 
My RV is named "Candy" because my sister-in-law said the wheel pants look like candy corns. The club planes follow the EdFred method.
 
SoonerAviator said:
That's just asking for the sea gods to smite you if you apply that thinking to boats. ;) Our boat is named "Heart & Soul" to make sure we keep on Poseidon's good side.
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Lots of oceans in Oklahoma?
 
We call the 182RG 'Phoebe'. Back-story....I'm retired law enforcement, and we locals used to annoy the hell out of FBI agents by calling them 'Phoebe's'....as in 'Phoebe (FBI) is en route the crime scene' or whatever.

Our girl is ex-FBI-owned, and came complete with a bullet hole....decal applied by an FBI pilot with a sense of humor, no doubt. She's led an interesting life. Logs show she was serviced once in Puerto Rico.

Jim

PS- Citabria is just 'the Champ'
 
The plane: "The plane"
The motorcycle: "The motorcycle"
The car: "The car"
The truck: "The truck"
 
Sac Arrow said:
The plane: "The plane"
The motorcycle: "The motorcycle"
The car: "The car"
The truck: "The truck"
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What if you have more than one? I currently have 3 motorcycles in the garage.
 
EdFred said:
What if you have more than one? I currently have 3 motorcycles in the garage.
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When I still had two bikes, it was:

The gsxr: "The Suzuki"
The 1200RT: "The BMW"
 
EdFred said:
What if you have more than one? I currently have 3 motorcycles in the garage.
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I'd be willing to bet that if there's more than one, then the color becomes part of the name: "The red motorcycle, the blue motorcycle, etc."
 

The significant other: "The girlfriend"
The wife: "The wife"
 
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