Why is it “the ramp”?

denverpilot

denverpilot

Tied Down
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
55,483
Location
Denver, CO
Display Name
Display name:
DenverPilot
Just realized I don’t know. Usually a ramp has a slope to it; never seen much intentional slope to any airport ramp.

So where did this term come from, oh history loving PoA denizens? Anybody know?

I’m probably missing something obvious. :)
 
BMWTSONK beat me with the stick of not knowing

Nate good question! MauleSkinner good answer!
 
MauleSkinner said:
That’s where they pulled the seaplanes out of the water to park them before airports were common.



He said with a straight face.
Click to expand...

That might actually be a plausible explanation. After all, for an airport, "ramp" is synonymous with "apron," and the dictionary says that one of the meanings of "apron" is "the area along the waterfront edge of a pier or wharf"
 
Much of aviation has maritime origins. Airport, cockpit, pilot, steward / stewardess, captain, first officer, flight deck,... Even airline flight crew uniforms are derived from traditional oceanliner uniforms. Hey, that’s another one: oceanliner / airliner. Our nav light colors are the same, as well.

Had aviation derived terms from ground transportation, airports might be air depots, pilots might be drivers, stewards and stewardesses might be conductors,...
 
Half Fast said:
Location of the vessel controls on a ship.
Click to expand...
FYI: Just about every term in aviation can be traced back to nautical terms. The Navy was "politically" the most powerful service at the time of the Wright's flight and actually tried to control the expansion of aviation. Ballast, waterline, starboard, port, propeller, forward, aft, etc. are a few more. There's a book out there that provides an A-Z listing of these terms.
 
Before extendable bridge gates, passenger were loaded via a ramp. Cargo is still loaded that way today. Ramp is short for ramp area -the place with the ramps.
 
Before the proliferation of airports, many pilots used racetracks and fairgrounds because they had relatively large, clear, flat areas. The ramp area is where they did the motorcycle stunts.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Before the proliferation of airports, many pilots used racetracks and fairgrounds because they had relatively large, clear, flat areas. The ramp area is where they did the motorcycle stunts.
Click to expand...

Apron (Ramp). A defined area on an airport intended to accommodate aircraft for purposes of loading or unloading passengers or cargo, refueling, parking, or maintenance. Now, the apron includes parking, maintenance and service areas, including taxi lanes
 
bobmrg said:
On a boat, maybe. In 20 years of USCG service I never heard of the steering station/helm on a ship referred to as "the cockpit," just "the bridge."
Click to expand...
The open self bailing "tub" area of smaller sailing vessels where the tiller or wheel is located is called the cockpit. In fact, as a small boat sailor for sixty years I've never heard it called anything else.

Cockpit (sailing) | Wikipedia
 
Last edited:
Ryanb said:
“The term ‘Ramp‘ traces its roots back to the days of seaplanes when there literally was a ramp from the water to the terminal parking area. The historical usage of the term ramp has not left the lexicon of airport terminology in the U.S., despite the official change in terminology.”

Source: https://flyingwithfish.boardingarea.com/2013/01/19/airport-lingo-ramp-vs-apron-vs-tarmac/

Best I could find! ;)
Click to expand...

The OED supports this etymology. The use of seaplane base ramps as parking areas for those planes predates its appearance in other documents. It's an American derivation.
 
Stan Cooper said:
The open self bailing "tub" area of smaller sailing vessels where the tiller or wheel is located is called the cockpit. In fact, as a small boat sailor for sixty years I've never heard it called anything else.
Click to expand...
There's an older nautical use for this unrelated to boat control, but this one comes from 1691. It's was also used to describe the seating part of a canoe. Both predate aviation by centuries.

In fact, describing the driving position of early cars as a cockpit predates its use in aircraft by a few years.
 
The Wikipedia history of the term "cockpit" says it's derived from the Royal Navy, and is where the coxswain (the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering) was stationed.
 
The cockpit was where the coxswain sat or stood (in a pit). Coxpit which morphed into cockpit.

The origin of "bridge" is really interesting. :)
 
Half Fast said:
Much of aviation has maritime origins. Airport, cockpit, pilot, steward / stewardess, captain, first officer, flight deck,... Even airline flight crew uniforms are derived from traditional oceanliner uniforms. Hey, that’s another one: oceanliner / airliner. Our nav light colors are the same, as well.

Had aviation derived terms from ground transportation, airports might be air depots, pilots might be drivers, stewards and stewardesses might be conductors,...
Click to expand...

Also, airship, rudder!, “landing”, heading?
 
Does anyone have some relative bearing grease?

Friend from high school who is now Capt at UAL was an early US Navy female pilot who calls it the box office;)
 
And do not even try to substitute magnetic bearing grease...been known to cause explosive decompression and make both wings depart the airframe:eek:
 
I started with the Air Force; we called it the flightline. When I got into GA and heard ramp, I was looking for a sloped surface somewhere, as in a particular place, perhaps in the vicinity of aircraft parking. Gradually concluded that's all it meant - where the airplanes were parked.
 
donjohnston said:
The cockpit was where the coxswain sat or stood (in a pit). Coxpit which morphed into cockpit.
Click to expand...
I'd guess that the term "cockpit" for the "pit" stemmed from its similarity to small arenas used for rooster-fighting. "Cock-fighting" is the proper term, of course, but I ain't handing this crowd THAT good of a setup.....

Ron Wanttaja
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top