A barn find is a classic car that has been discovered after being stored for a long period in a place such as a barn or shed. The term also applies to similarly stored motorcycles and aircraft. This is part of a complete episode.
Skip, a sailing enthusiast from Gainesville, Florida, has been pondering radio protocols, such as the distress signal mayday!, and sécurité, which announces any of various warnings. There’s also pan-pan, repeated three times, a call that...
Why do we refer to “testing or going beyond limits” as pushing the envelope? In aeronautics, to push the envelope means to try to go past the edge of the aircraft’s perceived capability. In the 1980s, the phrase was popularized by...
cow’s head
n.— «Cow’s head: Refuel coupling on an aircraft.» —“Airport Lingo” by Raphael Sheffield Southwest Airlines Blog/Nuts About Southwest Dec. 10, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
SUV of the sky n.— «Small private planes known as “very light jets,” or VLJs, are starting to show up in the sky and on the tarmacs of small local airports.…Displays of the aircraft, called the “SUVs of the...
armchair pilot n. a person who talks about, studies, or directs airplane flying, but is not qualified to, or does not, handle the controls; an aviation enthusiast. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)