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. Transcript of...
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...
To lose the bubble means “to lose track” or “lose one’s bearings,” and refers to the bubble in an inclinometer on an airplane or ship, much like the bubble in a carpenter’s level. It’s described in detail in...
Melissa from New Orleans, Louisiana, found herself catching flak after suggesting at Thanksgiving dinner that her family say what they were grateful for. The word traces to German anti-aircraft guns, Fliegerabwehrkanone, literally “pilot-warding-off...
Back in the 1930s, airplane pilots didn’t have sophisticated instruments to tell them which way was up. When flying through clouds, they literally relied on changes in the vibrations in their seat to help them stay on course, flying by the...
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)