tail-dragger
n.— «They began amassing more planes, paying special attention to the more versatile models that have a third wheel in back as opposed to the front—”tail-draggers,” as they call them.» —“Flying while female: Women pilots beat odds” by Eric Kurhi Contra Costa Times (California) Sept. 20, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It’s the ultimate road trip: A father and son retrace the journey of Odysseus and find a way to navigate their relationship. Plus, the story behind the phrase a flash in the pan: It has nothing to do with cooking or gold mining. Also, what’s a...
Greg in Mena, Arkansas, says that when he was learning to be a professional pilot, one of his instructors would say, You thought like Nelly if someone had thought they were doing something correctly, but failed to. Although the phrase is not that...
This term is so common in aviation that “under documented” doesn’t really apply. I googled it and got 115,000 hits. Skipped to page 50 and the references to tailwheel equiped airplanes continued.
But can you find it in a mainstream dictionary? The argument here is that any of the conditions can apply for the term to be included here.
Also, Google hits aren’t documentation. They’re merely unvetted uses.