Number 4: Antonov AN-22, Nickname ‘Cock’
Ok, so we’ll admit that it isn’t the AN-22’s official nickname. It’s official nickname is Антей which translates to Antaeus. Antaeus was the son of two Greek gods, most notably his mother represented the Earth. Antaeus had a reputation for challenging others to wresting…and as you would guess with such prominent genes, he killed his challengers in the end.
With all that greek mythology, NATO simply decided to call the AN-22 ‘cock’. Yeah, the word for a male chicken or a guy’s junk was deemed synonymous with a Ukrainian oversized C-130 that has four contra-rotrating props, two tails, and about as much cargo capacity as a Boeing C-17 jet. As we recently profiled the cargo plane, there are only six AN-22s still in service. And Antonov Airlines has the only civilian aircraft still flying outsized cargo around the world.
A-7 Corsair II. SLUF Short Little Ugle F**k
The DC 10. Diesel 10.
Douglas A3D Skywarrior
8
The USAF version (B-66) was nicknamed the “Suey”.
Beechcraft Bonanza: “Fork-tailed Doctor Killer.” (Unfair, IMO)
SB2C Helldiver: “Son of a B***h Second Class”
C-130 Hercules: “Eastern European Whisper Jet” (according to Air Force Magazine cartoonist Bob Stevens)
F-16: “Lawn Dart”
Fairey Swordfish: “Stringbag”
F-18 Hornet: “Plastic Bug”
Cessna Skymaster: “Mixmaster”
Cessna 150….Cesspool One Filthy
T-37 Tweet…Converter (Converts fuel to noise!)
Piper Tomahawk….Traumahawk
Cessna Citation…Slowtation
Learjet 23 – Pocket Rocket
C-119 – Flying Boxcar (actually that’s it’s official name!)
G-1 – Hummin’ Grumman
A-10 – Warthog
F-105 – Thud
ATR 42/72 – Franco-Italian Death Machine