
Plane Language
The Alternative Dictionary of Aviation
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Narrated by:
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Virtual Voice
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By:
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John Horton

This title uses virtual voice narration
Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks.
About this listen
Part One explores the whole language and culture of aviation, from the birth of the very word aeroplane itself (and why Americans prefer airplane) to the origins and meanings of such terms as Blimp, Flak, Chaff, Archie, Balbo & Guzomee Bird.
Part Two comprises over a thousand separate entries, is packed with fun facts and anecdotes, and examines aviation nicknames and colloquial terms, changed names, fictional names, and the names of rare and lesser-known variants.
Part Three examines American naming policies, why so many followed British practice, and how they only really came into their own after Pearl Harbor.
Part Four picks apart the successive byzantine British naming systems that gave rise to such titles as English Electric Eclectic and Boulton & Paul Bobolink, and saw fighters bizarrely named after game birds .
Part Five describes the complex Japanese aircraft naming/designation systems, and how a group of Americans in Australia came up with WWII reporting names like "Betty, Mavis & Frank" that we still use today.
Part Six is arguably the the most comprehensive listing to date of Western/NATO reporting names for Soviet & Chinese aircraft, exploring the methodology behind such weird names as Fagot & Frogfoot, Cock & Cookpot. And what was the Fearless?
Plane Language is an aviation book like no other, both informative and entertaining; a book that you will delve into over and over again. (Includes some historic language and/or cultural stereotypes that may be inconsistent with today's standards.)
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