This series of definitions is not
meant to be comprehensive but rather an aid to help fiction writers make their
characters’ dialog sound “authentic.” Some words are occupational slang.
Recording studio musicians for example hate “clams” (sour notes). Others are
basic terms. To a sailor a hold is where cargo is stowed aboard a ship. To a
gambler a hold is the bet percentage held back by a casino.
We’ll start with a few aviation
words. An airline pilot for example won’t fly his plane’s barber pole when
stacked in a daisy chain filled with bug smashers.
Michael McKeever
AIRLINE
PILOTS
barber pole: aircraft’s top speed.
bug smasher:small
private aircraft.
daisy chain: aircraft lined up waiting to take off or
circling, waiting to land.
dogs: passengers.
Fat Albert: Boeing 747.
Indian: small private aircraft.
slam dunk: steep landing approach.
AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROLLERS:
coasting: computer stops tracking moving aircraft,
showing last known position.
deal: error by controller causing near
miss.
down the
pipes: said of a burned-out, badly stressed controller.
hand off: passing aircraft from one controller’s
screen to next.
NMAC
(pronounced en-mac); midair collision.
picture: understanding everything on the
screen, “got the picture.”
pumping tin: directing aircraft.
pull off the
scopes: remove an error-prone controller from his position.
scattering: data wipeout on screen from computer
overload.
target: block of symbols on screen with an aircraft’s speed,
altitude and heading.
TCA: Terminal Control Area, regulated
airspace around airport.
tin: aircraft.
TRACON: Terminal Radar Control, controllers who guide aircraft
approaches and departures.
triple x: altitude data wipeout leaving the x’s in its place on
screen caused by computer overload.
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