Tuesday Trivia - What's In a Name?

Not to rehash old news, this is a trivia post after all, but for those that didn't know, the 10th of 55 35 32 Littoral Combat Ships Fast Frigates has been named for the former US Congresswoman from Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords.  When this was announced in 2012, it wasn't well received by many people in and out of the Navy, including me, because of the clear politicization going on with the ship naming conventions.  I tend to think a ship should be named after past ships, founding fathers, long-dead Presidents, Naval Heroes/MOH Awardees, cities, and states.  END OF LIST.  I wish we could still use strong adjectives like Intrepid, Valiant, Stalwart, and the like, but I digress.  Nothing against Ms. Giffords, and what happened to her was tragic, but her accomplishments don't compare to the politicians who've had ships named after them, even if her husband is a Naval Astronaut.

To give you a little "Inside Baseball" on this decision, it was done following well-publicized reports of heavy corrosion on both ships, and some scathing scrutiny by certain Congressmen.  SECNAV naming a ship after the then-darling of the Democratic Party probably didn't save the ship class from being cut, but it probably guaranteed we'd get at least 10 of them.  "Gutsiest move I ever saw man" even if I don't like the move in the first place.

Naming our weapon systems after Politicos falls squarely on the Navy brass, done to curry favor and make strategic political gains, and can really only happen in the Navy.  It's not like we can name the next Army tank after Harry Reid, or a USAF fighter or bomber after Condi Rice or Hillary Clinton. Having (expensive) capital ships, and the politics that comes with them, that's a burden the Navy alone must bear.  By the way- PMRF is being renamed for Sen. Inouye.

Thanks be to God, King Neptune, or Curtis LeMay however, we're still able to bless our Military aircraft with cool names.  That being said, I'll get on with why I've gathered you all here today.

Tuna's Tuesday Trivia for today has to be a little different.  Usually, (Usually?  Ok, it's only been 3 weeks) I post a bunch of pictures followed by questions, but that would give away all the answers and ruin the concept I've planned for you willing participants.  So, I'll minimize the picture posting a bit, and make you actually read something.  At some point we all had to transition from picture books to reading books, and the same goes for Tuna's Tuesday Trivia, at least for this week.

Easy peasy today- I give you a category and you guess some names of aircraft that fit the category. Some of the rules- first off, my quiz, my rules- and I will break my rules.  Next, in general, one name per aircraft- foreign versions or the name given to it by another service don't count.  For example, if I asked you to give me an aircraft with the same name as a warship-  the B-66 Destroyer would fit, but it's a derivative of the A3D Skywarrior and I only award points for the original.  The Wild Weasel wouldn't work either- it's just a moniker.  However, my first rule will almost certainly apply in some instances.  It's an open book internet test (but you won't have fun if you look up every answer,) so no complaining! You may take up your concerns with Sarge however, as I expect he has a soft side for whiners.  By the way, same name but different airframe?  Go right ahead.  By the way, you'll need paper and pen for this one.  Be sure to put your name and classroom in the upper right hand corner.  Number your pages from 1 to 74!

Shall we begin?

Northrop P-61 Black Widow

1. Give me 9 aircraft that are named after things that might give you the willies- you know, reptiles, insects, creepy crawly things, and the like.

2. There's a bunch of aircraft that were given names that could be a person, such as the A-12 “Avenger” or Northrop F-15 Reporter (P-61 photo-recon variant).  See, I picked that one so you won't have to break my rule.  I'm helpful that way!  Choose 15 aircraft that fit that category.

3. Some companies named many of their aircraft after supernatural phenomena- give me 10 birds that fit that category or could be considered fictional beings or characters.

Sorry, not an airplane.

Nice effort, but the HH-3E Jolly Green Giant is just a variant.

4. How about animals?  Everybody likes animals!  Give me 7 airplanes named after land animals -no fish, puppies or cute little kittens, at least not domesticated ones.

 

                                                                               SEPECAT Jaguar                                                          Wikipedia

5.  There aren't too many aircraft named for places, but can you give me 2 aircraft named after islands?  Extra credit point for a third that breaks the rules, but completes the shape.

Grumman J2F Duck

6.  What about waterfowl?  Two please.

                                                                                     EF-111A Raven                                                                       Wikipedia

7.  You can't quoth the Raven, nevermore- because it's another variant, but give me 6 other airplanes named after birds.  Stay away from bird-related names like this:

8.  Now figure out 2 named for ships, and 2 named for dogs.

It's not a Phrog, it's a water dog! A CH-113 Labrador to be exact, but a Canuck variant of the Sea-Knight

9.  While nearly every military aircraft could be considered a weapon, there are a few that are actually named for weapons- give me 3 of them.  Andrew Luck isn't an airplane.

10.  Lockheed had a habit of naming many of their aircraft after celestial objects.  While there may be some duplicates with other categories, that's within the rules.  Name 10 of them.

11.  Almost done.  4 planes with Cat in their name.

Extra Credit- name an airplane that could be a plant or a person from a swing state.
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Well, that's the end of today's trivia, and the sun's going down out here on the West Coast so I'll sign off and send this to the publisher.

Oh, sorry, you wanted answers?

1.  Bugs and stuff: Bell P-39 Airacobra Bell AH-1 Cobra Douglas B-21 Dragon (Reptile, Fictional) Lockheed F-22 Raptor Northrop F-89 Scorpion Boeing F/A-18 Hornet Piper L-4 Grasshopper Sikorsky H-5 Dragonfly

2. People: Curtiss C-46 Commando Boeing Stearman PT-13 Kaydet Consolidated B-24 Liberator Martin B-26 Marauder Consolidated PBN-1 Nomad Stinson L-5 Sentinel Consolidated B-32 Terminator North American (NA) AT-6 Texan Vought F8U Crusader Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter Grumman AF Guardian Convair B-58 Hustler Grumman A-6 Intruder Beechcraft T-34 Mentor Convair C-131 Samaritan Grumman S-2F Tracker NA T-28 Trojan NA A3J Vigilante Lockheed (LH) S-3 Viking Grumman EA-6B Prowler.  Subtract 2 points each for Predator, Pioneer, Integrator.

3. The unreal: Douglas A-24 Banshee LH P2V Neptune Boeing P-8 Poseidon Boeing E-6 Mercury McDonnell F-101 Voodoo LH ES-3A Shadow (acceptable only because it’s the exception to my rule) LH AC-130E Spectre (too cool to leave out) Northrop B-2 Spirit McDonnell F-3 Demon McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom LH C-130 Hercules.  You lose 2 points for Reaper.

4. Animals: Brewster F2A Buffalo GD F-111 Aardvark (may not be original name) NA OV-10 Bronco NA P-51 Mustang Grumman F9F Panther Grumman F-9 Cougar Northrop F-5E Tiger II De Havilland C-7 Caribou Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion is acceptable as the Sea doesn't make it a compound word.

5. Islands: Consolidated PB2Y Coronado Consolidated PBY Catalina.  Brewster A-34 Bermuda 

6. Waterbirds: Grumman J4F Goose Grumman UH-16 Albatross HH-3F Pelican (Derivative)

J4F Widgeon (smaller version of the Duck)

7. Birds: Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey Douglas AV-8B Harrier GD F-16 Fighting Falcon McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle Cessna T-37 Tweety Bird SR-71 Blackbird (non-official name) McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk (see my rules).  Minus 10 if you wrote down Global Hawk.

 8. Dogs and ships: Boeing-Vertol CH-113 Labrador Kaman H-43 Huskie Grumman C-2 Greyhound Boeing C-40 Clipper Vought F4U Corsair Vought A-7 Corsair II 

9. Weps: F-86 Sabre and NA F-100 Super Sabre Convair B-36 Peacemaker

10. Starry stuff: C-121 Super Constellation C-141 Starlifter F-104 Starfighter P80 Shooting Star F-104 Starfighter C-141 Starlifter C-121 Super Connie RC-121 Warning Star C-5 Galaxy C-130 Hercules P-3 Orion C-69 Constellation P2V Neptune.  No points for Aries, Arcturus, and Aurora (CAN Orion variants).

11. Kitty cats: Hellcat Wildcat Bearcat Tomcat

Extra Credit Rockwell T-2 Buckeye (Ohioan/Nut)

You might have others, credit will be given for other answers as long as they follow the rules.  There's probably a bunch of foreign ones I don't really care about- like French Mirages, Gazelles, Moths and Camels. Sorry, call me an Air-ist or Plane-ist.

Highest score gets 3 hip-hip hoorays and a hearty pat on the back.

Here's a couple Huskies (Huske) to close it out- found them in the livery of all five Armed Services by the way.