Hurtling Wings Glossary

Stories from the Golden Age reflect the words and expressions used in the 1930s and 1940s, adding unique flavor and authenticity to the tales. While a character’s speech may often reflect regional origins, it also can convey attitudes common in the day. So that readers can better grasp such cultural and historical terms, uncommon words or expressions of the era, the following glossary has been provided.

ailerons: hinged flaps on the trailing edge of an aircraft wing, used to control banking movements.

altimeter: a gauge that measures altitude.

Andes: a mountain range that extends the length of the western coast of South America.

ballyhoo artist: someone who uses exaggerated or lurid material in order to gain public attention.

banshees: (Irish legend) female spirits whose wailing warns of a death in a house.

barograph: a barometer that automatically records on paper the variations in atmospheric pressure.

Chi: Chicago.

choom: (Lapp) a tent made of skins or bark.

cock-and-bull story: a tale so full of improbable details and embellishments that it is obviously not true.

cowl or cowling: the removable metal housing of an aircraft engine, often designed as part of the airplane’s body, containing the cockpit, passenger seating and cargo but excluding the wings.

Department of Commerce: 1. the department of the US federal government that promotes and administers domestic and foreign commerce. In 1926, Congress passed an Air Commerce Act that gave the US Department of Commerce some regulation over air facilities, the authority to establish air traffic rules and the authority to issue licenses and certificates. 2. the department of the US federal government that promotes and administers domestic and foreign commerce.

Duralumin: a strong low-density aluminum alloy used especially in aircraft.

Fokker D.XXI: a fighter plane designed in 1935 and used by the Finnish Air Force in the early years of World War II. Designed as a cheap and small but rugged plane, they were very suitable for the Finnish winter conditions. They performed better and for much longer than other fighter planes acquired prior to the start of the war, and were more evenly matched with the fighter planes of the Soviet Air Force.

Gabriel: the archangel who will blow a sacred trumpet or horn to announce Judgment Day.

Galahad: Sir Galahad; the noblest knight of the Round Table, who succeeded in his quest for the Holy Grail (cup or plate that possessed miraculous powers; according to medieval legend it was used by Jesus at the Last Supper and later became sought by medieval knights). Upon this achievement, he was taken up into heaven, leaving behind two companions and fellow knights who also sought the Holy Grail.

G-men: government men; agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

ground loop: to cause an aircraft to ground loop, or make a sharp horizontal turn when taxiing, landing or taking off.

hook, on his own: by oneself; independently.

Ilmavoimat, Lentorykmentti: (Finnish) a flying regiment in the air force.

jack: money.

jalopies: outdated, often mechanically inferior models (as of airplanes).

jaspers: fellows; guys.

jury strut: a strut that keeps an aircraft’s wings from bowing or snapping when air pressure pushes down on them.

lam: to escape or run away, especially from the law.

Lapland: a region of extreme northern Europe including northern Norway, Sweden and Finland and the Kola Peninsula of northwest Russia. It is largely within the Arctic Circle.

mazuma: money.

Mercury VII: type of engine in the Fokker D.XXI plane.

militzka: (Samoyed, the language of the nomadic peoples of northern Siberia) winter coat made of reindeer hide.

monoplane: an airplane with one sustaining surface or one set of wings.

motor cannon: a type of gun that shoots through the propeller hub of a fighter plane.

mouthpiece: a lawyer, especially a criminal lawyer.

NAA: National Aeronautics Association; established in 1922 as a nonprofit organization “dedicated to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation in the United States.” It is the official record-keeper for US aviation and provides observers and compiles the data necessary to certify aviation and spaceflight records of all kinds.

Percivale, Sir: a knight of the Round Table who sought the Holy Grail (cup or plate that possessed miraculous powers; according to medieval legend it was used by Jesus at the Last Supper and later became sought by medieval knights).

pimmies: (Samoyed, the language of the nomadic peoples of northern Siberia) boots made of deerskin.

prop wash: the disturbed mass of air pushed aft by the propeller of an aircraft.

Puhjola: borrowed from Pohjola in Finnish mythology, it means “the home of the north” though the term is quite vague and without geographical significance. It is considered to be the land of heroes.

pylons: towers marking turning points in a race among aircraft.

rattler: a fast freight train.

roadster: an open-top automobile with a single seat in front for two or three persons, a fabric top and either a luggage compartment or a rumble seat in back. A rumble seat is an upholstered exterior seat with a hinged lid that opens to form the back of the seat when in use.

rod: another name for a handgun.

rudder: a device used to steer ships or aircraft. A rudder is a flat plane or sheet of material attached with hinges to the craft’s stern or tail. In typical aircraft, pedals operate rudders via mechanical linkages.

Scheherazade: the female narrator of The Arabian Nights, who during one thousand and one adventurous nights saved her life by entertaining her husband, the king, with stories.

shrouds: the ropes connecting the harness and canopy of a parachute.

skidded: (of an airplane) moved sideways in a turn because of insufficient banking.

slipstream: the airstream pushed back by a revolving aircraft propeller.

smeared: smashed.

snap rolled: (of an aircraft) quickly rolled about its longitudinal axis while flying horizontally.

spike your guns: to spoil someone’s plans. The phrase “spike a gun” comes from rendering a cannon useless by driving a spike into the touchhole where the cannon powder is ignited.

stabilizer: a device that provides aircraft stability and longitudinal balance in flight, using horizontal and vertical stabilizers (fins) that are similar to the aircraft wing in structural design and function of providing lift at an angle to the wind.

stall: a situation in which an aircraft suddenly dives because the airflow is obstructed and lift is lost. The loss of airflow can be caused by insufficient airspeed or by an excessive angle of an airfoil (part of an aircraft’s surface that provides lift or control) when the aircraft is climbing.

tachometers: devices used to determine speed of rotation, typically of an engine’s crankshaft, usually measured in revolutions per minute.

tarmac: airport runway.

three points: three-point landing; an airplane landing in which the two main wheels and the nose wheel all touch the ground simultaneously.

turtleback: the part of the airplane behind the cockpit that is shaped like the back of a turtle.

Valhalla: (Norse mythology) the great hall where the souls of heroes killed in battle spend eternity.

Wind Mother: (Latvian mythology) Goddess of the Wind. Latvians called all their gods “father” and all their goddesses “mother.” They pictured all their deities as parents. Latvia is a country in northern Europe along the shores of the Baltic Sea.