The F-35’s New, Much Better Nickname is “Panther”

Popular Mechanics ^ | 05/21/18 | Kyle Mizokami

[sparklite2]

Me, too. The Tomcat has style.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

I thought “Possum” would be a good choice.

[jagusafr]

F-111 Aardvark - one of my faves. Of course, it couldn’t do a loop or fly upside down for more than 4 seconds, but the green bags called themselves fighter pilots...

[BlueLancer]

I thought “Possum” would be a good choice.

Sorry, that one's taken ..

[FrankR]

Oh...calling it “panther” would trigger too many people.
That would be racist.

How about “Jaguar”, instead? Or “cougar”? Anything but “panther”.

[libstripper]

“Panther” LOL. The Nazis’ most advanced tank, toward the end of WW II, was the Panther. Must have a bunch of unreconstructed neo-Nazis naming the plane.

[libstripper]

One more LOL. You beat me to it with your Panther.

[Harpotoo]

Israel has proven their combat readiness with their 2 strikes on Iranian bases in Syria!

[Kommodor]

Beautiful plane, but I somewhat prefer the Tigercat.

[Mr. Blond]

The Lightning 3 will come to be considered the best of the trilogy.

[rlmorel]

LOL, I used to LOVE seeing the "Anytime Baby" patch on their flight suits (the twin tails...:)

[DesertRhino]

They should call it the moonpig, in honor of it’s abysmal weight/thrust/wing loading compared to the F-15...and it’s low end top speed and inability to carry a load.

[DesertRhino]

“Israel has proven their combat readiness with their 2 strikes on Iranian bases in Syria!”

You must be joking. Flying 75 miles to the target, against the Syrian air force is hardly “proving” it’s combat readiness.

[Harpotoo]

I thought syria was protected by the vaunted ruskie s-300 & S-400 anti-aircraft/missile systems?

[nuke_road_warrior]

This follows a long history of American warplanes receiving nicknames that become much more popular than their official names. . .

Most of the nicknames that Pilots and Maintenance crew have come up with are not very complementary a many can't be repeated in polite company. e.g. "Flying Edsel F/B-111, "Thunder Thud" F-105, "Ground Hog" F-84 and F-105, "Whistling S**tcan" and "All three Dead" A3D.

[Chode]

thank you...

[rlmorel]

Yes...a pretty cool plane. I saw one at Oshkosh one time, I was AMAZED at the size of the engines vs. the size of the fuselage and wings...looked like two great big engines with a plane built around it!

Grumman F-7F Tigercat Demonstration - 4,000+ Horsepower !

Heh, Aviation based Chubby coming up!

[rlmorel]

But of course!

[rlmorel]

Hahahaha...A3D...the “Whale”...:)

I worked on the SLUF (Short Little Ugly F******) (A7)