Origin of the name Jenny for the Curtiss Aeroplane

[Cigogne]

Prior to the introduction of the JN4 there was the JN2 and JN3 models that were similar in design.

[Boom]

Actually, Jenny is one of those airplane names that are obvious once their designation is known. Say J.N. several times. Closest example from Great War I can think of is Harry Tate for the RE-8. More recently, the 1st Grumman fighter was desig FF-1 and called Fifi. Grumman's ASW airplane (still in use as fire fighter) S2F became Stoof. In my time, we never called the LTV F-8 anything but the Fate. Plus the in-the-news B-1 bomber is the Bone; B-One, gettit?

cheers, Boom

[Testerchild]

Just to add to Boom's list: the FE2, or FE as many knew it, became the 'Fee'

VBR

Origin of the name Jenny well known, but "WHEN" not immediately obvious. I have been researching the "Curtiss type JN biplane for schooling purposes" in Australia for twenty-five years, and the name Jenny was never used in this country until about 1928 [from memory without checking].
So when and where was it applied?
Next, the RE8 was named "Harry Tate" after a music hall entertainer of the period, who was known for his 'comic turns'. The big rudder was slow to come on, and when it did, it really bit the air, swinging the aft end alarmingly; by my interpretation.

Didn`t the DH9a become known as the Ninak?And the Bristol F2B the Brisfit. ???

[PeterL]

Andy:

"Didn`t the DH9a become known as the Ninak?And the Bristol F2B the Brisfit"

Now I''m fairly sure (I know better that to be absolutist on this forum ) that the F2b's wartime nickname was "Biff" and that "Brisfit" came later. Ninak could well have been war time since it is only "9a" in the phonetic alphabet of the day.

>And the Bristol F2B the Brisfit.

Like Peter said the wartime name for the F2b was Biff, probably stemming from B.F like the Jenny coming from JN. The Sopwith Buffalo which was trialed with 4 Sqn AFC when they had Snipes got called by the pilots of the squadron, "A thorn amongst roses." lol



cam

[Vin]

Crickey, Cam, no wonder the 4AFC blokes were unimpressed

"The Buffalo closely resembled Sopwith's Snipe and Salamander fighters. It shared the same engine—the 230-hp Bentley BR.2—and had roughly similar two-bay wings and balanced tail surfaces. The Buffalo was, however, a two-seater. The pilot sat high up under a large cut-out in the upper wing, back-to-back with the observer/gunner. A single, fixed, .303-cal Vickers machine gun was mounted in the upper engine decking for the pilot, and the observer had a single Lewis gun on a Sopwith pillar mount (on the first prototype) or Scarf ring (all others). The entire forward fuselage, from the rear of the observer's cockpit to the engine was fabricated from flat sheets of armor plate. Weight was, of course, a problem. The Buffalo weighed 2,178 lbs empty (vs. 1329 lbs for the similarly powered Snipe). With a 360-lb crew, 375 lbs of fuel and lubricant, and a military load of 158 lbs, the airplane tipped the scales at 3071 lbs. While it had a respectable speed for a two-seater, 114 mph at 1000 ft, climb rate was poor and control response sluggish. It was seriously under-powered. Still, in the absence of higher-powered engines, the aircraft was felt to be adequate for service use, given the urgency of the need. "

http://worldatwar.net/chandelle/v2/v2n1/1919.html



Vin

Vin,

Nice link. According to Keith Isaacs the Buffalo that 4 Sqn AFC trialed was H8952 which is the second of the PC10 profiles on that page.



cam

If you are still struggling over BRISFIT, try BRIStol FIghTer.