Alenia Aermacchi are offering a free ride to the person who comes up with a new nickname for the advanced jet trainer. They want to rank alongside the "Tornado" or "Typhoon" as cool names, and i think that we at AirSpace can lend a hand.

The rules include:

• the proposed name must be coherent with the characteristics of the aircraft, whether in terms of shape, technical features, use etc.

• the proposed name must be internationally recognisable, of high impact and easily memorised;

• the proposed name must not replicate or recall other names already in use on other aircraft.

On The DEW Line, Stephen Trimble have come up with a classic if not a little cheeky Mmmbop (find out why) but come on people, we can do better.

To start, what about galeforce (one down from Tornado), or Italian Stalion (or Rocky if you are going for Italian based fighters)! Or Dragon Fly

 

Rule n. 3 .....

"the proposed name must not replicate or recall other names already in use on other aircraft."

You are saying "Dragon Fly" ..... but there already was .....

..... the De Havilland DH.90 ..... Dragonfly .....

Italian Stallion ..... ..... .....

Second Lieutenant Dalmazio "Dal" Corradini .....

Italian Air Force (Royal) WWII torpedo bomber pilot .....

 We have asked noted aerospace wit and Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia for his top 10 names for the M346. He writes:

 
10.  Berlusconi (he'd be flattered)
9. YAIT (Yet Another Italian Trainer)
8. AeroVespa
7.  Hawk--sure, it's taken,, but did BAE get a copyright?
6.  Jet Squalus (believe it or not, someone named their trainer that years ago, but it's dead)
5.  AMX Lite
4.  The Green, Earth-Friendly Eco-Trainer.  That's Green.
3.  III-IV-VI
2.  Mario
1.  Fred

The DEW Line:

6.  Jet Squalus (believe it or not, someone named their trainer that years ago, but it's dead)

 

I remember the Jet Squalus! It came to the Farnborough Air Show, from memory it was of Belgian design/manufacture? Looked a bit like a Jet provost

they should name it after something truly italian like food:

• Aermacchi Pizza Pie
• Aermacchi Linguini
• Aermacchi Lasagna
• Aermacchi Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti

Chipmunker:

they should name it after something truly italian like food:

• Aermacchi Pizza Pie
• Aermacchi Linguini
• Aermacchi Lasagna
• Aermacchi Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti

 

 The Aermacchi Cornetto.

Yes,apgphoto ..... you are right .....

The "Jet Squalus" was a small Belgian jet trainer but ..... strangely enough ..... of Italian origin.

It was in fact designed by a GREAT Italian aircraft designer :  Ingegner Stelio Frati.

And ..... if his name does not mean anything to you ..... please visit the following site :

http://www.seqair.com/Frati/StelioFrati.html

Chipmunker, Batfink ..... not only pizza, or linguine, or lasagne .....

 If You name it "Mario" I will object ...

AeroVespa Was already used, unofficially, as VespaJet, Aka. Piaggio PD-808 ...

 

 "Thunderstorm" may be a proposable name ...  (Thunder-thingy names are lots, but none simply thundertorm if my memory is correct...)

Unless the brand "Thunder" is an absolute property of the former Republic Aviation .....

 

How about.... " Diplomat "

How about "Aermacchi Aquila" (pronounced a-kee-la) - Italian for "eagle".

I think it is catchy enough to transcend linguistic borders. Rather than use an English word, I think the Italian heritage should be emphasised. the Italian language sounds so beautiful, that it would be a shame to not use it!

Rolls nicely with Alenia and Aermacchi as well!

solenoid:

ow about "Aermacchi Aquila" (pronounced a-kee-la) - Italian for "eagle"

 

 Actually i think that's pretty cool. You should enter, solenoid!

Solenoid .....

Unless you are Italian ..... I thank you for your kind words about the Italian language .....

But ..... there is a problem .....

The rule n. 3 reads :

"The proposed name must not replicate or recall other names already in use on other aircraft"

And "Aquila" is already in use .....

http://www.diabgroup.com/europe/literature/e_pdf_files/e_pia_pdf/aero/aquila.pdf

Sorry .....

No worries, I will keep going!

Not Italian by the way, and sadly I don't speak Italian. When I hear it though, I think it has such strong passion - it must be used for this airplane!

So continuing the Italian theme and the purpose of the plane itself:

 Aermacchi Maestro

Couldn't find any aircraft with this name previously.
I will think of some more - when is the deadline?
I need to dig out some old Italian movies for inspiration (actually, "ispirazione" wouldn't be bad, but not exactly catchy is it?).

solenoid:

I need to dig out some old Italian movies for inspiration..

 

The Aermacchi Sergio Leone?

There is so much material!

 I was thinking of a theme that would help Aermacchi name future products. Something indigenous to Italy that would have the side effect of educating air enthusiasts about the country. Mountain ranges are a bit scarce, but Dolomiti would have been a good name, but there are numerous rivers. Wouldn't it be nice to know more Italian rivers that just the Tiber? Coupling this (for a start anyway) with the HQ of Aermacchi being in the Varese region, I discovered the delightful sounding "Giona".

Apart from that, I kind of liked "Scintilla" which is a spark, but limiting in follow ups (see comment about a "theme")

Aermacchi Giona
Aermacchi Scintilla

 If I had to make a serious suggestion I'd say the 'Spatha', the sword used by Roman Legionaires.

Batfink:

 If I had to make a serious suggestion I'd say the 'Spatha', the sword used by Roman Legionaires.

Cool! Never thought of that thread, and good military connection.

Solenoid .....

"Maestro" is good but ..... it already exists being the NATO codename of the Russian Yak-28U, the trainer version of the Yak-28 "Brewer" tactical attack aircraft .....

http://www.vectorsite.net/avyak25_12.png

"Scintilla" (spark) is truly outstanding but ..... it is too strictly "Italian" and they want a name "internationally recognisable" .....

 Plus Maestro was the name of a crap British car from the 1980's made by Austin.

 Aermacchi Pompeii?

Then everytime it took off you could say "Up Pompeii!!" Boom boom.

rapier:

Solenoid .....

"Maestro" is good but ..... it already exists being the NATO codename of the Russian Yak-28U, the trainer version of the Yak-28 "Brewer" tactical attack aircraft .....

http://www.vectorsite.net/avyak25_12.png

"Scintilla" (spark) is truly outstanding but ..... it is too strictly "Italian" and they want a name "internationally recognisable" .....

Hmmm, I need a different search engine! I couldn't find an aircraft with that name.
Is a "codename" a "real" name? Well, I won't argue, although the Yakolev connection is interesting!

 Back to the drawing board.

" If I had to make a serious suggestion I'd say the 'Spatha', the sword used by Roman Legionaires."

Batfink .....

"Spatha" is a term less known than "Gladius" but ..... "Gladio" ("Gladius", a sword shorter than "Spatha") is a term too "politically-sensitive" in Italy because it was the name of a covert Cold War NATO organization designed to resist a possible Soviet invasion and subsequent occupation .....

 

 Interesting stuff Rapier. On the same tack it would probably be more appropriate to use the names of spears - obviously 'Javelin' is out but I believe Legionaires also used a 'Pilum'? My apologies if I've spelled that wrong, I'm trying to remember stuff from school about sixteen years ago!!

You are right ..... Batfink .....

"Pilum" is the right term .....

Congratulations for your Latin period reminiscence .....