The final word on Spinners vs. Nose Cones

Frank-

Final word? Surely you jest.

Your source is faulty. Most Spinners are plastic. As for the metal ones, some are turned from bar stock (TruTurn), some apprear to be cast (Kavan, the old Perfect brand). Just try to find one that is formed from sheet metal.

And as for Nose Cones, according to Webster they are only found on ICBM reentry vehicles.

Abel

.......and people who have constructed cheap home-made disguises. Usually accompanied by unfashionably thick-rimmed spectacles and a wig. Worn as a beard.

Steve

not on full sized ??? models maybe and if you type define:spinner into google it comes back with The nose cone which covers the hub of the propeller. if you believe tower hobbies that is

nose cone front consisting of the conical head of a missile or rocket that protects the payload from heat during its passage through the atmosphere

There is never a "final word." The language and definitions of words evolve to reflect popular usage, whether correct or incorrect. If a word is given a new use and it becomes commonly used, it becomes "right." Semantic progression, it is....

Good flying, desmobob

First of all, gentlemen, the dictionary does not specify r/c model spinners....of course....and to the fellow who said he challanged me to show him a model spinner from sheet metal...I can sell him one...about 5 inches in diameter...made from flat sheet and "turned" on a special machine. I once watched in the Fairchild factory, a spinner being made from a sheet of metal and pressed against a form with a large metal knob at the end of a long wooden pole.. as the metal rotated, the pressure of the tool formed it around the form. It was a "spun" spinner...no pun intended... and as for model airplane engines, most spinners are, agreed, made of plastic, and others turned on a lathe from metal, or cast and polished as the Kavan spinners are... We have no argument here... a spinner is not a nose cone and vice versa... Frank

So you have to conform to the popular, accepted useage of words. Calling a rotating fairing fixed to a propeller hub a "nose cone" is not conforming to the accepted useage of the term. Dan

Whatever...

My post was just an observation on semantic progression. You guys can waste time and argue over "spinner vs. nose cone" all you want. :-) (I call it a spinner, BTW)

Good flying, desmobob

You have to conform? To be understood? Do you think the the poster that used "nose cone" was not understood by the original poster? A thread of semantics is better than nothing! :) mk

>

I wouldn't be surprised if the term, "spinner" evolved from Frank's observed method of making spinners. Metal spinning (forming metal over a sturdy form on a lathe) has been around for almost as long as the lathe - and that's ancient! Come to think of it, "lathe" derives from "lath," a strip of wood that was bent to provide the power to turn whatever was being turned.

I think there are some spun metal spinners on the market today. Dave Brown, perhaps? Properly done, spun metal parts are of excellent quality.

As for accepting a word that has drifted from its original meaning, I'm one of those curmudgeons who still calls springs in automobiles "shock absorbers," because that's what they do, and what you guys call "shock absorbers" I call "spring dampers," because that's what they do. I also call the namesake part of a disc brake system a disc, NOT a "rotor!" What do you call the namesake part of a drum brake system? A drum! Get the picture? And I rant whenever someone calls a single electric cell a "battery." Two or more cells used together are a battery, damn it! Talk about assinine nomenclature... Continents may drift for reasons beyond human control, but we CAN control silly use of language. Just being "accepted" or "common" doesn't make it sensible!

Geoff the language grouch

"Geoff Sanders" wrote

Whew!!, I'll say!

Of course the fact that no one knows precisely what *you're* talking about is of no concern ;-)

:-)

Language exists for communication. If people aren't understanding you because you are strictly following language usage rules, then you're not communicating! Of course, the same applies if they're not getting your point because you are not following usage rules closely enough.... =:-0

Good communicating, desmobob (cunning linguist) ;-)

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Yup. Not worth your bother to drop in. Bye

Heh-heh.

Ed Cregger

Huh....................?????

mmmmmm.......tastes like tuna

Basically, if a guy doesn't want to sound like a newbie, he needs to do the research, learn the terminology accurately, then use it accurately. Nothing identifies the greenhorn quicker than a bunch of misnomers.

Dan

"Duh," some will say, "What's a misnomer?"

From

we read:

mis=C2=B7no=C2=B7mer [ miss n=E1=B9=93m=C9=99r ] (plural mis=C2=B7no=C2=B7m= ers)

noun

Definition:

1=2E unsuitable name: a wrong or unsuitable name or term for something or somebody 2=2E calling something by wrong name: a use of a wrong or unsuitable name or term to describe something or somebody

Were you attempting to communicate via your handle that you own either an old J.A. P. motorcycle, an old Mercedes-Benz, or a recent Ducati? If so, arcane though it is, it worked! :-)