DeHavilland-Canada a/c operated by the US Army. Names?

Often planes that already have nicknames keep them when put in service. The Beaver was also flown by the Air Force (in Europe) and the Twin Otter by the Air National Guard, so "service specific" names would not have been necessary. Also, the Beaver and Bird Dog "programs" date to before the Army/Air Force split, so that was before the Army naming system took effect. The earliest machine I know to be named under the new system was the OH-13 Sioux; while the Douglas Dakota is older, that name was bestowed by the Brits first.

Stephen Bierce

Plus in a case like the P-51 I can't see anyone wanting to change a name like Mustang.And you could say it started US service as an army plane anyhow.

That convention applies only to rotary wing aircraft, not fixed wing types.

If fixed wing types wern't named after native tribes, explain the Grumman Mohawk!

I presume you're responding to me although I can't tell for sure since you didn't quote what you were replying to. In any case, I said it wasn't the *convention* to use Indian names for fixed wing types, not that it wasn't done at all.

"Mustang" was bestowed by the British. The Army referred to the first few as "Apaches" or "Invaders" if they were A-36s.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

If the Huey you refer to is the helicopter of Vietnam fame, then the NATO reporting name is Iroquais, and probably also used by the US Army.

Wasn't Mustan also a name chosen by the brits? They did name a few US types differently during the early war years e.g. Martlet = Wildcat, Tarpoon = Avenger, Cleveland = Heldiver Biplane. I also read somewhere that the Lightning naming was from the brits, the US Army sticking to their numbering as P-38, P-51 etc.

I dunno about that either. Nearly every fixed wing type the Army has has an Indian tribe name, at least the Beechcraft twins & Cessna types do.

Are the Beaver & Bird Dog that old? The Army/AF split took place in '47, didn't it?

The Beaver and Bird Dog do NOT pre-date the USAF split from the Army.

John Hairell ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com)

Not true - the AH-1G Huey Cobra is not named after an Indian tribe. Try U-21 Ute, T-41 Mescalero, T-42 Cochise, and OV-1 Mohawk for fixed-wing examples.

"Beaver" , "Otter", and "Caribou" were the official names of those specific aircraft.

John Hairell ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com)

"Iroquois" is the official US Army name for the UH-1. "Huey" is a common-use nickname, not official.

John Hairell ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com)

what constitutes a slick?? no arms?

Yes, the British named a lot of our aircraft and armored vehicles. The P-40 Tomahawk and Warhawk and the C-47 Dakota come to mind. The Stuart, Honey, Lee, Grant, and Sherman tanks were all named by them also, and I'm sure I've forgotten others. I believe we picked up the practice from them, but exactly when I don't know.

Huey comes from an early designation, HU-1E, or so I've been told. Interestingly the prototype was the XH-40 according to Fahey.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Yes, no major armament.

John Hairell ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com)

The process of naming aircraft after Indian tribes is "generally" only helicopters, but not always. The OV-1 Mohawk is an example as is the AH-1G Cobra and the OH-6A Cayuse the other way. Hugh Mills

It was called a "Huey" for years prior to the E-model coming out.

XH-40 was the designation for the prototypes and test articles. The designation for production aircraft was HU-1 (thus ""Huey"), later changed to UH-1.

Since this is a thread on US Army aircraft names, here's a short list of the more common US Army aircraft over the years, along with their official names:

L-19/O-1 Bird Dog L-20/U-6 Beaver U-1 Otter AC-1/CV-2 Caribou L-23/U-8 Serminole U-21 Ute T-41 Mescalero T-42 Cochise OH-6 Cayuse OH-13 Sioux CH-19 Chickasaw CH-21 Shawnee OH-23 Raven C-23 Sherpa CH-34 Choctaw CH-37 Mojave CH-47 Chinook CH-54 Tarhe TH-55 Osage OH-58 Kiowa TH-67 Creek UH-1 Iroquois C-12 Huron AO-1/OV-1 Mohawk AH-1G Huey Cobra UH-60 Black Hawk (NOT "Blackhawk") AH-64 Apache

John Hairell ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com)

John Hairell