ADF: Automatic Direction Finding, using radio signal strength.
ADI: Attitude Direction Indicator, a primary flight instrument.
APU: Auxiliary Power Unit.
ASW: Antisubmarine Warfare.
AWACS: Airborne Warning and Control System.
Ball: The optical landing device on an aircraft carrier. Also referred to as “meatball.”
BARCAP: Barrier Combat Air Patrol. Generally used to protect vessels at sea.
Bogie: Unidentified or enemy aircraft.
Bolter: Carrier landing attempt in which the tailhook misses the arresting gear, necessitating a go-around.
CAG: The Commander of the Air Group. Oversees all the squadrons embarked aboard an aircraft carrier.
CAP: Combat Air Patrol.
Check Six: Refers to visual observation behind an aircraft. Fighter pilots must constantly check behind them to ensure an enemy aircraft is not in an attack position.
CIC: Combat Information Center. The central battle management post in Naval surface combatants.
CRT: Vacuum tube used to display computer information in writing or pictures.
Departure: Refers to an aircraft departing from controlled flight.
DME: Distance Measuring Equipment. Distance information provided to a pilot in nautical miles from a known point.
Elevon: A control surface used after the space shuttle enters the atmosphere. It is a combination of an aircraft elevator and aileron, controlling pitch and roll.
EVA: Extravehicular Activity. Refers to activity outside the space shuttle.
Fox Two/Fox Three: Pilot radio calls indicating the firing of a Sidewinder or Phoenix missile.
Furball: Multiaircraft fighter engagement.
G-force: The force pressed on a body by changes in velocity. G is measured in increments of earth gravity.
Gimbal: Attachment to allow rocket nozzles to move in two or three axes. Helps control direction of flight.
Gomers: Air combat adversaries.
HUD: Head Up Display. Transparent screen mounted in front of the pilot’s normal line of vision. HUD is used to display flight data and weapons systems information so the pilot doesn’t have to look down into the cockpit.
ICS: Internal Communications System.
INS: Inertial Navigation System.
Knot: One nautical mile per hour. A nautical mile equals 1.1 statute mile.
LOS: Loss of signal. Shuttle radio signal loss during atmosphere re-entry caused by shock waves and ionization.
LSO: Landing Signal Officer. Specially qualified squadron pilot responsible for assisting other pilots in landing aboard a carrier.
Mach: Term named for physicist Ernst Mach. Used to describe the speed of an object in relation to the speed of sound.
MAD: Magnetic Anomaly Detector. Used to locate submerged submarines.
NATOPS: Naval Aviation Training and Operations manual. Provides rules and regulations for the safe and proper operation of all Navy and Marine Corps aircraft and helicopters.
OMS: Orbital Maneuvering System.
PRI-FLY: Control tower on an aircraft carrier.
RCS: Reaction Control System.
Retro-fire: To fire engines in the direction of motion to reduce forward velocity. Allows gravity to pull a space craft back toward earth.
RIO: Radar Intercept Officer. Back-seaters in F-14 Tomcats and F-4 Phantom aircraft.
RMS: Remote Manipulator System.
SAM: Surface-to-air missile.
SAR: Search and Rescue.
SRB: Solid Rocket Booster.
Tally: Derivative of Tallyho. Target in sight.
Telemetry: Data transmitted to earth from the space shuttle.
Trap: Arrested landing on a carrier or runway.
UHF: Ultra-high frequency radio.
Unload: Release pressure on an aircraft control stick to ease the G-load.