Hello there and ‘May the Fourth be with you’! It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these ‘in-universe vocab’ entries, but in the course of my recent work on a pilot impression, I was reminded of this excellent set of terms, as found in The Essential Guide to Warfare, (p. 141):
3-9 line: A line across a fighter’s wings, based on an imaginary clock in which 12 is ahead of a fighter and 6 is behind. The goal of dogfighting is to keep bandits in front of one’s 3-9 line.
ACM: Aerial combat maneuvering, better known as dogfighting.
Bandit: A hostile fighter or starship.
Big L: Lightspeed.
Bingo: Having enough fuel for a safe return.
Bluelined: Disabled by an ion cannon blast.
Blue milk run: An easy hop.
Bogey: An unidentified fighter or starship.
Bright: A TIE/Advanced fighter.
Bumping: Engaging in ACM.
Centurion: A pilot with one hundred landings on a carrier or fighter base.
Check your 6: “Be careful, watch out behind you.”
Clear skies: “Be well,” a traditional spacer’s farewell.
Clutch: A squadron of TIE fighters.
Cold nose: Operating with sensors down.
Dirt flier: An atmospheric fighter pilot.
Dirtside: On a planet’s surface.
Dragship: An Interdictor cruiser.
Drift factor: A measure of a pilot’s flakiness or inability to follow orders.
Dupe: A TIE bomber.
Easy chair: the pilot’s seat in a fighter.
Edge: An A-wing fighter.
Eyeball: A basic TIE fighter.
Fangs out: Eager for a dogfight.
Flat-hatting: Showing off or engaging in dangerous maneuvers.
Flying the same vector: Thinking along the same lines.
Full DSW: Having enough power for drive, shields, and weapons.
Furball: A hectic dogfight.
Gain angles: Maneuver for a better shot in a dogfight.
Get lines: Disengage and jump to hyperspace.
Go black: Head from a planet’s atmosphere into space.
Go blue: Head from space into a planet’s atmosphere.
Goes away: What an enemy fighter does when you hit it.
Goo: A planet’s atmosphere.
Gripe: A mechanical problem. An up gripe is a problem that allows continuing operations; a down gripe does not.
Hangar queen: A fighter that’s often unable to fly because it needs repairs, and thus is raided for parts.
Hawk circle: A formation of fighters waiting to land.
Hop: A mission.
HUD: Heads-up display.
Impstar: An Imperial Star Destroyer.
Judy: Comm call indicating you are intercepting a bandit.
Klick: Kilometer.
KM: “Kriffing magic,” a pilot’s all-purpose explanation for how technology works.
Latch: Get into position to destroy an enemy fighter.
Loud handle: The lever that trigger’s a fighter’s ejection seat.
LTS: “Likely to survive,” indicating approval of a pilot’s skills.
No décor: “Speak freely,” without worrying about rank.
Painted: Scanned by sensors.
Peeper: A TIE fighter used for reconnaissance.
Pointer: An X-wing fighter.
Roof: A carrier’s flight deck.
SA: Situational awareness.
SD Vic: A Victory-class Star Destroyer.
Senth Herf: An admiring assessment of another pilot’s abilities.
Shock: To hit a bandit with a blast from an ion cannon.
Shocker: An ion cannon.
The Show: ACM; dogfighting.
Skull: A Z-95 Headhunter.
Spinner: A B-wing fighter, also known as a cross.
Splash: Shoot down.
Squint: a TIE interceptor.
Suicide sled: A starfighter, particularly one with weak shields.
Vapebait: A poorly skilled fighter pilot.
Wishbone: A Y-wing fighter.
Zero angle: The position behind the stern of a bandit.
I’m sure there are more terms and phrases from the various EU sources (all I see in my notes is “gravved” (to be caught by an Interdictor), so maybe it’s time for another reread of the X-Wing novels ! Drop a comment below and let me know I’ve missed, or come discuss with us at the SWLH facebook community!
Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy 