1337Delta764 From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 5820 posts, RR: 2 Posted (4 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 3501 times:
I was wondering, do you happen to consider different aircraft types to be different genders? I personally do. Here is my list:
Boeing:
717 - male
737-300/500/600/700 - male
737-400/800/900 - female
747 (all models) - male. Yes, I know some people call the 747 the "Queen" of the Skies, however, I find it to be more of a male aircraft.
757 (all models) - female
767-200 - male
767-300 - female
767-400ER - female
777 (all models) - female
Airbus:
A300 - male
A310 - male
A318/A319 - male
A320/A321 - female
A330 (all models) - female
A340 (all models) - male
A380 - male
McDonnell Douglas:
DC-10 - male
MD-11 - male
MD-80 - male
MD-90 - female
Lockheed:
L-1011 - female
Does anyone have their own opinions?
[Edited 2008-10-12 13:15:17]
The Pink Delta 767-400ER - The most beautiful aircraft in the sky
SNAFlyboy From United States of America, joined Oct 2007, 86 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (4 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 3489 times:
I've never really thought about it, but now that I have, I think I consider all aircraft default "female". It's sort of like any other piece of fairly large machinery, like ships for instance, which I believe are typically thought of as "female" by the general public...
Quoting 1337Delta764 (Thread starter): I was wondering, do you happen to consider different aircraft types to be different genders? I personally do.
I can understand why some people would differentiate between "male" and "female" aircraft though...especially the A380! It's so awkward and ungainly, it would be a disgrace to call it "female"! Yeesh.
Now here's a question. What sort of criteria does one consider (consciously or not) when trying to determine whether an aircraft is a boy or a girl? Hmm...
1337Delta764 From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 5820 posts, RR: 2 Reply 4, posted (4 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 3483 times:
Quoting SNAFlyboy (Reply 2): Now here's a question. What sort of criteria does one consider (consciously or not) when trying to determine whether an aircraft is a boy or a girl? Hmm...
Well, I think that the short and stubby aircraft tend to lean towards male, while the long and sleek aircraft lean towards female. Also, I think that rear-mounted engines tend to lean towards male, except if they are in an S-duct like the L-1011. However, the MD-90 is one exception because it is long and thin. Also, I think that quads are more male-looking.
The Pink Delta 767-400ER - The most beautiful aircraft in the sky
CairnterriAIR From United States of America, joined Jun 2008, 345 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (4 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 3450 times:
Ok....I'll take a shot here....
Boeing 747 (all versions)...Male, probably lifts weights in his free time.
Boeing 757....Female and quite an athletic jock, as well as attractive. The 747 has a crush on her.
Boeing 767 (all versions)....Female and older sister of the 757. She's a bit jealous of her little sister. Why do all the guys like her?
Boeing 777...Big male, perhaps once was a 767, but discovered steroids.
Boeing 737-200/300/500...Male....every little league team has a token fat kid. Much the same, many airlines do too!
Boeing 737-800...Female, best friends with 757. They snicker behind 777's back when he winks at them.
DC-9...male. Very content with his job at NWA, not thnking of retiring any time soon.
VC-10...Female...very proper but classy. Has a Russian cousin who is female as well. She's an IL-62. Different backrounds but very alike!
IL-96...Male, has inferiority complex. Been passed up for too many good jobs. Wish he could land the same gig at NWA the DC-9's got, but the damn fellow just won't retire!
DC-3...Male with many stories to tell, hates modern technology and thinks that none of these young kids know anything about flying!
DC-8-61...female.....her BFF Boeing 707 is worried about her, as she thinks the 8 is starving herself!
MD-80...Male...has a pain in the A$$ little brother, CRJ-200!
Lowrider From United States of America, joined Jun 2004, 3220 posts, RR: 10 Reply 6, posted (4 years 8 months 1 week 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 3411 times:
Anything that requires as much time, money, and attention as a plane must be female.
With the above being the obvious exception, I think most aircraft are generally perceived as "female" but some of them have a definitely have a male appearance to them.
Aviateur From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 1348 posts, RR: 12 Reply 12, posted (4 years 8 months 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 3193 times:
This is a really interesting post, in a weird way.
For what it's worth, I agreed with almost ALL of your choices.
PS
Patrick Smith is an airline pilot, air travel columnist and author
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16598 posts, RR: 11 Reply 13, posted (4 years 8 months 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 3183 times:
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16936 posts, RR: 57 Reply 14, posted (4 years 8 months 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 3146 times:
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 3): I always consider them female, nothing looking good like that could be male IMO
Ever had a good, long, hard look at the 777 fuselage?
I dunno. Big, thick, long fuselage and two enormous, low-hanging engines.
WILCO737 From Greenland, joined exactly 9 years ago today! , 8534 posts, RR: 78 Reply 17, posted (4 years 8 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 3059 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW HEAD MODERATOR
Quoting YXD172 (Reply 15): Personally, anything with a centre landing gear is male. Big grin
Maybe, but the MD11F is so bitchy, that the MD11F can only be female. I always call her a she. "what is she doing again"
2H4 From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 8950 posts, RR: 62 Reply 18, posted (4 years 8 months 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 3052 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW HEAD DATABASE EDITOR
Quoting FlySSC (Reply 16): In the French Language, there is no "neutral", like "it" in English or "das" in German.
Everything is "masculine" or "feminine"
Airplane ("Avion") is masculine. un/le avion.
Runway ("piste") is feminine. une/la piste.
So all airplanes are masculine/male : LE / UN Boeing, LE / UN Concorde, UN Airbus, LE / UN Tupolev.
The only "female" airplane is LA Caravelle.
I think you're missing the spirit of the thread. It's not discussing which aircraft are grammatically male or female....It's discussing aircraft are generally interpreted as male or female.
FlySSC From France, joined Aug 2003, 7313 posts, RR: 60 Reply 19, posted (4 years 8 months 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 3048 times:
Quoting 2H4 (Reply 18): I think you're missing the spirit of the thread. It's not discussing which aircraft are grammatically male or female....It's discussing aircraft are generally interpreted as male or female.
I understood this. What I meant is that the influence of your "mother tongue" is probably vey important.
I doubt you will find ANY French speaking aviation nut who will think an airplane can be "female".
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16936 posts, RR: 57 Reply 20, posted (4 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2934 times:
Quoting WILCO737 (Reply 17): Maybe, but the MD11F is so bitchy, that the MD11F can only be female. I always call her a she. "what is she doing again"
Wilco, your relationship with the MD11 is like a typical relationship with any woman: love/hate. The sense I get is that the MD-11 is like a beautiful, lovely lady who suffers from severe PMS: you're never quite sure when she's going to turn bitchy, but rest assured that when she does she will do so spectacularly and without warning.
ExFATboy From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 2974 posts, RR: 9 Reply 21, posted (4 years 7 months 4 weeks 6 hours ago) and read 2891 times:
I've always considered planes female, guess it just comes from so much of aeronautical terminology coming from the nautical tradition.
Quoting FlySSC (Reply 19): I understood this. What I meant is that the influence of your "mother tongue" is probably very important.
True, which is why this is a very intriguing question for us Anglophones, since English does not assign "gender" to inanimate objects. If it isn't alive, it's an "it" as far as the English language is concerned...and yet ships are female to most native Anglophones.
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16936 posts, RR: 57 Reply 22, posted (4 years 7 months 3 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 2872 times:
Quoting ExFATboy (Reply 21): and yet ships are female to most native Anglophones.
Admiral Nimitz is quoted as having said that "We call a ship 'she' because it costs so much to keep her in paint and powder."
I've found another thing interesting. As soon as we speak of the union of a ship and her captain or a plane and her captain, she becomes "he." When pilots speak of each-other's aircraft, they always say "he." As in: "I don't want him to push back until that luggage cart is out of the way," or "He's at your 2:30." Even if the pilot is a woman. Same is true of ships.
HomaDreaming From United States of America, joined May 2008, 83 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (4 years 7 months 2 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 2653 times:
Wait isnt it bad luck to consider them as males? I used to have a car that me and my friends jokingly called Vincent...I hit a Deer with it and it was totaled (the deer survived =p)...call me superstitious...but,since that, I will consider any ship, plane, car, train, whatever Im going to be in or on or around as a he...their all girls, specially the Boeing ones who are the pretty girls of the skies...The only plane that has somehow given me some sort of a boy feel is the fokker 100...and I dont know why I feel that way...
PGNCS From United States of America, joined Apr 2007, 2518 posts, RR: 44 Reply 24, posted (4 years 7 months 2 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 2575 times:
I think they are all machines and are, therefore, without gender.
25 BAe146QT: Sir! You are applying logic and rational thought to a question which requires neither! Any machine can be difficult or recalcitrant and may apparentl
26 1stfl94: In my view A340-300- female, very much like a supermodel. Catch her in the right livery at the right angle she looks amazing, catch on an off day you
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