OST
Initialism of Outer Space Treaty: a treaty that represents the basic legal framework of international space law, signed in 1967.
Aviation maintenance
479 entries in this trade.
Ouija board
A tabletop model of the individual aircraft and their locations on a carrier.
OV
Initialism of orbiter vehicle.
paint
To detect (something) with radar.
PAL
Acronym of Philippine Airlines, a flag carrier of the Philippines
paper airplane
An aircraft under development (so named because it remains only on paper to date; a tongue-in-cheek sense with acknowledgment of the original sense).
parachute
A device, generally constructed from fabric, that is designed to employ air resistance to control the fall of an object or person, causing them to float instead of falling.
parasite
A component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air-launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier; a parasite aircraft.
PCR
Initialism of pitch control rod.
PFS
Initialism of Planetary Fourier Spectrometer.
pier
A long corridor-like building with multiple gates extending from an airport terminal.
PNR
Initialism of passenger name record: the complete details of a passenger's booking, including itinerary, contact details, and special requests; or the unique alphanumeric identifier for each booking.
pogo
Ellipsis of pogo oscillation, a dangerous condition where fluctuations in the thrust and acceleration produced by a rocket engine generate variations in the flow of fuel to the engine, amplifying the fluctuations of thrust and acceleration in a positive feedback cycle that can eventually tear the vehicle apart.
polyhedral
adjectiveAviation maintenance
Having multiple dihedral angles along the wingspan.
POS
Initialism of position and orientation system.
power dive
A steep dive in an aircraft accelerated by an engine delivering thrust at or near full power.
power-egg
A complete unitized modular engine installation, consisting of engine and all ancillary equipment, which can be swapped between suitably designed equipment.
PPL
Initialism of private pilot licence.
preburner
A combustion chamber of a bipropellant rocket engine.
probe
A tube attached to an aircraft which can be fitted into the drogue from a tanker aircraft to allow for aerial refuelling.
probe-and-drogue
adjectiveAviation maintenance
Pertaining to a method of aerial refuelling whereby a probe from the receiving aircraft fits into a trailing hose with drogue attachment from a tanker aircraft.
propulsor
A propellor enclosed in a short cylinder, that can typically be swivelled to change the angle of thrust.
protect
To book a passenger on a later flight if there is a chance they will not be able to board their earlier reserved flight.
PSR
Initialism of primary surveillance radar.
PT
Initialism of patrol trainer (“a trainer that is also a patrol aircraft”).
PTT
Initialism of part task trainer (See Flight simulator at Wikipedia).
pull out
To transition from a dive to level or climbing flight.
pusher
An aircraft with the propeller behind the fuselage.
pyrogen
Any substance characterized by great flammability, typically used to coat electric matches.
QAI
Initialism of Quality Assurance International, a U.S.-based international organic certification company.
Qantas
The national airline of Australia.
QC
Initialism of quick change: a type of aircraft that can be rapidly switched between passenger and cargo configurations.
RAAF
Initialism of Royal Australian Air Force.
RAF
Initialism of Royal Air Force, the British RAF.
ramjet
A jet engine in which forward motion forces air into an inlet, compressing it (as opposed to having a pump type device compressing the air for combustion with fuel), and where combustion is subsonic.
RBSP
Initialism of Radiation Belt Storm Probes, a spacecraft for NASAs LWS program.
re-entry
The return of a spacecraft into the Earth's atmosphere.
reentrant
adjectiveAviation maintenance
Designed to return to the Earth's atmosphere.
REMS
Acronym of Rover Environmental Monitoring Station.
rendezvous
A set of orbital maneuvers during which two spacecraft arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance.
RFC
Initialism of Royal Flying Corps (previous title of the Royal Air Force)
rhubarb
Of fighter aircraft: to fire at a target opportunistically.
rigid
An airship whose shape is maintained solely by an internal and/or external rigid structural framework, without using internal gas pressure to stiffen the vehicle (the lifting gas is at atmospheric pressure); typically also equipped with multiple redundant gasbags, unlike other types of airship.
RLV
Initialism of reusable launch vehicle.
roll rate
The rate at which an aircraft can change its roll attitude, typically expressed in degrees per second
root
The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.
roundel
A circular insignia painted on an aircraft to identify its nationality or service.
Rozière balloon
A type of hybrid balloon that has separate chambers for a nonheated lifting gas as well as for a heated lifting gas.
RP-1
Initialism of rocket propellant 1 (a highly refined kerosene; usually used in combination with LOX).
RR
(from the status code used in the GDS) reconfirm / reconfirmed.
RSA
Initialism of runway safety area.
RTO
Initialism of rejected takeoff.
run up
To warm up and test an airplane before a flight.
runway
A section of land, usually paved, for airplanes to land on or take off from.
RVSP
Initialism of Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program, a tool that helps engineers plan the Curiosity rover's drives, modeling pebbles and bumps in the terrain.
safe mode
An emergency mode of many unmanned spacecraft in which nonessential systems are shut down and the spacecraft assumes a preset attitude towards the sun while awaiting commands from ground control.
sailcraft
A spacecraft endowed with sail for propulsion purposes.
SAM
Acronym of Sample Analysis at Mars (a scientific instrument of the Mars Science Laboratory on board the Curiosity rover on Mars.)
Sandy
The A-1 Sky Raider aircraft.
SAS
Initialism of stability augmentation system.