Good morning everyone,
The navy use a grease the same colour as the uniform of the RAF, they call this grease "crabfat" hence the 'nickname' for we Brylcream boys. But of course I cannot tell you what we called "The Mateloties"!!
Look at any aircraft and remove the 'dashboard' and engines everything else is the responsibility of the 'riggers', from the early days of flying where the ground staff 'rigged' the wires between the byplane wings. Responsible for everything from emptying the thunderboxes to replacing wings/tail assembly etc and servicing all the components that make the thing fly.
Other aircraft trades have nicknames, electricians are usually sparkies, electronics are usually faries, engine bashers - sumpies (just has to be) and the armourers - plumbers, (they deal with lengths of pipe)!
Cheers, Tony.
I'm not a submariner, a super mariner, or a mariner of any kind, but I hear that new crew members (less than 1 year, before achieving Qualification) on US nuclear submarines are referred to as 'NUBs', which stands for 'non-useful bodies'. Crewmen who work in the engine room are called 'Nukes'. If your life on the sub is forward of the engine room, you are a 'Coner'.
