The Little World

Dauntless, Helldiver, Avenger, Hellcat…all good historic names for US Navy aircraft. The Army Air Force had Mustangs and Thunderbolts and such. Why was the BT 1 just a code, instead of a name?

I suspect it is because it never established itself in the affections of the press – or at least in the press agent office of Northrop. They had certainly used names before – the Gamma, the Delta, etc. Perhaps Jack Northrop ran out of Greek references that he could use to fix attention to his products. The Epsilon or the Rho just don’t capture a warlike nation’s desires. You can only sell Greek to Greeks and Ivy League naval cadets.

Nevertheless, the BT 1 is finished and handsome. The colour scheme would likely have got it fired upon by everyone after Pearl Harbour, but that was changed and the dear old thing went on to be a trainer and Florida squadron hack. It had an honourable old age.

Note that I don’t necessarily think that my old age need be honourable. I reserved that stuff for earlier in life when I mattered. When you get to the age of retirement you should be able to be a scoundrel openly. I certainly intend to do so.