Riffing on a Name

                  Curtis-Wright Corporation

Hawk: Curtis fighter planes P-1 and P-3, 1923

Superhawk: P-5: same but, well, super.

Japan Hawk: P-6S exported to you guessed it.

Cuban Hawk: same.

Turkey Hawk: unable to find references. Not sure if a model exported to Turkey, or named for a raptor that ostensibly preys on turkeys.

Seahawk: naval fighter plane S7C. Term refers to an osprey.

Sparrowhawk: absolutely fascinating US Navy dirigible-based fighter that landed by matching speed with a hook below the mother ship and being hoisted within. Refers to an actual bird.

Goshawk: naval F11C fighter. Name is coterminous with “sparrowhawk”.

Hawk: fighter plane P-36, 1935

Mohawk: export version of the P-36. Not a name of a raptor, rather to an indigenous people, a recurring theme here.

Tomahawk: P-40, 1935: an improvement on the P-36 using a different engine. Name is more indigenous tomfoolery: not raptor-related, but a type of indigenous battle hatchet.

Warhawk:  P-40 in USAAF service. Marketing term, I suppose. 

Kittyhawk: same plane, cutesy name given by the UK: does not refer to any kind of hawk.

                       

Sikorsky Aircraft

 

Black Hawk: Sikorsky utility helicopter UH-60, 1974: named for an indigenous military leader. At least the US mil didn’t name this particular chopper for a vanquished indigenous people, as had been their convention before this.

Seahawk: Navy version: all one word.

Jayhawk: Coast Guard version: all one word. What precisely coastal search and rescue has to do with Kansas Jayhawk[er]s, anti-slavery guerrillas in the 1800s, I do not know.

Pave Hawk: USAF search and rescue version. “Pave” seems to be a USAF code-word applied to many suffixes, some  nonsensical, some topical such as “Hawk” in this case.

Night Hawk: UH-60 for executive transport: 2 words, as opposed to the real bird nighthawk. 

White Hawk: same: It’s painted fancy-- white on top.

Gold Hawk: same.

Battle Hawk: export gunship model. Pretty obvious.

Desert Hawk: export version for Saudi Arabia. Which is a desert.

Naval Hawk: export naval version. Seahawk wasn’t good enough?

Firehawk: firefighter version: my personal favorite, and the inspiration for this list. May refer to a comic book character or to an Australian indigenous term for birds which purposefully propagate fires, rather than fight them, in order to flush out game.