By Dan Lamothe
The Washington Post
If some U.S. airmen had their way, the Air Force’s bomber of the future would have been called the “Baconator.” Or “Bacon Double Cheeseburger.” Or “Gallant Chicken.” And those were just the lunch-inspired options.
The secretive, multibillion-dollar B-21 aircraft was named the Raider this week to recognize the “Doolittle Raiders,” the group of U.S. troops who embarked on a bold and dangerous plan to quickly bomb Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the United States into World War II.
Before senior Air Force officials settled on Raider, however, they launched a contest seeking ideas – and the results were decidedly mixed.
The War is Boring blog published on Thursday a list of the rejected names obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Hundreds of proposals were made, ranging from the serious to the sarcastic to the absurd.
There were the political: “Trump,” “Trump Bomber,” “Trumpizator,” “Trumpnator,” “DONALD J. TRUMP” and “congresssman.”
There were the bat-themed: “Bat,” “Bat 21,” “BAT FORCE,” “Bat plane,” “Bat Ray,” “Bat Shadow,” “Bat Wing,” “Batarang,” “BATEAGLE,” “BATHAWK,” “Batmo-plane” and “BAT-PLANE.”
There were the sarcastic: “DronesRBetterButWeLikeWastingMoneySo…,” “Hole in the Sky to Throw Money Into,” “Insert Sponsor,” “Bombastic Boondoggle,” “Badasswhoopass,” “Princess Sparkle Pony” “Lurking Sasquatch” and “Laser spitter 3000.”
And – of course – there also were those modeled on “Boaty McBoatface,” the colossally popular name an Internet campaign this year attempted to assign to a polar research ship after Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council held a similar contest.
In that case, Britain’s Science Minister Jo Johnson decided that “Boaty McBoatface” was, in fact, a terrible idea and instead named the ship the RRS Sir David Attenborough, after the highly respected 89-year-old naturalist. But Johnson did assign the “Boaty” name to a submarine traveling inside the Attenborough.
The “Boaty McBoatface” name was proposed again for the B-21, along with “Batty McBatface,” “Bombay McBombface,” “Bombed McBombFace,” “Bomber McBomberface,” “Bomber McBomberton,” “Bomber McPlaneFace,” “Bombie McBombface,” “Bomby McBombalot,” “Bomby McBomberson” “Bomby McBoomboom” and “Bombypants McGee.”
Also: “Planey McFly” and “Planey McPlaneface” — perhaps just for variety.
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