Rate these Callsigns

Maj.Striker said:
Haha, that's pretty funny.
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McGruff being intentionally funny is a lot like an intentional 7 car pile-up on the express way.
 
Yes, well I never really put in a serious callsign. Most of those were pure novelty, sorry if they offended you. When I do put in a serious callsign, it's usually 'Mjolnir'.

I need to stick my head in a bucket of ice water after reading those.
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I hope I didn't cause any permanent damage.
 
Seeing as how you're not Antman, Rance, Preacher or McGruff - no, you're OK.
 
Most of those callsigns would be good as one word, rather than the sets of two (I agree with the others that they're too long to be useful in combat). Gorilla would've been a good callsign for the battles Vs. the Kilrathi- since the Gorilla is a powerful ape. Obviously "Hitler" and "Stalin" shouldn't be used because some people are offended by them. Many of us who aren't offended would view those callsigns as being the same effect as having "moron" or "loser" as your callsign. Fusion is a cool callsign... Ninja is very "WCSaga the mod" since that is a feature callsign in their game... Chamberlin might be a bit too long... Milkshake would be cool if it had (as Frosty mentioned) a story behind it. To prove his point, my dad's Air Force callsign was Pit because he was once stuck in a tank... Slappy, Hop, Pocket = cool if you have a reason behind them... I like the rest of them individually (NOT as groups of two words), except Wombat annoys me for some reason.
 
A "Ridgerunner" is a moonshiner, and in my case, taken from a model of a P-51 Mustang I assembled while waiting to see the movie JAWS at the Inwood theatre in Dallas, way back in 1975. Also, from my days as a Drill Instructor, I was a "Skylinin', bullet dodgin' M. F."
 
warzog said:
When I was in the USAF, most pilots chose common names that were easy to remember.
Most were either car names like; Mustang, 'Cuda, Camaro, or of aircraft, such as; Warthog, Crusader, Phantom, Eagle, etc.
Other names used, included card games, Poker, Spades, Ace, King, etc.

The main reason for using a callsign is to protect the pilot's identity, especially if shot down, and captured.
Therefore, it HAS to be a name/word that is easy for even a new pilot to remember during combat.
(Which is a difficult enough time, without having to remember your wingmen's names!)
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Quoted for accuracy... also important to protect the identity of a pilot during communications which can be intercepted.

Kudos to the production crews of Wing Commander for not re-using callsigns and still having callsigns that make sense. (Mine is for an obscure natural disaster).
 
I think pilots use callsigns to ease in-flight comms... So the first rule about callsigns is them being short and easy to pronounce.
 
I think your call signs are too long, but I also think you've got the awsner right in front of you... let me help.

Fusion Chamberlin...... keep "Fusion"
Gorilla Envelope......... just say "Ape"
Kombat Wombat........ sorta like "Taz"
HitlerStalin................. names are bad, but the first syllable "Hit" sounds good
The Iron Milkshake.... I'd love to call someone "Shake" over the com
Unexplained Ninja..... "Ninja", sounded cool in the 90's, maybe it'll be again in 600 years
Slappy Cromwell....... whoa, a female pilot with the callsingh "Slap", I'm in love:D
Hop Pocket................ "Hop", he'd be the sort of guy that dies after a fiew missions
 
Agreed so far, the suggested names are a little clunky.

I can't imagine this dialogue happening:

FC: Gorilla Ape, come in Gorilla Ape, this is Fusion Chamberlain. What's your status?
GA: Fusion Chamberlain, I'm green for go. Over.
FC: The Iron Milkshake....The Iron Milkshake, report status.
TIM: Fusion Chamberlain, all ok over here.

I would have thought that the callsign was something that also has a rhythm. Take the Top Gun characters.....
Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell
Tom 'Iceman' Kazanski
Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw
Mike 'Viper' Metcalf

Imagine your examples in there....
Pete 'Fusion Chamberlain' Mitchell
Tom 'Gorilla Ape' Kazanski
Nick 'The Iron Milkshake' Bradshaw
Mike 'Kombat Wombat' Metcalf

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue as easily.

So, keep it short, preferably single words, possibly 1-2 syllables. (3 at a stretch).

Transformers (the 80s cartoon and comics) had cool names that might work as funky callsigns...
HotRod
SideSwipe
Huffer
Ironhide
etc....
 
FatCow would be an interesting name to give someone. It'd be like this:

Jeff 'Killer' Thompson introducing himself to the group. "Hey guys, name is Jeff Thompson, you can call me Killer."
(Group):"Whatever, FatCow."
Jeff: "Uh, that's Killer, fellas."
"No, that's Fatcow, dumbass."
 
percy: if you're going to use top gun as a source*, at least read the credits and cite callsigns from the actual pilots who helped out. real pilots don't pick their own callsigns, their flightmates do, and if they try to call themselves something "cool" and "bad"**, it ends up backfiring big. hence they don't have tags like "maverick" "iceman" and "viper".

they're more like "rat" "bozo" "bio" "tex" "jaws" (who probably was named for talkativeness rather than after a shark) "loner" "horse" "silver" "curly" (for a guy with the last name of 'moe') - note a pattern? short, sweet, simple.

(*: note: never ever do this; i saw top gun with some real naval aviation types and they were muttering "can't do that in a tomcat... can't do that in a tomcat... can't do that in a tomcat... can do that in a tomcat, but you'd lose your wings...")

(**: i realize my own callsign breaks this rule, but i didn't come up with it)
 
warlock said:
real pilots don't pick their own callsigns, their flightmates do,
....
they're more like "rat" "bozo" "bio" "tex" "jaws" (who probably was named for talkativeness rather than after a shark) "loner" "horse" "silver" "curly" (for a guy with the last name of 'moe')
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Crap. It's back to "Weasel" for me.
 
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