idiot lights

A derisive term for warning lights in a car dashboard or any similar arrangement in a vehicle's cockpit. So called because they light up when the operator is being an idiot and letting something go wrong.

Check Engine, Oil Pressure, Battery...all idiot lights that won't switch off. I need a new car.

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Diffuser

A piece of automotive bodywork that is meant to deliver downforce by channeling air under the car, especially under the midsection and rear, so that it creates a low-pressure system under the car which sucks the vehicle to the ground. This increases traction and stability at high speeds.

These are especially prevalent on high-performance sports cars, supercars and most racing cars when putting spoilers that create similar downforce would just cause too much drag.

If you don't see a big tailwing on the back of a modern supercar, look at the tail for a diffuser.

The double-deck diffusers used by a few teams caused a scandal in Formula One over the 2009 season.

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Martin-Baker Fan Club

A slang term used to refer to anyone who has ever had to eject from an aircraft, in combat or otherwise. The name comes largely from two facts: Martin-Baker is one of the oldest and most well-known ejection seat manufacturers, and almost any pilot is thankful for that ejection seat when they have to bail out.

The Martin-Baker Fan Club: If you've ejected, you're a member.

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maneuver kill

An air combat term for losing a pursuer in such a way that the attacker is killed by crashing in an attempt to keep following the defender.

When a fighter has been in production for long enough, you can bet its record will include at least one maneuver kill.

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J-turn

A defensive driving and automotive stunt maneuver which starts by quickly driving a car backwards, then suddenly turning the car left or right. This causes the car to swing around so it is now facing and moving forward, in which case the driver can quickly shift into a forward gear and drive away.

More commonly performed as an actual defensive driving technique than the Bootleg Turn because it is relatively easier to execute and can be applied more readily.

Also called a Moonshiner's Turn, for its use by bootleggers in the Prohibition era alongside maneuvers like the Bootleg Turn, and also called a Rockford, for its frequent usage on the UK TV show, "The Rockford Files."

Any good stuntman should know how to J-turn.

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-maran

A suffix added to boat configuration names which denotes how many hulls a boat has, especially three or more.

E.G. a boat with three hulls is a trimaran, a boat with four hulls is a quadrimaran, and so forth.

The advantage to multiple hulls are largely twofold: first, for roll stability and second, for making sharper hulls that more efficiently cut through the water, decreasing drag.

Does anybody think V-hulls are cool anymore? All I see now are whatever-marans with, like, two or three hulls out there now.

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Buzzing The Tower

An aerial stunt in which an airplane tries to fly as close to a control tower as fast as the pilot can come without collision.
Obviously only acceptable if staged because it is so dangerous.

I'm pretty sure you could get in real trouble with the FAA for buzzing the tower without permission.

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