What do elephant's ears, elephant's trousers and eyebrows have in common? Give up? In the grand old anthropomorphising tradition, they are all nicknames for parts of aircraft. A Boeing 737 dropped its elephant ears, and happily not its trousers, over a house in the USA last week. For those of you still confused, the elephant ears are also technically known as the flap track seals. Elephant trousers, on the other hand, are the alternative name for the swivelling exhaust ducts on the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine. Oh, and eyebrows? They are the little windows over the main flight deck windows on the 717 (and DC-8, DC-9, MD-80/90, and early 7-series Boeings), and they are about to disappear from the latest aircraft coming off the production line as a cost-saving measure.
Source: Flight International
