hangar queen

See also: hangar-queen

English edit

hangar queen (plural hangar queens)

(idiomatic, slang, military, aviation) A grounded aircraft which is kept so that its parts can be used in other aircraft.
- 1944 January 10, “‘Hangar Queen’”, in Time, retrieved 12 July 2008:
  In the Air Forces, "Hangar Queen" is not a proud title. It refers to any grounded plane which is being systematically "cannibalized" (stripped of its parts) so that other planes may fly.
(idiomatic, slang, aviation) An aircraft which requires a great deal of regular maintenance and has an unfavorable ratio of maintenance time to flight time.
- 2011 October 30, Mark M. Miller, “Second thoughts about the F-35”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 30 October 2011, page A19:
  [T]he F-35 . . . was not only meant to be an affordable fifth-generation fighter-bomber for the U.S. and her allies, but also to have lower maintenance costs than aircraft now in service. These claims may also turn out to be inaccurate, with the F-35 a potential hanger-queen like the F-22 Raptor.