Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Flugzeug mit dem Hinterteil fliegen.

English translation:

flying by the seat of your pants

Added to glossary by jccantrell
Jan 27, 2018 16:53
6 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

Flugzeug mit dem Hinterteil fliegen.

German to English Tech/Engineering Electronics / Elect Eng
Hi folks.
This is an article from the FAZ. This comes at the very start of the article. If you want to read it, it is here:
http://www.faz.net/asv/it-trends-2018/abbildung-der-digitale...

It starts out with this:
Der Maschinenbau vollzieht die digitale Abbildung seiner analogen Welt. Jedes Bauteil, jedes Produkt, jede Anlage und bald vielleicht ganze Ökosysteme erhalten einen digitalen Zwilling in der Cloud.

Es heißt, Piloten würden ihr ***Flugzeug mit dem Hinterteil fliegen.*** Man meint damit das Steuern durch Intuition und nach Gefühl, nicht nur nach den Anzeigen der Cockpit-Armaturen.

Erfahrene Techniker des Maschinenbauunternehmens Voith gehen ähnlich vor: Sie entscheiden nach Gehör. Obwohl sie heute mit modernen Analyse-Tools zum Beispiel Turbinen in den Kraftwerken unserer Kunden eher mit dem Laptop als mit industriellen Werkzeugen untersuchen, ist auch der jeweilige Sound der Anlagen ein entscheidendes Kriterium.

And then it goes on.
My question: is the phrase "Flugzeug mit dem Hinterteil fliegen" equivalent to 'flying by the seat of their pants?"

Any contributions gratefully accepted. And a reference would be great.

Proposed translations

+7
4 mins
Selected

flying by the seat of your pants

standard phrase
Peer comment(s):

agree Martin Crich
48 mins
agree philgoddard : It gets only one Google hit, and it must be a calque of the English, which is why they go on to explain it.
2 hrs
agree Richard Stephen
2 hrs
agree Sven Petersson
8 hrs
agree Dhananjay Rau : WOW! absolutely agree
11 hrs
agree Mair A-W (PhD)
18 hrs
agree Thomas Pfann : Agree with what philgoddard says about this probably being a calque of the English.
21 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "This is a pretty standard phrase in English but I cannot find much in German so I agree with philg... that it might be a borrowed phrase. I only gave you two points because of the lack of German references. And thanks to all the commentors and contributors."
3 hrs

flying the plane by gut feeling

Not sure I would want the pilot flying the plane by the seat of his pants. It really means he doesn't know what he is doing and is just trying this or that to stay aloft. Conversely, using your gut feeling is generally based on some prior experience and success when deciding on your next action. I'd definitely entrust myself to the latter.
Remember: Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment
Peer comment(s):

neutral philgoddard : "To pilot an aircraft without the aid of instruments and without a flight plan, using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment." (Wiktionary). Any other translation would make the whole paragraph pointless.
42 mins
neutral D. I. Verrelli : https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/139400.html
34 days
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

7 hrs
Reference:

by the seat of one's pants

"Flying by the seat of one's pants was originally a literal (or nearly-literal) phrase, meaning to use all of one's senses -- including lateral and vertical "G forces" transmitted to your derriere through the seat -- to control an aircraft in flight. Early flight "instrumentation" consisted largely of a magnetic compass (which is only useful when flying straight and level) and a length of string (really!) to tell you the direction of airflow relative to the plane."
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/32537/what-does-...

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Note added at 1 day 1 hr (2018-01-28 18:47:10 GMT)
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References for the use of the German phrase:

“Während dieses gesamten Auf-und- Ab-Manövers, so urteilen nun die indischen Experten, sei Kapitän Dietz offenbar „zuversichtlich" gewesen, daß er die Situation jederzeit im Griff habe. „Es war dieses Selbstvertrauen — im Fliegerjargon. Eine Maschine mit dem Hintern fliegen* genannt — , das schließlich dazu führte, daß die Maschine in eine Flugsituation geriet, aus der Kopilot Körner sie nicht mehr herausbringen konnte"
http://tinyurl.com/yczkqv84

http://tinyurl.com/y7dh3nwo
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree Björn Vrooman : Another +1 for "derriere." Today, most people's favorite words in this category start with an a, b or c...
11 hrs
agree D. I. Verrelli : https://www.smh.com.au/news/Big-Questions/What-is-the-origin...
34 days
Something went wrong...
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