Author Topic: Trivia #2 (Read 627 times)

monteini · « **on:** October 28, 2005, 07:40:02 AM »

"Balls to the Wall" means to exert maximum effert. how did this expression originate?

Gianlupo · « **Reply #1 on:** October 28, 2005, 09:08:33 AM »

IIRC it should originate from the engine levers in planes having a ball to be held by the pilot... he pushes them all forward to the panel to have maximum power... hence "balls to the wall"

monteini · « **Reply #2 on:** October 28, 2005, 10:07:11 AM »

Gianlupo · « **Reply #3 on:** October 28, 2005, 10:08:55 AM »

Just luck... I knew it.

Krusty · « **Reply #4 on:** October 30, 2005, 10:39:58 PM »

It's an expression that comes about from the 60s/70s... It has been used in military aircraft (from what I understand it's a common term in Navy P3 Orion units). Supposedly, the myth goes, the balls refer to the throttle handles....

Only.. most throttles I've seen are not ball shaped. Instead most are cylinder shaped, and to ME that's a stretch.

Not sure where it came from, but that's what it ended up being used as.

Gianlupo · « **Reply #5 on:** October 31, 2005, 02:14:45 AM »

Well, many throttle/mixture/prop pitch levers in general aviation planes are ball-shaped at the end, so I assumed it came from there, but a military origin would make more sense...

Golfer · « **Reply #6 on:** October 31, 2005, 01:44:17 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty
It's an expression that comes about from the 60s/70s... It has been used in military aircraft (from what I understand it's a common term in Navy P3 Orion units). Supposedly, the myth goes, the balls refer to the throttle handles....

Only.. most throttles I've seen are not ball shaped. Instead most are cylinder shaped, and to ME that's a stretch.

Not sure where it came from, but that's what it ended up being used as.

Doh! Forgot PictureHangar was still down. Will include a photo of 'balls' to the wall taken circa 2005 as soon as it's up!

Krusty · « **Reply #7 on:** October 31, 2005, 07:27:29 PM »

Golfer, just from pics I've seen, it seems that *civilian* throttles might have round knobs, but that military ones often have disc-shaped or tube-shaped knobs at the end of the handles.

I find that strange.

Charon · « **Reply #8 on:** October 31, 2005, 07:39:12 PM »

I once heard it was a reference to the toy steam engines of the period (and earlier) where there would be a rotating, hinged, limp "rotor" (for want of a better word, no airfoil involved) with a ball on each end of the shaft. As it spun faster with the steam, the centrifugal force would cause the rotors to rise and stick straight out.

Charon

frank3 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 31, 2005, 07:39:43 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty
Only.. most throttles I've seen are not ball shaped. Instead most are cylinder shaped, and to ME that's a stretch.

Not sure where it came from, but that's what it ended up being used as.

Do remember that Maximum Effort missions were usually held with heavy bombers, Im guessing most of those had ball-shaped throttles?

It must come from the earlier days of the war (around BoB, when Max. Effort missions were introduced by Bomber Command) because the B-17 had bars instead of balls, and Im not sure about the B-24 and Lancaster.

Krusty · « **Reply #10 on:** October 31, 2005, 08:34:16 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Charon
I once heard it was a reference to the toy steam engines of the period (and earlier) where there would be a rotating, hinged, limp "rotor" (for want of a better word, no airfoil involved) with a ball on each end of the shaft. As it spun faster with the steam, the centrifugal force would cause the rotors to rise and stick straight out.

Charon

That has come up several times, sometimes in respect to constant flow diesel generators which have the same mechanism. I don't buy it.. It's too convoluted a description. Simplicity is usually key.

Krusty · « **Reply #11 on:** October 31, 2005, 08:35:50 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by frank3
Do remember that Maximum Effort missions were usually held with heavy bombers, Im guessing most of those had ball-shaped throttles?

It must come from the earlier days of the war (around BoB, when Max. Effort missions were introduced by Bomber Command) because the B-17 had bars instead of balls, and Im not sure about the B-24 and Lancaster.

It must be a post-war reference. The place I was reading up on it said it never showed up til the 60s/70s.

Plus the maximum effort missions were only when there were massive amounts of bombers, and that meant USAAF planes, which were usually B17s and B24s, which mentioned had bar-based throttles (what I call cylinders -- same thing).

hacksaw1 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 04, 2005, 05:28:53 AM »

Quote

the centrifugal force would cause the rotors to rise and stick straight out.

From what I've read, the quote above (but related to the governor of small engines) is the source for the WWII era phrase "balls out" meaning high RPM and high speed, but not for the phrase "balls to the wall."

Best Regards,

Cement