lomcevak

English

Etymology

Derived from a Czech word which roughly means "headache" or "hangover", the expression "lomcovák" (sometimes spelled incorrectly by non-Czech speakers as "lomcevak") originated from the Moravia region, now in eastern part of Czech Republic, famous for its Jelinek slivovitz, a traditional Czechoslovakian alcoholic drink, and is commonly used to describe the rotating motions of one who has had one too many. The English use originates from Czechoslovakian aerobatic pilot Ladislav Bezák's mechanic, who at a 1958 air show in Brno, Czechoslovakia, jokingly called Bezák's tumble maneuvres "lomcováks" when asked by journalists what they were.

Noun

lomcevak (plural lomcevaks)

1. (aviation) An aerobatic flying maneuvre in which the pilot follows a knife-edge roll by flipping the airplane end-over-end and into a spin, from which the pilot then recovers control of the airplane.
   • 2004, Thomas Fleming, Conquerors of the Sky, page 462:

     The pilot ended his performance with the most dangerous stunt in the aerobatic book, a lomcovak.