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stranger
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Does anyone know the origin of the phrase, "Nap of the earth?" It is used to describe flight that skims the landscape in order to approach a target undetected and to avoid enemy fire. It was used in US Army aviation as early as 1967. I'm looking for a possible literary origin.
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Well, welcome, my dear zjemi, but I can't help you with your question. Is this flight by birds? Insects? Or does it matter? I've never heard of this, and in fact just looking at your subject title, I thought you'd made a typo.
It sounds like it might possibly be related to nap, as in fabric. I am going to have to have somebody give me a personal demonstration of what that is, I think; despite of troy's and others' good explanations, I still don't "get it", though I know it's to do with the way the threads run.
(All I can ever see is that some go up and down, and others go back and forth.) Perhaps Helen can "see" how this type of flight might show or be related to, the "nap" of the earth.
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I'm fairly sure that NOE flying is of military issue, flying as low as you can to avoid radar detection, skimming so low that you can actually® see the nap (surface texture?) of the earth. (I picture Slim Pickens en route to drop the Big One in "Dr. Strangelove...")
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"This is your pilot... we're nap flying now <yawn>, we've got 'er on autopilot...."
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zactly so!  Never want my pilots to be nap flying. Feed 'em coffee till they pee out their ears but keep them flyboys awake.
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now that i've revisited this thread, i feel like i must be in a parallel universe... surely that's not the original post that i replied to?
-joe (hang on, it was monday) bfstplk
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now that i've revisited this thread, i feel like i must be in a parallel universe... surely that's not the original post that i replied to?
Excuse me, sir, but your preposition is dangling
Of *course it's not the post to which you replied, silly. Allow me break it down for you:
(1) Post query
(2) Read responses
(3) EDIT original query so as to retroactively obviate said responses.
As an added bonus, fastidious and pandemic adherance to this policy will dramatically reduce the heretofore rapidly rising number of new posts each morning, particularly the useless ones (such as this).
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stranger
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I posted my original query hoping to learn where the phrase came from. When responses arrived that were not what I was looking for, I elaborated the query to prevent others from wasting their time. This is clearly what the "edit original post" is designed for. As an expert in helicopter aeronautics, I know quite a lot about NOE flight. What I don't know and wished to learn is the origin of the phrase. I was hoping participants in this forum would help. I'd still appreciate any useful responses.
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In reply to:
This is clearly what the "edit original post" is designed for
zjemi, the lack of a tongue-in-cheek emoticon has been the subject of much discussion, and i regret that in rereading my previous post i can clearly see how you would interpret it as a slight to you, rather than a not-very-well executed show of levity.
FWIW, i *still don't think the intent of the "edit" capabilities is to substantially change the content of your post after it has been responded to, for the simple reason that many of us don't read the threads in real-time, and it can get confusing. perhaps an additional clarifying post in response to tsuwm's reply would've been helpful. also, most of us don't review the original post once several responses have been added, so additional information provided therein will most likely go unnoticed.
as to your initial query, it isn't hard to imagine that contour flying, because it is by definition conforming (and in close proximity) to the contours of the earth (caused by vegetation, obstacles, and even ambient light) could be called "nap of the earth" flying because the pilot is conforming to the "grain" or "nap" of the topography.
Has anyone checked the OED for a literary reference? You may be onto something, zjemi, only because i can't imagine a bunch o' big ol' macho army-types admitting to even *knowing* the word 'nap' (which i tend to think of as a sewing term), let alone applying it in this case.
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gymk> also, most of us don't review the original post once several responses have been added, so additional information provided therein will most likely go unnoticed. gk, I think we've proved *that beyond a shadow of a doubt! 
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re: also, most of us don't review the original post once several responses have been added, so additional information provided therein will most likely go unnoticed.
actually, we often edit posts.. but we leave in the original, and add an edit in red or blue.. with a big
EDIT and then the changes.. and sometimes.. (not to pick on Xara, but her edits are so much fun..) a complaint will be edited.. and the complainer will acknowledge.. oh, yeah, you did actually answer the question i asked.. but what i meant to ask was....
me, i just hang my head in shame, and mumble, mea culpa, mea culpa.. again and again..
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The beat of helicopter blades directly overhead woke her. As she stared, down out of it, hooked by a harness and cable to the mother ship above, came Brock Vond ... whom his colleagues were calling "Death from Slightly Above," had been out traveling in a tight formation of three dead-black Huey slicks, up and down the terrain of Vineland nap-of-the-earth style, liable to pop up suddenly over a peaceful ridgeline or come screaming down the road after an innocent motorist.... -Thomas Pynchon, Vineland (1990) I know this is of no help, since obviously the military expression inspired it and not vice versa, but it is literary. 
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this is a sort of off the wall answer... but sometimes putting out something that is totally off the wall -- get mind working in a better way..
there is the expression "by the nap(e) of the neck. (and i don't know which is correct, i think it is nape, but it is orally pronounced like nap.. ) cat carry kittens by the nape of the neck, and fathers and mothers place their hands on the nape of the their childrens necks to push them where they want them to go..
anybody else have some thoughts? nape of the neck morphed into nap of the earth?
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Okay. We seem to have been flying by the seat of our pants on this one. Here's my guess, based on nothing other than being absolutely sick of Tornadoes and Jaguars flying over my house at altitudes with negative signs in front of them: If you look at a topographical map, the contour lines run reasonably close together, or at least trend together for any given geographical feature, like a hill or a valley between hills. If you think of corduroy, something similar applies. The ridges and valleys run close together. Assuming that nap of the earth flying involves flying at low level along contours, which it must usually do, there's your "nap". How it came to be used as military jargon, heaven only knows. Just remember, "military intelligence" is an oxymoron! 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Does anyone know the origin of the phrase, "Nap of the earth?" It is used to describe flight that skims the landscape in order to approach a target undetected and to avoid enemy fire. It was used in US Army aviation as early as 1967. The ordinary meaning of "nap" is to doze off during the day. The secondary meaning is "to be offguard". Hence the phrase "Catch them napping" . Flying by the "nap of the earth" refers to the practice of flying low to the earth (undetected by radar) to catch the enemy by surprise (or "napping"). 
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Pooh-Bah
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[Adding to the general discussion, but not in any way approaching the original question emoticon] My Etymological Dictionary of the English Language indicates that nape and nap are unrelated:
Nap (1) a short sleep ... formerly a verb; ME, nappen, to doze ... AS, hnaeppian, to nap; hnaeppao is a gloss upon dormit, Ps. xl. 9, ed. Spelman. Cf. Bavarian knappen, to nod with the head ...; OHG. hnaffezen, to nap. ...
(2), the roughish surface of cloth. (MDu.) .... Prob. introduced by Du. clothworkers. ... M Du. noppe, “to nap of woole or cloath,” hexham; cf. MDu. noppen, to sheare of [off] the nap; ... Cf. Du. nop, nap; Dan. noppe, frizzed nap of cloth; MSwed. nopp, nap; Low G. nobben, nap; Bremen Worterbuch. Also Norw. napp, nap, and Norw. nuppa, to pluck off with the fingers; AS. knoppian, to pluck, ... AS. a-hneapan, to pluck off; Goth. dis-hnupnan, to be torn in pieces; dis-hniupan, to tear to pieces. All from Tuet. base, *hneup. to pluck, pull.
Nape, the joint of the neck behind. (E.) ... The original sense is projection of “knob;” and the term must have been first applied to the slight knob at the back of the head, felt on passing the finger upwards from the neck; cf. OFries, halsknap, nape of the neck. It is, in fact, a mere variant of ME. knappe, a knob, button, ... Cf. Icel. knappr,. a knob, stud, button; AS. cnaep, the top of a hill.
And I wonder how widespread is of troy’s pronunciation of “nape” as “nap?” I’ve never heard “nape” pronounced with a short a.
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stranger
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NAP(near as possible)
It means to fly as Near As Possible to the earth. I realize that you say NAP of the earth, and it sounds funny to say near as possible of the earth. But NAP is an acronym.
Should have asked an Army pilot first. Could have saved you some time :)
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ah! welcome, Black Hawk!
your answer gave me the clues to your name, plus you brought back an extremely enlightening old thread. too bad that a couple of the posters haven't been around for quite some time.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Holy cow--blackhawks are really cool! And THANKS for giving us the explanation! [sigh of satisfaction emoticon]
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It means to fly as Near As Possible to the earth .. NAP is an acronym. ... [You] should have asked an Army pilot first.You almost caught us napping, BlackhawkAviator. Good one! We extend a special welcome to any "Stranger" who can test our wits as ingeniously as you have. Of the several kinds of "nap" in English, the most well-known is "nap" meaning "a short sleep" (or, as a verb, "to take a short sleep"). Modern English inherited this "nap" from the Old English "hnappian," meaning "to doze," but its ultimate origin is unknown. But that's OK, because the "nap" in "nap of the earth" has nothing to do with dozing. You're on the right trail when you assume that it is connected to the "nap" or surface of a carpet or cloth. This kind of "nap" arrived in English around 1440 from the Middle Dutch "noppe," meaning "tuft of wool." The "nap" of wool or cloth is the layer of projecting fibers on the surface, and "nap of the earth" metaphorically likens the hills, valleys, trees and so forth of the earth to the "nap" of a carpet. While I suppose that any small aircraft would be capable of flying "nap of the earth," it seems to be primarily a helicopter tactic, and I have been unable to find the term used earlier than the Vietnam War. The Word Detective, December 2002 http://www.word-detective.com/122002.html If "nap" had, indeed, been an acronym for "near as possible", the expression would be "nap the earth", not "nap of the earth".
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When a Blackhawk flies "nap of the earth"
It isn't a "doze" which gave birth
To the term, but the fluff
Of that carpeting stuff.
With rockets it carpets the turf.
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