Air Force Gremlins
Most use of imagery in the book is directed toward the visual realization of the gremlins themselves. Notably, not all gremlins look alike. Or, more precisely, not all groups of gremlins look alike. In fact, they are differentiated greatly by their appearance. The typical gremlin is thus brought to vivid life through the use of specific imagery:
“He was wearing a little red bridge jacket, with a pair of well-cut corduroy trousers to match, and on his head, tilted at as much of an angle as his horns would allow, was a green derby. And, of course, he had on his shiny black suction boots.”
Nautic-Minded Gremlins
As opposed to the typical gremlin who wreaks his havoc in the planes of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy must deal with their own peculiar offshoot which one of the pilots, Jamface, has termed Nautic-Minded. The appearance of this group of gremlins distinctly diverges from that of their air force brethren:
“they all wore sailor suits with little yellow Mae West jackets over them”
Note: A Mae West jacket is a lifejacket with two inflatable chambers covering the chest which then give a slight appearance of a female bosom. Mae West was an early film star notable not just for her double-entendres.
Spandules: High Altitude Gremlins
Spandules are a type of gremlin peculiar to the highest altitudes flown by pilots at the time. One pilot, Stuffy, relates a terrifying tale of what occurred while patrolling 35,000 feet in the air when he first confronted these gremlins who call the big puffy white cumulus clouds home:
“all day they eat hailstones…three times as big as ordinary gremlins, and…covered with long, black hair to protect them against the terrific cold, and their faces look rather like oxygen masks…bodies flat and thin...no legs—just short arms with suction gloves on their hands...their eating sounded like thunder."
The Athletic Gremlin
An offshoot of the ordinary air force gremlin is particularly robust in its athleticism. Such that when a large enough group of them work together, they are capable of causing havoc for a plane without even being inside the plane. The muscularity of this breed is demonstrated in vivid imagery during a scene in which they literally move the landing field for the planes away from its usual—and, of course, expected—location. One of the pilots looks on in astonishment as this group
“pick up the complete field and carry it away on their shoulders, running faster than the wind. Because they were all athletic types, they wore little white running shorts with a blue stripe down one side; instead of regulation suction boots they had on spiked patent-leather running shoes.”
