The German equivalent of 'bandit' was 'Indianer', as in Cowboys & Indians. Stephen Bungay's Most Dangerous Enemy notes, when discussing RAF tactics of committing small numbers of fighters to attack large bomber formations, "Whether the choice [of 'Indianer'] is to be ascribed to a deep understanding of air fighting or a predilection for the cowboy stories of Karl May, still a favouite with German children today, is a mystery shrouded in the mists of time."

James Holland's The Battle of Britain has an example in a passage relating Luftwaffe ace Gunther Rall's first combat: "Then suddenly Gunther spotted some small black dots in the distance. 'Indianer!' he warned the rest of the Staffel. 'Indianer at twelve o'clock, Hanni six thousand five hundred! Ten or more!'

In addition to Indianer, Luftwaffe pilots also used the word autos (cars) in various combinations to denote Anglo-American planes. Dicke Autos (fat cars- today sometimes associated with SUVs) was the shorthand for a four-engined bomber and the one Luftwaffe pilots commonly used. Möbelwagen (furniture van) was also another radio shorthand for large planes. The term could be used to describe German transport aircraft or fit the other large, ungainly Allied bombers like the B-24. Jabos, short for Jagdbomber, was a catch-all for any fighter-bomber, but also became associated with single-engined Anglo-American aircraft, especially the P-47 or Typhoon, as they strafed multiple targets of opportunity.