"M. J. Powell" wrote:

In message , Wally
Samuelson writes
Does anyone have a clue where the tradition of cutting off the shirt tail of
a newly soloed student began? I believe it has its roots in the military in
WW1.

It was my tie when I soloed. It was then pinned to the notice board.

Mike

Solo traditions have varied over time. I've heard of the shirt-tail
clipping, but never seen it done. Clearly the tie cutting is from a
generation long gone, since you can go for a long time without seeing
a tie on a soloing student pilot these days.

When I soloed in a J-3 Cub (Palwaukee Airport, Wheeling IL, 12 May
1962), I got a handshake from my CFI, but no cuttings.

When I soloed in a T-37--first USAF solo--8 Sep 1964, Williams AFB
AZ), I had to buy my IP (Capt. Homer Lee) a bottle of booze. That was
the tradition. No cuttings.

Later when I was IPing myself at Willy, the tradition of a solo
dunking came into being. A cattle tank (about eight feet in diameter
and about two feet deep) was kept behind the flying squadron building.
Each class of students would paint it in class colors. When a student
solo'd, the would be dunked by their classmates. No cuttings there
either. Of course, there weren't any ties nor shirt tails on a K-2B
flying suit.

When students progressed to the T-38 and began wearing a G-suit, there
was the ripping off of the "Gooney Bird survival kit"--the pocket on
the left inside thigh of the flying suit which carried the orange hook
blade knife used to cut parachute lanyards on ejection. The G-suit had
a knife pocket and covered the one on the flying suit leg making it
extraneous. Wise pilots always removed the pocket themselves whenever
they got a new flying suit.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038