Hi Peter,
There is a long-standing tradition similar to what you described, but it
probably varies by location. When I passed my first solo around 30 years
ago, the instructor took my shirt and drew pictures of the Tomahawk on
it with messages, etc. Since it was a private pilot event, it hangs in
my music room instead of the public hangar at the airport.
Neil
On 8/4/2021 9:05 PM, Peter Stevens wrote:
Subject: [LRflex] Re: Flying runs in the family.
From: "Peter Stevens"<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2021 15:14:38 -0400
Hi Neil and David - since y’all are pilots can I ask if there is still a
tradition for folks who get their first license or pass their first solo
flight, I guess? I remember some years ago walking into a building serving as
the FBO for the old Army Air Corp field out side of Sebring FL, and up on one
of the walls, floor to ceiling, there were shirt-tails stapled to the wall.
Man, there had to be easy 6 or 7 dozen pieces of shirts up there. When I asked
about it I was told that they were all from pilots who completed their first
solo flight and had their shirt-tails hacked off post flight, with the saying
that it was now easier for the said pilot “to fly by the seat of their pants”.
Yep, I still laugh about it; but I don’t know if I was being pranked back then
or not. So, was it just a fun-joke being played on me, a local weird ritual
here in south-central Florida, or something that happens elsewhere on the North
American continent?:)
Thanks.
Best regards,
Peter S.
On Aug 2, 2021, at 10:12 AM, David Young<dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Not too steep, Neil. Just a gentle circle of the farm. I was very impressed
with our grandson, who is a fine pilot.
Nathan did do a few steep turns for practice with the ball perfectly centered and dropping no more than 35'.:-)
The "Trauma-hawk" sounds like a fun buggy!
David.
On Aug. 2, 2021 4:56 a.m., Neil Gould<neil@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi David,
Nice shot of the farm... were you in a steep bank at the time?
For me, an interesting aspect of this is that flying also runs in my
family, though for only two generations so far. My dad was a pilot
during WWII. As one of the Tuskeegee Airmen, he flew P-51s out of Italy.
I got my airman's certificate in a Cessna 172, but trained mostly in a
Piper Tomahawk that the club called the "Trauma-hawk" because it
required 100% attention and effort.
More commonalities among Leica users!
Neil
On 8/1/2021 9:05 PM, FreeLists Mailing List Manager wrote:
From: David Young<dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2021 07:27:01 -0700
Subject: [LRflex] Flying runs in the family.
Went for a lovely flight, yesterday morning. Two delightful hours of cruising
the Grand Prairie (Alberta) area with our grandson, Nathan, who is an excellent
pilot.
This was my ride...
