Why is there always a picture of the shirt being cut off?

There are several explanations for the tradition of losing the shirt tail after soloing.  The most common is that in the "old days", the instructor sat behind the student in a tandem (open) cockpit, and would tug on the student's shirt to get the student's attention.   Now that the student is able to fly without the instructor's admonishment, the shirttail isn't needed anymore.


Congratulations to the latest AeroCare Flying Club members to join the Piloting community!


Mark Lipham 6/21/2007