My curiosity about the custom of clipping the shirttails of new solo pilots began on my sixteenth birthday, June 23, 1954. This is when my instructor destroyed my favorite shirt, adorned it with data, and hung it on the wall of my flight school. I could not have been prouder, but I had difficulty trying to explain the loss of this shirt to my parents, who were unaware that their teenage son had been taking flying lessons.
I was fortunate that I did not have to remove my underpants. This was the custom at some schools, a tradition that died as women began to fly in significant numbers.
Since then, I have tried to determine, without success, how this quaint custom began. Because readers of my material are enthusiastic about pointing out occasional errors that I might make (especially in my monthly quiz, "Test Pilot"), it dawned on me that I could use your knowledge to resolve the riddle of clipping shirttails.
So it was that I asked in October's quiz whether any of you could shed light on how the custom of shirttail clipping began. I had hoped for a few reasonable responses that would set my curiosity at ease. Instead, I was deluged with a wide variety of explanations that I would like to share.
- In the early days of army aviation, student pilots were enlisted men and not entitled to wear shirts with epaulets. After soloing (or winning their wings), they also received their commissions. Material was cut from their shirttails to serve as matching and temporary epaulets.
- A variation of the above theme claims that clipping shirttails was a custom of the cavalry. When a battlefield commission was bestowed upon a new officer, a piece of his shirttail was clipped and used as a temporary epaulet. Hence, he was known as a shave-tail lieutenant. Later, when soloing called for similar on-the-spot recognition, the shirttail was clipped as a mock gesture or a genuine honor.
- Another reader suggests that clipping shirttails originated during the Roman Empire. The honor was bestowed upon those who had survived their first battle.
- When the U.S. Army used mules, the tails of dangerous or unpredictable animals were cut short to warn soldiers to be careful when walking near such mules. Similarly, the shirttails of new pilots were clipped to warn experienced pilots that new shave-tails were on the field and to be careful when flying near them. This tradition soon became a badge of honor for new pilots.
- One reader recalls seeing a photograph showing several Curtiss JN-4s (Jennies) in flight. Two of the aircraft had cloth streamers trailing from their vertical stabilizers. These presumably identified student pilots flying solo. A convenient place to obtain such streamers was — you guessed it — from the students' shirttails.
- Similarly, the custom is said to have begun at a small airport in Pennsylvania (possibly at or near the Piper factory at Lock Haven) where Piper Cubs were used for training. As a warning to others in the traffic pattern, cloth streamers were attached to the tailwheels of Cubs that were flown by student pilots. Because all of the Cubs were yellow, the streamer also helped an instructor on the ground to identify and keep track of his student. (The two-inch N-numbers on the tails of aircraft in those days were too small to be of value in differentiating one aircraft from another.)
- In the early days of fabric-covered aircraft, pilots carried a can of dope in case makeshift repairs became necessary as the result of fabric's tearing during an off-airport landing. Instead of carrying a bolt of fabric for this purpose, the pilot would sacrifice his shirttail to make a temporary repair. (Bush pilots in Alaska have been known to use newspaper sheets for this purpose.) Clipping shirttails today presumably honors these early pilots.
- During World War I, pilots wore scarves that could be used to wipe their goggles clean of oil that blew back from the engine during flight. Student pilots, however, did not have scarves and had to resort to using pieces of their shirttails. Today, the shearing of the shirt symbolizes the issuance of a scarf to the new pilot.
- When someone wants to limit the flying range of a bird, he clips the bird's tail feathers. Similarly, an instructor clips a student pilot's shirttail to symbolically remind him that he has much more to learn and must not venture far from the "nest."
- The most popular explanation claims that the early instructor sat behind the student in tandem, open-cockpit airplanes. This was before the advent of gosport tubes, intercoms, and headsets. The instructor presumably communicated with and got the student pilot's attention by reaching forward and tugging on his shirttail. Pulling on the right side signified his desire for a right turn, and so forth. When the student soloed, he no longer needed to receive such instruction, which was symbolized by the ritual removal of his shirttail.
Although the last explanation seems the most plausible, I have been unable to confirm that the instructor sat in the rear cockpit of early aircraft. In all open-cockpit airplanes that I have seen or flown, the instructor sits in front and uses hand signals to direct his student.
Which explanation is most accurate? Your guess is as good as mine. Eventually one will survive and become "fact." After all, "history is a myth agreed upon."
Schiff will be hosting a pilots' tour of New Zealand in March. For further information, call the AOPA Travelers Club at 800/888-AOPA — Ed.
