Another Set of Shirt Tails Have Been Cut
Simon's cut shirt tail hanging from Elite's wall
Congratulations go out to Simon Davis, owner of Elite Helicopter Tours. On Monday, October, 25th 2010, Simon completed his first fixed wing solo while flying Elite’s Cirrus SR22 G2 during the process of adding a fixed wing rating to his existing helicopter pilots license. Flying solo is a term applied to a student pilot flying alone during their flying education. While most pilots add a rotor/helicopter rating to their fixed wing pilots license, Simon is adding his fixed wing rating. Simon’s solo accomplishment has been a long time coming since the addition of the Cirrus SR22 G2 to the Elite fleet this past summer. As is tradition in the flying community, Simon had his shirt tails cut after which the cut shirt hung from the Elite walls with his solo details written upon it.
In case you were wondering why a student’s shirt tails are cut, the tradition is one developed in the United States during the early years of aviation. The removal of a student’s shirt is evidence of his or her instructors confidence in the students flying abilities. During the early years of aviation when intercom communications and headset were not available, students flew in tandem aircraft in which the instructor would sit behind the student. To get the attention of a student during their initial flight training, the instructor would tug or pull on the students shirt in front of them in order to get their attention and then yell in the student’s ear instructions regarding the flight. Once the student was ready to solo, the instructor would send the student off to perform three takeoffs and landings to a full stop to test their flying abilities. Upon returning to the flight school, the instructor would cut the students shirt tails and pin the tail to the schools wall with the students name signifying the student no longer needs to be tugged at by their instructor while flying. With the advent of modern avionics, intercom and headsets, the need for tugging and yelling was no longer necessary but instructors still enjoy the tradition of cutting the shirt tails to signify the accomplishment of the student. While it is tradition, it is one that continues on strong in the flying community and shows the grass roots of aviation. In Canada and abroad the tradition is a bit different though.
Simon posing with Elite's Cirrus SR22 G2
Simon Davis, owner of Elite Helicopter Tours, had a great story about his very first solo in a helicopter while learning to fly in Canada. Flying a helicopter by yourself verses flying with an instructor is a completely different experience because the load changes quite a bit when your instructor is not present. As an oversight, Simon’s helicopter instructor neglected to mention the change in controls and need for less power when he would be flying by himself. Simon’s initial pickup was perhaps a bit more squirrely than he would like and added a bunch of stress to his flying as he initially struggled to adjust his flying style for flying alone. Confident in Simon’s flying skill, the instructor waived him on to perform his solo work which he was able to do flawlessly. Upon landing the helicopter Simon was already drenched in sweat from the hot Canadian summer day along with the stress of flying solo for the first time. In Canada, the tradition is to drench students on their return to the flight school after landing their aircraft. Simon thought he was going to be the one to get away without being drenched even though he wanted to be drenched since he was already hot and sweaty from the weather. While walking down an aisle of hangers he saw a few fellow students and instructors on the roof ready with buckets of water to drench him. He thought he had them dodged and could avoid their attack but all this proved to be a distraction as one of his instructors snuck up on him from behind to completely drown him. Ecstatic from his accomplishment and without a change of clothes, Simon spent the rest of the day drenched at his school while reflecting on his solo ready for the rest of his training to become a licensed helicopter pilot.
All of us at Elite are proud of Simon’s recent accomplishment of joining the airplane community by adding his fixed wing rating to his existing pilots license. We look forward to his future check-ride and additional ratings he plans to add while flying the Cirrus SR22 G2. Once Simon acquires his private pilots rating for fixed wing, he plans to also acquire certification for instrument and commercial flying as well. Keep checking Elite news to see the latest accomplishments at Elite Helicopters.
Some great news comes from the Robinson Helicopter camp this week. The FAA has just certified the Robinson R66 helicopter. The R66 is the first turbine powered helicopter to be commercially offered by Robinson and features a 5 seat cabin similar the 4 seat cabin of the R44. Powered by a Rolls-Royce RR300 turboshaft engine, the R66 was able to reduce engine compartment weight by 50% while increasing the payload of the aircraft at the same time. The R66 has been a long time coming and the FAA has really done their due-diligence to ensure the safety of the aircraft during its certification process. Already the Robinson Helicopter corporation has 100 orders for this fine aircraft and will be delivering 10 aircraft by the end of the year. The R66 will make a nice addition to the helicopter community while adding turbine time to any helicopter pilots logbook. Congratulations Robinson!
