The most cherished memory of every amateur and professional pilot is undoubtedly the moment when he/she completes his/her first solo flight and lands on the ground. This important stage left behind on the way to becoming a pilot, combined with the happiness of getting into the captain’s seat of an airplane alone and achieving success, started to be celebrated in various ways all over the world, and has found its place among aviation traditions as a tradition of celebration after a solo flight.

A traditional way of celebrating is to tear the back of the shirt of a student pilot flying solo. The origin of this tradition is that in tandem training airplanes, the instructor pilot sits in the back, occasionally touching the back of the student pilot sitting in front with his hand or calling to him from behind. When a student pilot flies solo for the first time after a solo flight, his shirt is torn in the back, symbolizing that he no longer needs a pilot-in-training.

But the most common celebration after the first solo flight is the soaking of the student pilot. This tradition, which is especially widespread in the United Kingdom and the former Commonwealth countries, is now carried on with great enthusiasm all over the world, including Turkey.

Celebration after the First Solo Flight at North Fly Flight Academy: