Nick's Tie Cutting Ceremony

Today was Nick's Tie Cutting Ceremony.  I'm sure most people have no idea what this was because just a few months ago, I know I sure didn't!!!!

Within each community in the military, they have their traditions.
Within Primary (the training Nick is in right now), each squadron has their own traditions for events.  The biggest for most squadrons is their solo flight.
When the student aviators begin training, an instructor pilot (IP), also called their on-wing, flies with them, sitting in the back seat of the T-6.  After 13 flights, the last being a check-ride flight, the student is able to fly the plane solo.  (To check out my blog post on Nick's solo flight, click HERE.)

All the squadrons have a Tie Cutting Ceremony after they solo.  And it's exactly what it sounds like....they cut a tie.

red tie in honor of the Red Knights

So why do they cut a tie?  They don't even wear ties!  Don't worry, I thought the same thing.  Apparently, as the tradition was explained today by the Skipper, way back in the day, they wore ties with their uniforms.  When the instructor needed to correct the student aviator or get his attention, he would pull on his tie.  The cutting of the tie signifies cutting them off from their instructor and signifying they are on their own and can now pilot a plane by themselves.

I am not too sure how all the other squadrons do this ceremony, but Nick is a part of the VT-3 Red Knights squadron and like with most things, they make their ceremonies fun.
They have a mock T-6 set up and the students must enter correctly (not walking in from the front or the back, but stepping over and into the cockpit) and their instructor sits behind them.  (If they fail to enter correctly, they have to pay money.)  In some cases, as with Nick's on-wing, they have two students.  If this is the case, BOTH students must get in the cockpit, sitting on each other's lap.  The student on bottom must act as the harness....as you can see in these photos, Mike's arms are Nick's harness shoulder straps.

getting in the "cockpit"

Captain Buckley saying "I've got the controls!  Nobody reach for the stick!"

Nick and Mike throwing their hands up after Captain Buckley said something about "hands up" when not reaching for the stick.

Once "inside" the T-6, the student then tells a funny story about their on-wing.  (If they don't have a funny story, they're booed by everyone in the room (easily 50-60 people in there today) and they just talk about how great their on-wing was.)  Nick told his story about his on-wing (you can see his story in the video below)  and then Mike took his turn (all while keeping his "harness straps" on Nick to prevent having to pay more money.)
Then their on-wing takes a turn telling a funny story about them, both stories were about Nick and Mike almost killing him lol.

Then they exit the "plane" and their instructor cuts their tie with a giant knife.  (It's said that if it's cut at the very top, you did poorly on your solo and if it's cut towards the bottom, you did really well.  But it appeared that all instructors just grabbed the tie and cut, not paying attention to where it was being cut.)

After the tie is cut, both Nick and his instructor sign it, and then it's hung in the Instructor Pilot Lounge/Squadron Bar room.

Nick signing it

Nick and his on-wing partner, Mike

Here is a video of the entire thing (well, just their portion.  There were about 10 others who did this with their instructors as well):

(If you click the bottom righthand image on the video
(next to the YouTube image, it looks like a little corners
to form a box, it will enlarge the video)

It is also customary to present your on-wing with a bottle of liquor.  Nick and Mike were Captain Buckley's (call sign 'Bucknastee' lol) first ever on-wing students so they framed a picture of them standing outside the plane after their solos as well as giving him a bottle of Jack.

He truly appreciated it and talked to them about how much he really enjoyed flying with them and then told them he wanted to do their cross country flight with them.  (Most students get to do one cross country flight over a weekend.  I think it says a lot about Nick and Mike that Captain Buckley would like to do their cross country with them.  He also said he'd leave it up to them where they want to go, such as to their hometowns, so Nick is hoping they can fly into St. Louis.  Captain Buckley said he thinks that's totally possible.  I hope that happens because I know Nick's family and mine would LOVE the opportunity to not only see Nick but go to the airport and take some pictures with him and the plane when he lands, as well as meeting his instructor.)

Nick has truly enjoyed his training thus far in Primary.  He really likes Captain Buckley and was happy to have him as his instructor.  Nick is always talking about how great he is...always cracking jokes and how he's really knowledgeable and really respects him.  Captain Buckley has invited us, along with Nick's on-wing partner, Mike, over to his house on Saturday evening for wings, beer, and football along with him and his wife.  I'm really looking forward to it!  (and luckily today we got the awkwardness of the car photo out of the way....thank goodness lol).
(see the previous blog post from Saturday October 13, 2012 about the Navy Ball and Captain Buckley's car)

I'm also very thankful Nick is a part of the the Red Knights.  I've heard from others that the other squadrons do things more privately or don't include the families (not that they exclude them, but that not many, if any significant others or children go, and sometimes the guys are mocked if they go...this information simply coming from other wives).  Definitely not the case with anything in VT-3.  Today, there were easily 6 other significant others of students there as well as about 4 instructor pilots' wives and about 40-50 students there (who are not forced to go, but just like to attend these events.)  It's great to feel welcomed and acknowledged.  I know I don't do anything other than support Nick as much as I can, but it's nice for their CO to acknowledge this of the families and thank us.  I really truly love Nick's squadron and I know he does too.  (I also appreciated the free pizza!)

The only picture we took today.  I should have checked it because it's pretty blurry but oh well!  So proud of my husband!

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This really doesn't have anything to do with the tie cutting ceremony but I thought it was cool.
Recently, VT-3 had two NASA astronauts in Primary as students (not the full Primary) for a while.  They then returned to NASA and sent the Red Knights patch into space!!!!  The had this picture taken, then framed it, each signed the matte, and mailed it to the Red Knights CO.  The photo was taken out of the port facing window of the International Space Station in July 2012.  Very cool!!!!