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Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website Dating to 1946, this black and white animated U.S. Navy pilot training film “Flat Hatting“ emphasizes the importance of avoiding unnecessary low-level flight during solos. The cartoon follows a naval aviator named Murphy who, as a child, had a drive towards self-destruction. As he grew older, he learned to tame his animal instincts (2:00). At 2:12, he is shown as an officer and a gentleman. At 3:12, bored out of his mind while flying a solo, Murphy decides to buzz a farm, terrifying the farm animals and human occupants. He goes on to buzz a city and gets grounded in a court martial (5:00). He winds up the stockade. By definition, flat hatting is -- flying an airplane low and recklessly. (As if flying low enough that only people wearing flat hats could escape being struck.) This cartoon draws from the contemporaneous work of Lt. Robert Osborn, who created a ch
