flat-hat

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The Word of the Day for March 31 is:

flat-hat   \FLAT-hat\   verb
      : to fly low in an airplane in a reckless manner : hedgehop

Example sentence:
      Unable to resist the temptation to show off, the young pilot decreased 
altitude and flat-hatted over the county fairground.

Did you know?
      Legend has it that the term "flat-hat" originated with an incident back 
in the days of barnstormers in which a pedestrian's hat was crushed by a 
low-flying airplane.  According to one version of the tale, the reckless pilot 
was subsequently required to purchase a new hat for the hapless pedestrian. It 
seems unlikely that such an event actually took place, but we can well imagine 
how fear of having one's hat smashed flat by a passing airplane might have 
given rise to such a vivid verb. "Flat-hat" first appeared in English in 1940; 
another word for flying low to the ground, "hedgehop," debuted 14 years 
earlier. 





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