Frank_Olynyk
30 July 2006, 02:45 PM
The recent posts on Robert Saundby's Flying Colours caused me to check on it, and anything else by or about him. I found an interesting associational item that he wrote, titled A Fly-Rod on Many Waters (1961), one of several books by aces on fishing. I received it a few days ago, and in wandering around in it (not something I see a need to sit down and read), I discovered Chapter 13: The Keeping of Records. In it is the following paragraph (page 144-5), of relevence to this forum (and seems to be the only reference to flying or World War One in the book):
It reminds me of the early days of flying. In the Royal Flying Corps, before the formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918, the keeping of a pilot's log-book was optional. I was one of those who elected to do so, and I soon found that I was being rapidly outstripped in flying experience by contemporaries who did not keep log-books, but who spent -- I felt sure -- at least as much time on the ground as I did. By the time I had accumulated 500 flying hours, they were well into their thousands. This was not, of course, deliberate untruthfulness, but a combination of miscalculation and wishful thinking to which we are all prone. The result, however, was that no reliance could be placed on the claims of those who did not keep log-books, and it was impossible to assess their flying experience. So the keeping of these books became compulsory.
The chapter, and book, are also relevant to the question of trophies, since there are numerous pictures of trout caught by the author, as kept in his fishing log.
Frank.
It reminds me of the early days of flying. In the Royal Flying Corps, before the formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918, the keeping of a pilot's log-book was optional. I was one of those who elected to do so, and I soon found that I was being rapidly outstripped in flying experience by contemporaries who did not keep log-books, but who spent -- I felt sure -- at least as much time on the ground as I did. By the time I had accumulated 500 flying hours, they were well into their thousands. This was not, of course, deliberate untruthfulness, but a combination of miscalculation and wishful thinking to which we are all prone. The result, however, was that no reliance could be placed on the claims of those who did not keep log-books, and it was impossible to assess their flying experience. So the keeping of these books became compulsory.
The chapter, and book, are also relevant to the question of trophies, since there are numerous pictures of trout caught by the author, as kept in his fishing log.
Frank.