Log Book Review

I dug out my oldest logbook tonight--figured on transferring the
records to electronic storage--and discovered my first glider ride
from so many years ago. It happened on 22 MAR 70 in Big Spring TX, in
a 2-33 belonging to the Signal Mountain Soaring Club (N2435W, now the
registration number of a Cessna 172). Dan Riemondi (sp?) was in the
back seat as we winched into the clear blue west Texas sky.

I remember thinking at the time, "Who needs an aircraft that can only
stay up for ten minutes?" Little did I know. I logged 0.2 as an amazed
"co-pilot"--on top of the 1700 hrs I already had in USAF jets--just to
get the flight on paper for the future.

Well, the future is here, and this is one of the few flights in this,
or any of my other logbooks, of which I have any specific memory, out
of 20,000 hours of flying--and one of the very few I can specifically
remember that don't also include a notation of significant weather,
mechanical malfunction, or other event like carrying a former POTUS,
certain combat missions, etc. The date, pilot's name, and other
specifics would without any doubt have been lost to me if they weren't
right here on the page. My logbooks are the only notes I've made of my
years in the sky and, as skeletonized a record as they are, I'm very
glad now that I have them.

You fledglings might want to keep in mind that what seems mundane
today may very well brighten your days and nights in the distant
future. Fill those pages now and they will fill some of your empty
spaces later. As for me, I'm going to try and do a more thorough job
of log-writing from now on.



Jack