Bob Hudson Posted May 12, 2020 Share #1 Posted May 12, 2020 Picked up a small group with a couple of Navy wings and the pilot's flight training logs, CAA books and notes from 1944 to 1950 when he left the service. There are two nice full-size regulation Balfour pinback wings: one is engraved to his mother and the other to what may have been his wife or sweetheart. He learned to fly at Cedar Flying Service, Loras College in Dubuque Iowa. It looks like he was still in training when the war ended. His log shows a last Navy flight in October 1950 and he didn't fly again until a few flights in the 1960's (civilian) and went full bore in 1972 when he bought a Beech Bonanza - got the logs for that too: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share #2 Posted May 12, 2020 He was called by his first and middle names. I had an uncle who did that: he was Gene or Bill depending on how you knew him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-17Guy Posted May 13, 2020 Share #3 Posted May 13, 2020 Very nice wings and very legitimate period engraving. Aviator engraved wings are definitely more scarce then Pilot. Fantastic to have his books as well. Reading the remarks he made brings back memories of that first flight...level flight, level turns, etc. The realization of the joy of flight and how much we all had to learn! Thanks for posting this wonderful group with the human side shown so well. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share #4 Posted May 13, 2020 2 hours ago, B-17Guy said: Very nice wings and very legitimate period engraving. Aviator engraved wings are definitely more scarce then Pilot. Fantastic to have his books as well. Reading the remarks he made brings back memories of that first flight...level flight, level turns, etc. The realization of the joy of flight and how much we all had to learn! Thanks for posting this wonderful group with the human side shown so well. John He trained at Loras College, which had a Navy contract - through the Civil Aeronautics Administration War Training Service - for training aviation cadets in Navy V-1, V-5, and 4-7 programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted May 13, 2020 He started training in the TBM in September 1945 (but still spent a lot of time in SNJ's). Here's the log entry for his last Navy flight in October 1950 - his next two log entries are for a civilian Cessna 190 flight in 1960 and a Cessna 172 flight in 1969! In July 1972, 22 years after his last Navy flight, he bought an Beechraft Bonanza asnd became an active flyer: his wife, too, got a pilot's ticket. Civilian logs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted May 14, 2020 Here's the Balfour wings he actually wore: like the others, gold filled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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