Found Pop's Logbooks

When my parents divorced I accompanied my mom to East Texas to help her remove items from their lakehouse. We were mostly interested in getting two trunks of belongings that belonged to her father (Pop) and her grandfather.

I was not looking forward to doing this and just wanted to get it over with. We grabbed the trunks and made a cursory examination of the house but we didn't take much else.

Once we left the house we knew that my father planned to sell it and, since he lived overseas and was unlikely to come back in time, and everything in it. Sure enough, that's what happened. I suspect that the contents either ended up at Goodwill or the Salvation Army.

A few years later I started to develop an interest in learning to fly, like my father and Pop. And so I asked my mom if she had Pop's old logbooks. Nope, they weren't in the trunks. After much searching we never did locate them. I was devastated. I was sure that my bad attitude about cleaning out the lakehouse had led me to leave them behind. All that history, gone.

Now, ten years later, my wife and I are caretaking her parents' home. Her mother passed away in April and now she and her sister are going through the house deciding what to keep and what to estate sale.

Lately, most of the work has been concentrated on the garage. Yesterday they came across a box that had my name on it and G set it aside for me. Inside I found an old army jacket, some army caps, a box of old knicknacks that I cherised when I was a kid. Also there was a alligator-skinned zippered folio. And inside the folio were Pop's logbooks, student pilot's license and several sectional charts, circa 1951.

I felt like I had been kicked in the chest. All those years thinking I had thrown away my Pop's flying history and here it was sitting in my own garage gathering dust! After picking myself up from the floor and wiping away the tears I started reading through documents.

There are two logbooks. The first contains Student Pilot Certificate S122676 for Sam James Hamm, issued on 14 August 1940 in Alamo, Texas. The backside shows his solo endorsement issued by FH Rodgers on 15 August 1940.

The first flight recorded is on 23 December 1939 for thirty minutes in an Aeronca Chief (NC21369). In the remarks section is written "1st lesson. Very pleasant."

After four flights in the Chief he switched to a Piper Cub (NC26848) and made an additional nine flights before he soloed the Cub on 15 August. His total flight experience at that time as nine hours.

All of the remaining flights in this logbook were in the Cub and were local flights except for one cross-country from Mission to Brownsville and back. Total flight time was 28 hours 34 minutes.

The second logbook picks up on 16 March 1950 at Whitefield Airport in Rotan, Texas. It looks like he started his training over again and he soloed a Taylorcraft on 30 April 1951.

He stayed a student pilot until 17 May 1955 when he passed his flight check and earned his private pilot ticket. At that point he had amassed 151 hours of experience, not counting his flights back in 1940.

The vast majority of the flights were local except for cross-countries to Sweetwater, Abilene, Big Springs, Midland, Snyder, San Angelo, Hamlin, Aspermont, Lake Thomas, and Portales, New Mexico. And most of the flights were very short in duration, usually about 30 minutes.

The last flight logged was 1 hour 45 minute local Rotan flight in Aeronca Chief N86342 on 21 October 1956. His total experience was 214 hours 30 minutes.

Aircraft flown:
Aeronca Chief NC21369
Piper J3 Cub NC26848
Luscombe 8A N45492
Taylorcraft N44174
Piper J3 Cub N42643
Super ? N07603H
Cessna 140 N76251
Aeronca Chief N86342