Flying Diaries of Naval Aviation

They are nondescript in appearance, their worn covers brown or blue depending upon the era, serial numbers indicating that they are just one item in the Navy’s vast supply system. Yet, there is much more to these Aviator Flight Log Books, their lined pages listing in methodical fashion the length and type of each and every flight made by a naval aviator, flight officer, or aircrewman. Officially, this is done to chart flight hours for the purpose of flight pay and other reasons, but oftentimes for the individual a log book become much more personal, particularly during times of crisis, its pages forming a virtual diary to remember momentous flights.

Through the years, the National Naval Aviation Museum has been the recipient of hundreds of these little books, this edition of In Their Own Words focusing on naval aviation’s flying diaries.