Anyone know P/O D. C. Bartley
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Anyone know P/O D. C. Bartley
Can anyone tell me anything about Pilot Officer D.C. Bartley? I have his log book, unearthed in a second-hand bookshop. He began flying on the Chipmunk in August 1968, went solo in 11:55 and began training on the Jet Provost at 3 FTS in December 1968. He graduated on October 17 1969 with 178 hours, and his Flying Badge certificate is still in his log book.
In January 1970 he began training on the Sioux Mk 2, moved on to the Whirlwind Mk 10 in April and the Wessex 2 in July. He stayed with the Wessex through 1970 and into 1971, when he was in the Gulf. The words Bithna, Arabian Nights, Ajman and Bog Irish appear in the Duty column. On March 31 1971 he flew to Sharjah. A note for July 6, 1971, says “Deck Landing Galahad”.
In March 1972 P/O Bartley was at Gutersloh, still with the Wessex 2, and all subsequent military flying was in Germany. The last military entry was for November 30, 1972. He had a total of 590hr.
Two years passed, then a receipt for £10 dated February 19 1974 records the issue of his CPL. He’d flown the Bell 47 and Hughes 269 at Southampton with Twyford Moors Helicopters. His commercial career was almost exclusively on the 269 in the North of England, with Sherburn, Teesside and Barton figuring prominently. His log book, previously so neat, now becomes a little less so, with pages of records made simultaneously in a scrawl. He notes work for Autair International for ICI, Northern Gas, NEGB, MGB, and EMGB, moving to East Midlands, Sibson, Elstree and rattling up flying time, anything up to seven hours a day, 64 hours a month.
The last flight he himself recorded was January 14, 1975, East Midlands to Doncaster in a Hughes 300 which could be BHBN or BABN. Underneath, in pencil, another hand records a flight on January 15th, also from East Midlands to Doncaster, also in the same aircraft, and the same hand records that he had flown 44:45hr in the last 28 days. There is no more.
I don’t know how much my ownership of his log book entitles me to know, but I’ve got half a picture here. Can anyone help fill the blanks?
[This message has been edited by t'aint natural (edited 30 June 2001).]
In January 1970 he began training on the Sioux Mk 2, moved on to the Whirlwind Mk 10 in April and the Wessex 2 in July. He stayed with the Wessex through 1970 and into 1971, when he was in the Gulf. The words Bithna, Arabian Nights, Ajman and Bog Irish appear in the Duty column. On March 31 1971 he flew to Sharjah. A note for July 6, 1971, says “Deck Landing Galahad”.
In March 1972 P/O Bartley was at Gutersloh, still with the Wessex 2, and all subsequent military flying was in Germany. The last military entry was for November 30, 1972. He had a total of 590hr.
Two years passed, then a receipt for £10 dated February 19 1974 records the issue of his CPL. He’d flown the Bell 47 and Hughes 269 at Southampton with Twyford Moors Helicopters. His commercial career was almost exclusively on the 269 in the North of England, with Sherburn, Teesside and Barton figuring prominently. His log book, previously so neat, now becomes a little less so, with pages of records made simultaneously in a scrawl. He notes work for Autair International for ICI, Northern Gas, NEGB, MGB, and EMGB, moving to East Midlands, Sibson, Elstree and rattling up flying time, anything up to seven hours a day, 64 hours a month.
The last flight he himself recorded was January 14, 1975, East Midlands to Doncaster in a Hughes 300 which could be BHBN or BABN. Underneath, in pencil, another hand records a flight on January 15th, also from East Midlands to Doncaster, also in the same aircraft, and the same hand records that he had flown 44:45hr in the last 28 days. There is no more.
I don’t know how much my ownership of his log book entitles me to know, but I’ve got half a picture here. Can anyone help fill the blanks?
[This message has been edited by t'aint natural (edited 30 June 2001).]
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(this, too, is in the Mil Forum)
t'a n
That certainly was an interesting "find", but I'm afraid that you can't claim ownership of the log book which remains the property of MOD forever. Almost without exception, however, MOD does not demand the return of log books when aircrew leave any of the Services. (They might if they had been falsified, for instance.) So you are, at best, only the custodian of Bartley's log book until either MOD or he or his family claims it.
And he may; after all, if he's still with us he'll not be much older than about 50 years old now and it's most likely that he either lost the log book or had it stolen.
You describe well and sensitively how the log book reflects the changes in a man's life with the passing of years. But it was a little unfair to include the last bit by OC 18 Sqn of the day. It would be a kindness if you were to edit that bit out - unless you want to explain to Mr Bartley face to face why you thought it was necessary to put it in. Remember, he could be a Ppruner!
t'a n
That certainly was an interesting "find", but I'm afraid that you can't claim ownership of the log book which remains the property of MOD forever. Almost without exception, however, MOD does not demand the return of log books when aircrew leave any of the Services. (They might if they had been falsified, for instance.) So you are, at best, only the custodian of Bartley's log book until either MOD or he or his family claims it.
And he may; after all, if he's still with us he'll not be much older than about 50 years old now and it's most likely that he either lost the log book or had it stolen.
You describe well and sensitively how the log book reflects the changes in a man's life with the passing of years. But it was a little unfair to include the last bit by OC 18 Sqn of the day. It would be a kindness if you were to edit that bit out - unless you want to explain to Mr Bartley face to face why you thought it was necessary to put it in. Remember, he could be a Ppruner!
