Will your heirs even want your logbooks?

[dbahn]

It's a weird story, but I have my great grandfather's ELBOW. He developed an infected joint during the Civil War, when joint removal was the only option at the time to treat the infection. He kept the bones in a jar and actually went on to become a surgeon once the joint scarred in. The bones have been passed down to each generation after that, and at my father's passing almost twenty years ago they were passed on to me.

 

[iamtheari]

It's a weird story, but I have my great grandfather's ELBOW. He developed an infected joint during the Civil War, when joint removal was the only option at the time to treat the infection. He kept the bones in a jar and actually went on to become a surgeon once the joint scarred in. The bones have been passed down to each generation after that, and at my father's passing almost twenty years ago they were passed on to me.

This is a cautionary tale of what can happen if you don’t have a logbook to pass down to future generations.

It’s also a great story. That goes without saying. But it’s an even greater cautionary tale.

 

[4RNB]

I've pondered this recently, and I've come to realize that most of my 7 logbooks contain "drudgery" that in and of itself just isn't that interesting, even to a pilot - lots of airport names, hours flown, weather conditions, etc., but only little tidbits of what those flights meant to me.

It occurred to me that it might be more meaningful for me to list, say, my 10 most memorable flights or trips and the dates they were taken, and describe the feelings and emotions associated with those, a small journal so to speak that could be referenced by date in the logs (if anyone were actually interested in that aspect of it). There is some interesting stuff buried in there, but finding it could be hopelessly tedious for my kids.

 

[Plano Pilot]

Dad passed close to 5 years ago. Moved Mom into assisted living last August and sold the house. Found several of Dad's old logbooks that I do not remember ever seeing. Thoroughly enjoyed spending time looking at them.

 

[dbahn]

Dad passed close to 5 years ago. Moved Mom into assisted living last August and sold the house. Found several of Dad's old logbooks that I do not remember ever seeing. Thoroughly enjoyed spending time looking at them.

Do you think you would have enjoyed them if you weren't a pilot?

 

[RussR]

It's a weird story, but I have my great grandfather's ELBOW. He developed an infected joint during the Civil War, when joint removal was the only option at the time to treat the infection. He kept the bones in a jar and actually went on to become a surgeon once the joint scarred in. The bones have been passed down to each generation after that, and at my father's passing almost twenty years ago they were passed on to me.

Okay, that's really neat and I'm fascinated. Which bones do you have? Do you mean they had to amputate and you got the end of the Humerus? Something like that? I am certainly not a doctor.

I do have to say that's about the rarest heirloom I've heard of!

 

[dbahn]

It's the distal humerus and the proximal ulna, a little over an inch of each. The radial head and neck are not with it and may have been left alone. It's what's called an "interpositional arthroplasty", meaning that the joint itself is replaced with fibrous (scar) tissue, so although the arm is a little floppy at the elbow the hand itself functions normally. I'm not in my regular home right now but when I return in a few days I can get a photo.

I actually AM a doctor (retired orthopedic surgeon) which is how it ended up with me. Both my father and his brother were doctors, so it got passed down along that line.

 

[Ventucky Red]

It's the distal humerus and the proximal ulna, a little over an inch of each. The radial head and neck are not with it and may have been left alone. It's what's called an "interpositional arthroplasty", meaning that the joint itself is replaced with fibrous (scar) tissue, so although the arm is a little floppy at the elbow the hand itself functions normally. I'm not in my regular home right now but when I return in a few days I can get a photo.

I actually AM a doctor (retired orthopedic surgeon) which is how it ended up with me. Both my father and his brother were doctors, so it got passed down along that line.

I have a few plates and pins in that joint...

I do have to say that's about the rarest heirloom I've heard of!

How about a book where the cover is the skin of the person that gave it to you?

List of books bound in human skin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org