Physics versus stamp collecting

[Genghis the Engineer]

I've always read history, but have only fairly recently dabbled with writing it. I put a paper together for Journal of Aeronautical History (http://aerosociety.com/News/Publications/J-Aero-Hist) which I enjoyed writing and although it's not quite out of refereeing yet, it looks likely to be published in the next few months. Very satisfying.

So I've made a start on another, needless to say on something I know about but equally that I'm learning a lot as I research it further. I'm no stranger to writing research papers, but new to writing ones on history still. Only having a couple of aerospace engineering degrees, and not even an O'level in history, I'm on a bit of a steep learning curve!

Which has brought me to an interesting question - where do you draw the line in writing between purely listing and cataloguing facts (as many books especially do) and putting together and analysis of the what it all means?

So for example, we can easily catalogue what aeroplanes and pilots were in a particularly squadron at a particular time. But, more difficult but interesting is to try and piece together why that combination of pilots and aeroplanes was, or wasn't, good at the job they were assigned or what legacy they left future units from their lessons learned the hard way.

Those of you who write history seriously - how do you get that line right? Is it there a general consensus about how to tackle this, or is this very much a matter of debate and opinion?

G

[patkinson]

Hi Ghengis,
Seen your posts a number of times on various subjects through the years and as a retired lae i always find your posts generally of interest..
There must be scores of engineers with stories to tell and I would like to mention one such from a cruise I had a few years ago when we met an older couple in their eighties and we got onto the subject of the RAF and aircraft.
I had mentioned the Varsity during the course of the chat and he said had I heard of the Vickers Valencia..no I said , but it was a Vickers a/c checked it out .Well Maurice had been a WO pilot had flown DC2's over the Hump in WW2 and he said he had been stationed in northern India, it may have been Peshawa.
Anyway he said that in the hangar was a Valencia that had been there for some time and he was asked would he fly the a/c if they got it serviceable!
You sign of the F700 and I will take it he said to the crew who evidently had all the necessay spares etc to fix it up!
He sent me a copy of him doing the egr and I will email a copy if you would like to see it . He did fly the a/c for one circuit..the t/o speed was not very high and he maintained that to get the a/c down again!
I thought it was avery interesting story and to get this at firsthand was priceless ..I actually sent a copy of the story to the Aeroplane, the deputy editor of which found it very interesting but it never went further. Unfortunately Maurice died and I am sure he would have left a lot of memories in cardboard boxes as I mentioned to his son in law!

Anyway that's my story ...second hand I know!! :=

[aviate1138]

If only we could record people's brains before they die! All that experience and few records.

My old man worked at Vickers during WW2 on Wellingtons, Warwicks, two Windsors and was based at Brooklands/Weybridge/Wisley and some time at Smiths Lawn, Ascot. He rarely mentioned anything and I should but never did press the questioning. Duh!

History is much more relevant to today that most people think. I am writing an account of my life for my grandchildren so that they won't wish they had asked me questions before I faded away!

[DougGordon]

One of the things I try to do when researching and writing aviation history is to contact folks who were actually there and involved in doing the job.
I know this is not always infallible in writing history. People's memories are often unreliable and the facts are not always as people remember them. However, when those memories and anecdotes are related to the recorded histories (unit histories etc) then it is possible to get a more complete picture than would be possible by simply trawling through the written word.
It is of vital importance, in my judgement, for us as historians, to try and access as much as possible the memories of those who made the history. I write mainly about the Cold War and I know how difficult it is to contact people who were active in the 1950s, for example; but it is possible with work and patience. Time passes too quickly for us to be complacent about this. As it passes so do those who are the most valuable sources of information. All too soon it will be too late.
As important as it is for writers and historians to access such personal information; it is also incumbent upon those who were there to remember that they too have a responsibility to pass on their experiences; by recording them themselves or by sharing with others.