Original WWII United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Aviator's Flight Log Book (N. AER. 4111) of Ensign Ralph R. Carruthers — a fully-filled wartime training record covering early 1943 through October 1945, with 1,000.6 total flight hours logged across several hundred entries.
The log follows a complete naval aviator progression: N3N primary trainer, SNV-1 basic trainer, SNJ-4/SNJ-5 advanced trainer, then operational types — F6F/F6F-5 Hellcat, SB2C-4E Helldiver, and F4U-4 Corsair — at NAS Chicago (Glenview), NAS Corpus Christi, NAS Pensacola, NAAF Westerly R.I., NAS Brunswick ME, and Fentress, Virginia.
A purple carrier-qualification stamp records: "28 MAR 1944 Qualified this date in carrier landings aboard the USS SABLE in F6F airplane," signed by Lt. George O. Wood, USN, Operations Officer — the USS Sable (IX-81) being the converted Great Lakes sidewheel steamer used as a training carrier that qualified thousands of Navy pilots during the war.
Includes records of strikes on Iwo Jima, Luzon, Hainan, Okinawa, Tokyo, etc.
The book also contains full flight-clothing and gear issue pages with NAS Pensacola stamps and clearing stamps, instructor names, and a final page for Squadron XVF-200 (October 1945).
Hardcover brown cloth binding.
Measures approximately 7 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches.
Condition: the cover is heavily used — the external spine material is mostly missing or detached, edges and corners are frayed, and the cloth shows staining and soiling; old yellowed household tape is present on the front cover hinge and the inner flyleaf. The interior pages are in generally good condition with age tanning, and the entries are written in a mix of blue/black ink and pencil.