Talk:John Pinder (RAF officer)

Contradictory sources - Pinder's second victory
The list at theaerodrome.com states that John Pinder's first two victories were in the Sopwith Triplane, and the rest in the Sopwith Camel. However, Norman Franks in 'Sopwith Pup Aces of World War 1' asserts that the first was in the Triplane, the second in the Sopwith Pup, and the last fifteen in the Camel. The information in the article currently goes with The Aerodrome (because that's one of the original sources of this article; I added the Franks source last night). I didn't know how best to resolve these conflicting sources, or make it clear in the text that there is a conflict. Thelb 4 09:36, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

The Aerodrome is based on books written by Franks, VanWyngarten, and other authors from the Grub Street and Osprey Press writing stable. This website does not always readily cite its sources, so it's not bulletproof.

However, I checked Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0948817194, 9780948817199, page 305. It agrees that Pinder's second victory was scored while flying a Triplane. Also, since Naval 9 upgraded from Pups to Triplanes, it seems unlikely that Pinder used a Pup after getting a Triplane. On the other hand, if his new Triplane was in the shop, maybe he fell back on flying a Pup.

In short, while your scrupulosity is appreciated, I believe this minor issue can be resolved by simply deleting any reference to the matter. If this were an important matter, I would say, Present both sides of the issue.

Georgejdorner (talk) 21:23, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Addendum:

If Pinder is of particular interest to you, I can work up this article. I have gathered additional references since I originally created this article, and would be happy to mine them for additional information.

Georgejdorner (talk) 21:26, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Hi, Yeah, I'm interested in expanding this article - I really got back into editing last night while navigating Google Books, searching for any references to Pinder. In particular, I'd like to also expand the section of the article about his death - I couldn't get a copy of 'Conquistadors of the Sky' online. Thelb4(talk) 21:36, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Okay, Thelb4, I'm on it. I will work it up offline, and copy the results back piecemeal when done. That's to make future editing easier for others. It also leaves the article free for your editing. You may want to post an tag like this while you are editing,  to save your work from being blown into cyberhell by someone else's ongoing edit.

I do believe that I have pretty much covered the material available in Conquistadors of the Sky. Google Books and Amazon books have recently gotten chinchier in allowing free peeks inside texts.

Georgejdorner (talk) 22:54, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Further research shows that Above the Trenches uses information from Pinder's combat reports. Therefore, his second victory was scored in a Triplane. See the article's newly included victory list for details.

Georgejdorner (talk) 20:05, 30 January 2012 (UTC)