One Pilots Life: Flying the CBI Hump - Ag Aviation - Airline Pilot Traing School

He instructed at Helena, Ark. He stayed until Dec He left to instruct in Memphis and New Orleans. In Douglas prior to Oct and stayed to Dec In Douglas from Dec to Dec He then went to active duty with A. In Douglas in its first year of operation. He left to go to the Navy. After discharge he flew for Gulf Oil Co. He left to go with Bell Aircraft. In he joined T. In Douglas from Sept to Dec He left to join T. In Douglas from Sept to Nov Called to active duty as a private and sent to multi-engine school in Las Vegas, NV. Discharged as a corporal a year later. In Douglas in July to Dec.

He was 6 months in Miami as a mechanic when he was drafted. Spent 1 year in the A. Left Douglas to join the A. He was discharged as he graduated from Advanced Flying School. He joined the Navy and was discharged in Went on to fly Air Force I for the presidents up through Pres. In Douglas from Nov to Dec He left to go to T. In Douglas Apr to Dec After leaving he instructed R.

Cadets at Clewiston, FL. Then instructed under the G. Left to fly at Ocala, FL until that school closed. Flew there until when he was grounded because of his heart. After the War, flew for a flying service in Ohio. In Douglas during He joined the A. In Douglas prior to Oct and stayed until Dec After the War he did flying, dusting and aerial photo.

In Douglas from May to Dec After leaving he took an instrument course and flight test in NC. Went into real estate after the War. Soloed in on an old OX-5 engine. Sent to African Div. Flew with the Flying Tiger Line and was in the Korean airlift. In Douglas from July to Oct He left to become a service pilot. After getting an accounting degree in , he returned to the service. Assigned to Wright-Patterson A. He left in to join the navy. Operated Sumter Airways and was manager of the airport there after the War. He was in Douglas from April to Dec.

He went into crop dusting with Stearmans after the War. In Douglas from Dec to May He then went through the Cadet Program and was discharged in Flew for a local operation in St. In Douglas Jan to Dec After leaving he had 10 months active service in the a. Discharged, he worked for Wes Raymond in Orlando on the G. In he worked for Ross Aviation Inc. In he qualified in helicopters and transfered to the rotary wing, instrument division. In Douglas from May to Jan Went with the A. Discharged in Mar In Douglas from Mar to Dec He left to fly A.

In he worked for Bendix Aerospace Div. Click here for a biography of Herb A. Was in Douglas until Dec Then he had a flying and crop dusting service and managed the local airport in Morrilton, Arkansas. Flying School in Alma, GA. He left to join the Navy in Nov He crashed in He is believed to be in this picture: In Douglas from Oct to Dec Went to Reidsville selling auto parts. He was discharged as a 1st Lt. After the War he crop dusted for 3 seasons at Beaumont, TX.

Then flew for a pipe line contractor in Tulsa. In Douglas from Aug to Apr He helped get the school organized and was a squadron commander. He left to go with the C.

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He was in Douglas prior to May and was there until after Oct. He was in charge of the mess hall and canteen. Killed when riding in a car that was hit by a pulpwood truck about Click here for another picture. In Douglas in Jan and still there Dec Later was in the Air Transport Command. In Douglas prior to Oct. After the War he continued flying charters and instructional flying. In Douglas Oct to Oct He left to go to Air Transport Command where he made the rank of Capt.

Was discharged in Operated an instrument flying school at Eustis. Then went into motorcycle speeddrome operation. He left to become 1st Lt. Killed while landing on his own airstrip in his own PT on June 24, He is believed to be in this group picture. In Douglas from Dec to Jan He stayed in the Service, going to Ferry Command after leaving Douglas. He retired as Lt. In Douglas from Dec to Oct He left to go into the Service. Married Jane Kent, who worked in front office at Douglas. Started flying in Came to Douglas in July Left Dec to instruct at the Miami Aviation Center for 2 years.

After the War flew float planes in Orlando and operated the airport at Thomaston for several years. Left in Nov to instruct at Gadsden, AL. After the War organized G. Did some crop dusting. Later flew officials of N. He was killed along with student, Robert W. Post, when practicing forced landings. He remained in Douglas until Dec After leaving he instructed at Arcadia, FL for 6 months. Then worked full time making and repairing violins. In Douglas prior to Mar to Dec See additional photo here.

In Douglas in June and July of Instructed in Ballenger, TX for one year prior to Douglas. After the War he returned to NJ where he operated a sea plane base. Then to Florida and the crop dusting business. In Douglas from Feb to Feb Left to get a commission. Then Operations Officer and C. After Douglas closed went to Arcadia, FL to instruct for 6 mos. Then he went with National Airlines flying. He stayed in the service after leaving Douglas. Later assigned to Hdqts. Was a command pilot flying jets and piston aircraft.

Transferred to Thailand and returned to Hickham Field Hawaii. After the War worked for the State Dept and was in Teheran for several years. Later lived in Washington DC. Went to Arcadia FL to instruct. Then flew for Trans-Tropic charter. After the War became a draftsman for Westinghouse in Baltimore. Then did some instructing at Fort Meade Flying Club.

In Douglas from Jan to Dec After the War got his instrument rating and crop dusted. In Douglas from from Feb to Dec In Douglas from Mar to Mar He left to become a Flight Officer in A. After his service he bought and sold aircraft. In Douglas from June to Dec He left to spend 6 months in A. Then 3 months instructing G. Spent 1 year at Keesler Field, Miss. After discharge he joined Southern Air Charter in Atlanta for 6 years. Then flew Test Pilot for Aero Corp for 5 years.

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In Douglas from Sept to Oct He left to go to National Airlines. Later he flew jets to Los Angeles and back. In Douglas from Aug to Dec Operated a machine shop and did some flight instruction after the War. Left to go to the Navy where he received his Navy Wings. Then in Iceland with Lockheed Aircraft Corp and also flew air rescue there. Went with American Airlines and flew in the overseas division for 3 years. Later flew jets and had over 22, hours flying. In Douglas from Aug Oct Then to Ft Meyers gunnery school. He was commissioned and went to N.

Africa and the C. Then to Bolling Field, Washington, D. He commanded the Sqdrn at Andrews A. While in Florida, he obtained a baby lion from a girl whose father raised lions for Ringling Bros. When the lion grew big enough to be a burden Vic sent the lion to Arthur S.

The lion was said to have gone everywhere the pilots did. Caesar eventually killed the lion after the lion had killed one of his pigs. After the War he flew DC-3s for T. Then he instructed on the G. Program at Teterboro, NJ. Then he flew for the Shulton Corp. Operated the airport at Trenton SC, instructed under the G. Bill for 3 mos and bought the G.

He left in Dec and returned to C. In he went into the trucking business. In Douglas from Oct to Sept He left to join Ferry Command and was made a 2nd Lt. Did ferry work of all types across the U. Left the service in Jan as a Captain. Then joined Arabian-American Oil Co. Then worked for Aramco in Lebanon. At Douglas from Dec to Dec Instructed at Parks Air College, St. He left in Oct to join the Navy at Atlanta where he instructed instruments for 2 years.

Then went to a PBY squadron. He went to A. In Douglas from June to Nov Then established a local flying service at Gulfpoint, MS, mainly flying Seabees to service off shore oil wells. In Douglas from Oct to late Then at Goodfellow Field until the end of the War.

In he had a G. Then instructed at an Air Force contract school from Left Douglas in Dec Returned to Cedartown, GA where he owned and operated a G. In Douglas prior to July until Dec Was at Douglas for the entire time the base was used to train cadets Went into the A. Left to go with National Airlines. In Douglas July to Sept Spent 12 months in A. One of the first 10 instructors at Douglas in July Left in Oct to go on active duty with the Army Air Corps.

Returned to civilian status in Oct. In Douglas Oct Nov. Returned to Baltimore where he instructed on the G. Worked with heavy machinery.

He left to go to Moultrie, GA where he instructed in the G. Later did crop dusting, then to New York where he flew to do power line inspection. Became an Industrial Engineer with I. Left in Nov to go to Orlando, FL where he flew and did maintenance work for a local fixed base operator. In went to Cleveland Ohio where he joined American Airlines as a mechanic. Later moved to Tulsa, OK. In Douglas prior to Oct and left Dec Later he managed Cumberland airport for several years and then started a body and fender shop in Cumberland. Left Douglas in to join the Navy. Taught meteorology at Douglas prior to and after Oct He left to work for Piedmont and Northern Railway Co.

Started in Douglas Dec. Returned to Douglas to operate a chenile bedspread plant in hangar 2 until summer of Also flew for Willie Joe Duke on the G. In Douglas Dec Feb He left to teach Basic at Greenville, Miss. Became a 2nd Lt. In Douglas in July and stayed until at least Dec He was killed in a DC-3 while in the Service. In Douglas since Left to join the Air Force and had a tour of duty in India.

In Douglas from about Oct to Mar when he went to the C. In Douglas Sept to Nov to join the Navy. He received his Navy Wings, was a full Lt. Left in Dec to go to Charleston, SC to operate a local flying service. In Douglas in Oct to Dec Of Hartford, Connecticut License Flight Instructor 42K, 43A. Flight Instructor In Douglas from Dec. Click here for a picture of Anderson in a group Cadet Walter R. Anderson as his instructor and remembers that Anderson may have been a barnstormer before the War. Flight Instructor He was in Douglas from Feb. Flight Instructor He started in Douglas in Aug.

After the War he did charter flying and instruction in Charlottesville, VA. Later lived in Pittsburg, PA. Clair County MI Airport. He and his wife were killed in a Cessna at night in bad weather, 15 miles north of Detroit, MI on Mar. Later worked for the F. Died by suicide sometime prior to Later of Palo Alto, Calif. Went to Charleston, WV where he had a flight training school until He continued flight schools until AAF base units collectively identified all permanent party organizations, including flying units, at any particular non-combat base.

The flying units were commonly denoted as lettered squadrons, i. Next it became Station No. Hardin was brought back to the United States after spending two years overseas [ah] and command of the India-China Division went next to Tunner. Tapped in the spring of to succeed Hardin, he selected his key staff and made a theater inspection trip in June that included piloting a C over the Hump. Tunner made extensive use of over 47, local laborers [99] [] and utilized at least one elephant to lift gallon fuel drums into the aircraft.

Tunner immediately reinstituted military standards of dress, decorum including inspections and parades , and behavior that had become slack in the previous year, for which he earned the nickname "Willie the Whip". In Tunner's first month of command, although the ICD delivered 22, tons to China, it still incurred an accident rate of. To reduce losses due to mechanical failure, in February Tunner introduced a maintenance program termed Production Line Maintenance. PLM consisted of having each aircraft due for or hour maintenance towed through five to seven maintenance stations, depending on whether or not an engine change was required.

Each station had a fresh maintenance crew trained for a specific service task, including engine run up, inspections, cleaning, technical repair, and servicing, a process that took nearly a full hour day per aircraft to complete. Each base specialized in only one type of aircraft to simplify the process. Despite initial resistance, PLM was successfully implemented throughout the division. Tunner also adopted two measures to lower the number of air mishaps due to inexperience and crew fatigue.

To accomplish the first, he appointed Lt. Before Tunner took command, pilot tours were set at flight hours over the hump, which many pilots abused by flying daily to rotate back to the United States in as few as four months. As a result, the division flight surgeon reported that half of all crewmen suffered from operational fatigue. Effective 1 March , Tunner increased the number of flight hours required to , and dictated that all personnel had to be in theater twelve months to be eligible for rotation, which discouraged over-scheduling.

The expansion was necessary to control the multiplicity of AAF Base Units created as more airfields were opened. Tunner shifted his veteran commanders to provide leadership to the new wings. Cannon switched to the Bengal Wing, while Col. Bromiley moved from the India Wing to the China Wing.

Tunner called for their replacement entirely by Cs and plans were drawn up to increase the Skymaster force to by October and by April With a fleet of Cs augmenting the ICD, the tonnage lift capability over the Hump was predicted to become more than 86, tons per month. A shortage of C engines hampered the plan, which was modified to have a quarter of the force always in a pipeline between India and Florida for engine changes, carrying cargo and passengers as they traveled in both directions.

The modified plan was approved in April and Morrison Field , Florida, was chosen for the maintenance but it proved an impediment to success when Cs sent there remained at the field for periods five times the seven days originally estimated for turnaround. In July , the last full month of operations, aircraft of the India-China airlift delivered 71, tons, ICD's maximum monthly tonnage. Of this fleet, were ICD transports, but were combat aircraft from AAF units temporarily assigned to the airlift.

ICD suffered 23 major accidents in July, with 37 crewmen killed, but the Hump accident rate declined to. He considered ICD's safety record to be his greatest achievement. In his memoir Over the Hump , Tunner wrote:. If the high accident rate of and early had continued, along with the great increase in tonnage delivered and hours flown, America would have lost not 20 planes that month but , with a loss of life that would have shocked the world. Tunner commanded the division until 10 November Lawrence, briefly commanded the division before it was disbanded on 15 November The first significant diversion of India-China Wing resources to operations in the region other than the Hump airlift began in February The Japanese attack in Arakan , followed by an offensive against Imphal in March and April, resulted in assistance to the British that Hardin estimated reduced hump deliveries by 1, tons.

The ICW also had a stake in resistance to the offensive because the threat to Imphal imperiled the Assam-Bengal railroad along which not just Hump cargo but fuel for the airlift passed. Mountbatten had no authority to divert planes from the Hump, [] [] but he was backed up by two of the principal American commanders in the theater: Major General Daniel I. The next month, to reinforce Stilwell's planned offensive into Burma, the ICW flew 18, Chinese troops west across the Hump to Sookerating, which resulted in a net reduction to the India-China effort of at least 1, tons.

The field immediately became an emergency landing strip for Allied aircraft even though fighting continued in Myitkyina town until August ICD continued its contribution to this success by flying in from southern India a regimental-sized forced of combat engineers and their support, including heavy equipment, for airfield construction.

The capture of Myitkyina allowed ICD Cs, which had ceiling limitations that precluded flying Route Able the High Hump , [2] the regular use of a second, more direct route, designated Route Baker but unofficially dubbed the "Low Hump". In October , after Gen. Tunner took command of the India-China Division of Air Transport Command, increased numbers of Cs, sometimes escorted by Allied fighters based at Myitkyina, greatly increased tonnage levels flown to China from India. The C, which could at ten tons carry five times the cargo load of the C and twice that of the C, replaced both twin-engined transports as the primary lifter of the operation.

From April to January , the India-China Division was also tasked with supporting Operation Matterhorn , the B Superfortress strategic bombing campaign against Japan from forward bases around Chengtu in central China. Arnold originally envisioned Matterhorn units as being self-sustaining, bringing in their own fuel in hundreds of Cs see Transport shortcomings below and other materiel using Bs and 20 Cs as their own "air transport service".

The concept proved to be flawed from the outset when the planned bomber force was reduced to a single combat wing of bombers before it left the United States. XX BC turned to ICD for additional support when its target date for commencement of missions was repeatedly postponed. McNamara created a statistical control section to create adjustable schedules that tracked the variable. XX BC had the unfortunate coincidence of arriving in the theater just as the Japanese started a major offensive in East China to open a corridor for lines of communication to its forces in Indochina, seize the airfields of Chennault's Fourteenth Air Force situated in that corridor, and possibly knock China out of the war.

Because Cs and Cs which landed in China were temporarily beyond ATC control, they were constantly being diverted for local emergencies by Chennault's and China Theater commander Lt. Wedemeyer 's forces, disrupting the flight crew rest and aircraft maintenance schedules necessary to maintain tonnage.

To alleviate the situation and also provide the additional support needed by the combat forces, 50 Cs and 20 C46s were permanently based Chinaside after October for internal movement of cargo and to assist the India-China airlift when gaps in local scheduling permitted. They proved their continuing usefulness by playing prominent roles in various support missions within China in and Chiang and Wedemeyer proposed to the Combined Chiefs of Staff , over the objections of Mountbatten, to relocate the divisions to counter a Japanese offensive seeking to capture the Kunming airfields.

The operation was approved with the proviso that it not strain Tenth Air Force's extensive air transport system supplying Allied ground operations in Burma.

The Hump - Wikipedia

IDC provided the Cs of the mobile air transport squadrons and all of its China Wing Cs to provide the necessary augmentation. The Cs moved the 14th Division from five airfields in Burma, including a field at Nansin whose construction was completed December 4. Takeoffs there were subject to artillery and sniper fire. The th Base Unit scheduled operations 24 hours a day and in bad weather, although the operation was suspended between 16 and 22 December when the situation in China seemed improved.

Of the six pick-up fields, only Myitkyina South was capable of night operations, [] and troop carrier Cs were used to shuttle troops there during the day for ICD aircraft to fly over the Hump at night. The mobile air transport squadrons were familiar with the Burma airfields and so were selected to fly the operation. Showing unusual flexibility in planning, the th Base Unit quartered incoming troops near airfields, supplied them, monitored the availability of aircraft and crews, divided the troops into planeloads, and kept Chinese units and their materiel intact.

Briefings and fuelings were conducted at Myitkyina South, the planes flew to their pickup fields and loaded, and then flew back to Myitkyina South for a final refueling before flying on to China. The th Base Unit control tower performed all air traffic control of aircraft to and from China. Grubworm lifted 25, Chinese troops, Americans, 1, draft animals, 42 jeeps and pieces of artillery in 24 days of flying. ICD flew 1, sorties, delivering 25, troops; 2, horses; and 1, tons of materiel; for a total of 5, tons.

The task facing the Tenth Air Force of creating an airlift was daunting at minimum, emphasizing all that the Army Air Forces lacked in April In addition, flying in the region was made more difficult by a lack of reliable charts, an absence of radio navigation aids, and a dearth of weather data. In Chiang Kai-shek insisted that at least 7, tons per month were needed to keep his field divisions in operation, but this figure proved unattainable for the first fifteen months of the India-China airlift.

Ultimately monthly requirements surpassed 50, tons. Slowly, however, an airlift of unprecedented scale began to take shape. Construction of four new bases was begun in , and by the operation flew from six all-weather airfields in Assam. By July the air corridor from India began at thirteen airfields strung out along the Northeast Indian Railways in the Brahmaputra valley , [] with seven in Assam , four in the Bengal valley , and two near Calcutta, [] [ax] and terminated at six Chinaside airfields around Kunming.

Through July the flight corridor for the India-China airlift was fifty miles wide with a highly restrictive vertical clearance. A critical problem proved to be finding a cargo aircraft capable of carrying heavy payloads at the high altitudes required, and three types were tried before the opening of a low Hump route permitted the use of Cs: However, the DC-3 design's fuselage was so high off the ground that loading from most truck beds was difficult, and its narrow door and weak floor could not sustain heavy cargo.

Although Cs had reinforced flooring and a wider door, they still required specialized loading equipment for much of the cargo needed in China and had a limited payload capacity. The introduction in January of the Consolidated C Liberator Express, a design modification of the BD heavy bomber, boosted tonnage figures. Its high-altitude capability enabled it to surmount the lower mountains 15,— feet MSL without resorting to the passes, but the type had a high accident rate and was unsuited to the airfields then in use.

Despite having four engines, the C climbed poorly with heavy loads, as did its bomber counterparts, and often crashed on takeoff if an engine was lost. Its poor cockpit illumination was inadequate for bad weather flying and often failed during instrument takeoffs, its electrical and hydraulic systems frequently froze at high altitude and malfunctioned, and its flight deck heating system was prone to produce either stifling heat or none at all.

One Hump pilot called the variant "an evil, bastard contraption" and a "ground-loving bitch" that "could not carry enough ice to chill a highball". Despite its shortcomings, the C was valued for the reliability of its engines, speed that enabled it to reduce significantly the effect of head and cross winds, a service ceiling that allowed it to surmount most weather fronts, and range that permitted its crews to fly "pressure-front" patterns that chased favorable winds.

All combat equipment was removed and eight flexible bag fuel tanks were installed inside the fuselage with a 2, U. At least 80 were involved in major accidents between September and August A crash landing of a loaded C inevitably resulted in an explosion and crew fatalities, earning it the nickname "C-One-Oh-Boom". The C was a large twin-engine aircraft capable of flying faster and higher than any previous medium-range cargo aircraft, and could carry heavier loads than either the C or the C, albeit at two and one half times the unit cost for a C Loads continued to increase throughout and , reaching an all-time maximum tonnage in July While becoming the medium-range workhorse of the Hump airlift, the C throughout its service experienced frequent mechanical failures in particular, a tendency to engine failure and fuel leaks that puddled at the wing root to become an explosion hazard that led to such unflattering sobriquets Air Force-wide as " Dumbo " and " Plumber 's Nightmare", [] and among ATC crews as the "flying coffin.

Worse, spare parts were in such scarce supply until the fall of that 26 of the first 68 Cs sent were out of commission. Flying over the Hump proved to be an extremely hazardous undertaking for Allied flight crews. Lack of suitable navigational equipment, radio beacons, and inadequate numbers of trained personnel there were never enough navigators for all the groups continually affected airlift operations. In the first year of the airlift, inexperienced officers of the Services of Supply [bb] often ordered planes loaded until they were "about full", ignorant of gross weight limitations or center of gravity placement, while most pilots were reserves recently called up from the airlines with little military transport experience and accustomed to civilian safety standards.

In December , one-third of the technical sergeant non-commissioned officer pilot training graduates of the Lubbock Field Class I were immediately sent to India to fly the Hump as replacement co-pilots. Some exhausted crews flew as many as three roundtrips every day, particularly during the Hardin rotation policy. Mechanics serviced planes in the open, using tarpaulins to cover the engines during the frequent downpours, and suffered burns to exposed flesh from sun-heated bare metal.

There were not enough mechanics or spare parts to go around during the first two years of operations; maintenance and engine overhauls were often deferred. Many overloaded planes crashed on takeoff after losing an engine or otherwise encountering mechanical trouble. Gann recalled flying into Chabua and witnessing four air crashes in one day: He commented with grim sarcasm, "Not to be confused with a combat operation. A byproduct of the numerous air crashes was a local boom in native wares made from aluminium crash debris.

In addition to losses from weather and mechanical failure, the unarmed and unescorted transport aircraft flying the Hump were occasionally attacked by Japanese fighters. Gayda returned fire in desperation against a fighter by pushing a Browning automatic rifle out the cockpit window and firing a full magazine, killing the Japanese pilot.

The high number of losses resulted in the formation at Jorhat in July of one of the first search and rescue organizations, nicknamed "Blackie's Gang. The unit moved to Chabua on 25 October and was given official status and allotted two Cs and several L-5 Sentinel liaison planes for rescue pickups. Porter recruited volunteer medics to parachute into crash sites to aid injured crewmen. In late November he added two B Mitchells to his small fleet from aircraft that had been consigned to a salvage field.

Porter was killed in action on 10 December , when his B was set on fire by Japanese Zero fighters during a search mission and crashed at the Indian border trying to return to base. When Tunner took command of ICD, he was dissatisfied with the existing search-and-rescue set-up, deeming it "a cowboy operation. Pricer, to establish "a thoroughgoing and efficient search and rescue organization". Pricer's 90 men of the nd AAF Base Unit Search and Rescue at Mohanbari used four Bs, a C, and an L-5, painted yellow overall with blue wing bands for easy identification, to conduct the search missions.

Pricer also charted all known crash sites to eliminate checking previous wrecks, and on occasion called upon a Sikorsky YR-4 helicopter based at Myitkyina to assist in rescue missions.

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The unit has been responsible for all search and rescue work from Bhamo , in Burma, north as far as allied planes regularly fly. Roughly, its jurisdiction extended from Tezpur , India to Yunnanyi , China. Before organized search and rescue, crews had been lost for weeks, sometimes months. Stretches up to 90 days were not unknown in a country where jungle thickets and dizzy mountain trails made each hour a nightmare to the lost crews fighting their way out.

But today, ICD's unique outfit probably would have made the story a trifle less stark. Aerial supply drops of maps and pertinent homing information would have made the walk-out perhaps less circuitous, while certainly the hardships would have been alleviated by air-dropped medical supplies, food and clothing.

As a direct result of the unit's work, the percentage of saved personnel steadily mounted and with it the confidence and assurance of ICD flight crews. ATC aircraft made , trips eastbound between 1 December , and 31 August , losing aircraft. Between and , the Chinese received transport aircraft from the United States: The final missions of the ICD, made after most of its attached organizations had departed, were the transporting of 47, U.

Tunner's final report stated that the airlift "expended" aircraft. In addition, 81 more aircraft were never accounted for, with their personnel listed as missing. Another 1, personnel had been rescued or walked back to base on their own. The final summary of logged flight time in the airlift totalled 1. The India-China ferrying operation was the largest and most extended strategic air bridge in volume of cargo airlifted in aviation history until it was surpassed in by the Berlin airlift , an operation also commanded by Gen.

Once the airlift got underway, every drop of fuel, every weapon, and every round of ammunition, and percent of such diverse supplies as carbon paper and C rations , every such item used by American forces in China was flown in by airlift. Never in the history of transportation had any community been supplied such a large proportion of its needs by air, even in the heart of civilization over friendly terrain After the Hump, those of us who had developed an expertise in air transportation knew that we could fly anything anywhere anytime.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see The Hump disambiguation. United States Air Force portal. The "command" was ad hoc and not an official designation, as was that of its partner branch, the Trans-India "Command". Jimmy Doolittle back from China after the raid on Japan. Concurrently it also cancelled all overseas contracts with the civil air carriers except those in the Western Hemisphere. Haynes had been the detachment commander and Scott a volunteer member before the plan was cancelled in favor of the B raid.

Of the 62 that reached India between May and October, 15 were destroyed by the end of Loaded aircraft of the ABC Ferry Command were transited to and from Karachi carrying out both missions, and Tate remained in Karachi to coordinate their movements. However other sources indicate the abrasive Naiden may have been insubordinate to a British general officer, and one alleges that Stilwell had him relieved for "financial impropriety".

Whatever the case, Naiden was reduced back to colonel on November 6 and held two training commands before his death in It had originally sailed for the Philippines before 7 Dec 41 but had been recalled, reassigned, diverted and delayed since the start of the war. All but 10 of its original complement of 70 Ps had been diverted by ship to reinforce Java and had been lost at sea at the end of February.

Even though only five sets were approved, and there was no delay in transferring personnel to operate them, the equipment was lost. It was eventually traced to Natal, Brazil, where it have been unloaded and then forgotten. It finally arrived in India in just before the next wet monsoon would halt Japanese air operations.



The issue had historically been the major point of contention between the Air Corps and ground forces since and the initial setup of the airlift went against Air Corps thinking if not doctrine. The AAF then disbanded the India-China Ferry Command, which removed the airlift from the purview of theater command, and replaced it with a non-combat operation using resources ATC that had not been available seven months earlier, making it subject to fewer diversions from its mission. It was part of a global supply chain that passed through several theaters getting to India, making that independence even more crucial.

He arrived at Dinjan on February 4, intending to remain overnight, but when he found that Stilwell and Field Marshal Sir John Dill had flown on, impulsively decided to fly the Hump at night. After an early evening takeoff, Arnold's navigator experienced altitude sickness in the unpressurized bomber. Navigation beacons failed to work, the radio operator could not raise Kunming by radio, and the B unknowingly encountered a knot tail wind , 50 knots more than had been forecast. Bissell's pilot proved useless.

Argonaut had actually flown well past Kunming, and as fuel began to seem critical, the radio operator finally made contact with Kunming station and used its signal as a direction finder. Argonaut landed shortly before two in the morning, four hours overdue. After 1 December, units were identified by the station numbers of their bases. Impetus for the pipeline slowed and Project 8 was integrated into the India-China operation, operating from a new base at Misamari. The delay in replacing Cs had been the result of a modification program to correct the problems experienced during its initial India-China operations.

Smith on an emergency inspection trip to India, where Smith met with Hoag. He was appalled to find that the ICW commander was headquartered a thousand miles to the west of his bases, the result of an agreement between George and Stratemeyer, acting at the behest of Stilwell. Although the arrangement did not result as feared by ATC in undue influence by Stratemeyer's staff on Hoag's, the ICW commander had never flown the Hump himself as a result and received all his information from written reports. Smith did fly the Hump during his inspection, however, and it was he who recommended Hardin take over the wing.

Photographs also appeared of an elephant named "Elmer" lifting a drum, but their veracity and that of the practice as being standard is not documented. These groups carried more than 20, tons in July and 11, tons in August. Whether or not Tunner considered this a major accident is unknown. After review by Gen. Stone , then concluded 30 was sufficient. Mountbatten changed it back to 38 for the formal request to the U. William Old, who had flown the initial mission over the Hump in The Cs used were known as "Mission 10".

Grubbs was placed in charge. In his memoirs Tunner called him "a godsend" and noted that in addition to performing, Martin was both talent scout and producer, putting together a touring troupe of amateur entertainers culled from the ranks of ICD personnel. Office of Statistical Control , p. Archived from the original on My life at IBM and beyond. Retrieved 17 April Archived from the original on 2 April Retrieved 19 March Cathay Pacific Airways Limited".