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Any Chance for a C-46

@Bill Kestell....wow, I'm not sure what to say other than I'm sorry you didn't have the opportunity to know your father. My own father did say that they lost many good men in that theater. It's a nice tribute that you do to recreate his flight and that you honor his memory in that way.
 
Bill, I am sorry your dad was not around to share your life but I enjoyed reading your posts. When I was a kid I knew a Catholic brother (non-ordained, not a priest) who flew missions over the Hump during WWII and later (as clergy) flew aircraft in Africa to supply missionary churches. He said on a clear day along the Hump route you could look down and see the sun glint off the metal and plexiglass of the planes that didn't make it across. Nothing like having a daily reminder of your own mortality.
 
@C87/TARPSbird ... thanks for your replies. Over the years I've managed to accumulate a goodly number of books on the Hump and the more I read the more I came to realize that it took a certain kind of airman to get up in the morning and fly another boring misson, flying 20+ 55 gallon drums of Avgas to Kunming, that had a high probability of turning into your worst nightmare in a matter of seconds. "There is no weather over the Hump" pretty much says it all ... and I believe there was only a single instance when they did close it down for a day. While the CBI never got much attention in history and many people alive today have no idea about the Hump ... I'm constantly reminded of all the "other" personnel stuck in hellholes like Chabua, Dinjan, Sookerating, Mohanbari, Tezpur, Jorhat, etc. doing the best they could to perform their jobs like repairing aircraft in extremely primative conditions, with a very undependable parts supply situation, running mess operations, keeping radios and ADF systems working (even in Vietnam, our FM radios on our M-113s only worked when they wanted to) ... a rear echelon of all rear echelons! Oh, and I forgot the air raids ... not frequent, but that can be even more frightening than something you know you can count on.

In flying in the CBI, it's all about using your ADF (yes, I've gotten lost) and watching your gauges for anything that's out of the green, and WATCH YOUR FUEL! Flying back from China is different ... they take away all your "extra" fuel. ("They" determine how many gallons your return flight will take and that's all you're left with) I had a flight back to Chabua one night when I went "tanks dry" just after crossing the Patkai Range back into the Assam at 17,000 feet (it's about 20 min flight time @140kn). Fortunately, with that altitude, I was able to dead stick into Chabua, but it was stressful because I knew that a missed approach would be fatal ... no go-around.

Anyway ... that's how it goes in the CBI. Like I mentioned, we have a decent selection of really first-rate aircraft (you would also need a C-54 for a few 1945 missons) and Nicolson's scenery is a problem-free install.
 
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