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By: - 20th September 2005 at 08:26 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
With today's helicopters and technology, who knows what might be able to be brought out of there.
Lots of bits of DC3 I'd suspect.
Unless there are some types that are less readily available across the world I can't see it being worth the effort.
Unless the cargoes had lots of a/c spares of course :)
Moggy
By: - 20th September 2005 at 08:47 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I was thinking that other than Dakotas, there would probably have been Curtis Commandoes too, which are not that common now. And possibly some British types? How about transport Stirlings or Yorks? Any chance they may have been used over the the trail?
By: - 20th September 2005 at 09:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
How about Liberators too maybe?
I have been googling and found that C46 Commandoes were used. Crossing the 'hump' was nicknamed "Operation Vomit" by aircrews,
By: - 20th September 2005 at 10:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
How about transport Stirlings or Yorks?
Stirlings in China - there might be some truth in that rumour, yet?! ;)
By: - 20th September 2005 at 16:05 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
How about Liberators too maybe?I have been googling and found that C46 Commandoes were used. Crossing the 'hump' was nicknamed "Operation Vomit" by aircrews,
Dave (and others)
How many routes over the hump were there? I've never thought about it. IIRC from the books some of the first B-29s in the CBI were modified as flying tankers to get fuel for the remaining bomb-carrying B-29s. I think you can see little Camel markings on many B-29 bomb logs (e.g. 42-24579 "Eddie Allen" of Airfix kit fame) where they did a hump mission. The same is true for B-24/C-87/C-109. I don't think they all made it out intact but I would suspect any wreckage from those areas is likely to be a lot of scrap metal rather than recoverable/usable pieces.
Now, about those Stirlings - one of which was piloted by Lord Lucan and had Shergar in the hold.... :D
PS very pleased to see that "Aluminium" is in use in NZ. There's far too much "aloominnum" here. :D :D
Rob / Kansan
By: - 20th September 2005 at 16:44 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I met an archaeologist/explorer/TV producer guy last year called Wong How Man, who is actively looking for some of these wrecks
By: - 20th September 2005 at 16:53 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Dinjan is one of the north-eastern most airfields in India. Its in the Brahmaputra River Valley. From what i have read, in addition to the C-47s, Liberator Express and Commandos were also used to fly the Hump.
I have also been reading about the 40th Bomber Wing and the number of B29 Superforts it operated from Indian airbases. Shouldn't there be some B29 bits lying around in the forests and the abandoned airfields?
By: - 20th September 2005 at 17:38 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
A few other web resources for the curious:
http://www.nimitz-museum.org/cbiprimer.htm
Estimates are that nearly 1000 men and 600 planes were lost by war's end
http://cbi-theater.home.comcast.net/menu/cbi_home.html
There's an article about a fuel PIPELINE over the hump.
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/wwii/aeb6.htm
Fascinating snapshot of one more little detail in WWII history.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1733.html
Has a nice pic of a C-46 over the Himalayas and claims that C-54s would replace the C-46s. I hadn't heard this one before but there is some logic to it.
Rob / Kansan
Posts: 5,588
By: Dave Homewood - 20th September 2005 at 07:49
I was just watching a great video set I picked up last week for a bargain, called Clash of Wings.
In it there's some great shots of a squadron of Dakotas taking off in India to supply China. The narrator talks about the supply route, which he said began in Dinjan (sp) in the Ramaputra (sp) Valley and flew across the ranges to something-or-other Ming in China, was known as the Aluminium Trail.
It received this nickname because, he said, there were 450 aircraft wrecks litterring the floor of the route!
Has anyone ever recovered any of these wrecks? Or investigated the possibility? I'd imagine many would be up in the cold regions where preservation is good. With today's helicopters and technology, who knows what might be able to be brought out of there.