Flying the Hump
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Flying the Hump Anni Tong, Falisha Raval, Angi Tong Junior Division Group Documentary Process Paper: 488 words Process Paper While we were thinking of a topic, we remembered that our dad once mentioned an airlift operation called “the Hump” and how it gave China crucial supplies to fight against Japan during World War II (WWII). After researching, we realized how dangerous and risky this mission was. Yet the Hump pilots still bravely carried out this mission by breaking multiple barriers. Not many people know about this heroic mission, so it was our duty to promote the legacy of the Hump. Thus, we chose this as our topic. We email interviewed Sgt. Victor John Mignano of the 10th weather squadron at China-Burma-Indian theater of war. We interviewed Dr. Ken Bridges, a famous historian who knows about WWII, and had an in-person interview with Dr. Fontaine, Director of Aviation Programs at Texas Southern University. Our research was conducted by reviewing books and online resources about the Hump. It provided us with vivid descriptions about the dangers which Hump pilots faced including the altitude and weather. The book “the Diary of a Pilot” gave us a personal description of the experience the pilot went through, including the stressful conditions, harsh weather and high plane altitudes resulting in a loss of air pressure. Other books contained photos and maps of the Hump routes which provided a visual representation of the flight over the Himalayas. We chose a documentary as our project category because we were interested in learning how to make a creative visual representation out of our research. We included interviews of people who have witnessed or studied about the Hump. To create our documentary, we added music, photos and videos, recorded our voice, and spent months creating it. Creating a documentary was a new and challenging experience for us, giving us the opportunity to work with technology and to bring our research to life. We faced many difficulties creating this documentary. The recording and visuals would often get unsynchronized. Whenever we added a new visual, the visuals after that would be automatically pushed back, messing up the coordination of our words and pictures that go with them. We would then have to reorganize everything so that our visuals are coordinated with our words. This topic fits the theme “breaking barriers” because during WWII, the Japanese forces blockaded all of China’s ports and borders, making it impossible for any supplies to reach China. The Japanese forces were major barriers to transportation of supplies to China, which resulted in the flights over the unforgiving Himalayas to send supplies to China. The Himalaya mountains itself was another huge barrier to transportation. Being about 29,000 feet high and 200 miles wide, with rugged terrain and freezing temperatures, the Himalaya mountains caused many planes to crash when caught in the extreme weather. However, with many courageous U.S. airmen, supplies were transported over the Himalayas to China, which helped China win the war against Japan and insured the final victory of the Allies. Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources Articles Air Cargo Took off above the Himalayas, 28 May 2018, www.aircargonews.com/0518/052818/Air- Cargo-Himalayas.html. This article describes the journey of a plane flying over the Himalayas. It has many statistics relating to the cargo and the Himalayas. We used this source to show the airplane crews and the inside of the planes. This source helped us understand how much space was inside the plane and how many pilots there were. Glines, Carroll V. “Flying the Hump”. Air Force Magazine, ww.airforcemag.com/article/1009hump/. www.airforcemag.com/article/1009hump/. This source helped us understand what the plans were like during the Hump and showed the significance of this mission. We used this to explain the legacy of the Hump and the planes used by the pilots. McGowan, Sam. “Over the Hump: Supplying Allied Forces over the Himalayas.” Warfare History Network, 10 Jan. 2017, warfarehistorynetwork.com/2017/01/09/over-the-hump-supplying-allied- forces-over-the-himalayas/. This source is written by a pilot himself. It was an article about this pilots’ experiences on the Hump. We used this source to explain the struggles that pilots faced and the experiences that they had. This source helped us understand how the pilots flew over the Himalayas, despite the weather, Japanese forces. Navitsky, Christin. “Hump Pilots Last Reunion.” Joint Base Charleston, 11 May 2011, www.jbcharleston.jb.mil/News/Article/234605/hump-pilots-last-reunion/. This article shares the experience of the Hump pilots and the perils they faced on the Hump airlift. We used this source to show the difficulties of this mission and the impact on the Hump pilots. Stilwell, Blake. We Are The Mighty - Americas Tactical Military Entertainment Brand, We Are TheMighty-AmericasTacticalMilitaryEntertainmentBrand,28Jan.2019, www.wearethemighty.com/the-hump-world-war-ii. This article helped us understand the altitudes that the pilots faced on their mission. We used this article to find information about the harsh weather conditions the pilot faced and the specific hardships during the flight. “Three Chinese Soldiers Examine the ‘Blood Chit’ on a Pilot’s Jacket – Ca February 1944.” Forensic genealogy, www.forensicgenealogy.info/contest_427_results.html. We did not use this source in our documentary, but this source helped us understand about blood chits and how they were a pass for the pilots who flew the Hump. This helped us understand what a blood chit was, and what it meant. “WWII Aircraft: The Douglas C-54 Skymaster.” Warfare History Network, 21 Nov. 2016, warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/11/16/wwii-aircraft-the-douglas-c-54-skymaster/. This Article describes the Douglas C-54 design, and the importance of this new plane model. This information from the article helped us understand how the C-54 was created. The article also includes a photo of the Douglas C-54 which helped us understand how the Douglas C-54 looked like. We used this photo to describe the plane models. Books Brewer, James F., et al. China Airlift--the Hump. China-Burma-India Hump Pilots Association, 1980. This book is written by Brewer, James F who was a part of the Hump. This book helped us understand more about the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater. We used this source to explain about the CBI theater and how it worked. Constein, Carl Frey. “Born to Fly the Hump: a WWII Memoir.” 1stBooks Library, 2001 This book is an auto biography. It provides a vivid description of the challenges that the pilots faced on their journey over the Hump. This source helped us understand the dangers that came with flying at such high altitudes and harsh weather in the Himalayas. Constein, Carl Frey. “Tales of the Himalayas: Letters from WWII Airmen Who Flew the Hump and from Other Veterans of the CBI.” 1stBooks, 2002. This is a book of letters written to Carl Frey Constein, author of the WWII memoir Born to Fly the Hump. We used this source to explain the different plane models. This source also helped us understand the Hump route by showing us a map of the path pilots took to China. Doty, Arch. “The Diary of a Pilot.” Booklocker.com, Inc., 2007. This book is a diary written by Arch Doty; a Hump pilot documented his many missions flying over the Hump. This Diary shows all the challenges and barriers that the pilots faced while flying the Hump. We used this source to further advance our claim that the Hump was a very dangerous and a daring mission to be part of. This helped us understand the significance of the Hump airlift. Ethell, Jeffrey, and Don Downie. “Flying the Hump: in Original WWII Color.” MBI, 2004. This book contains many pictures relating to the Hump. We used the photographs to provide a visual representation of the airlift journey. This helped us understand how the Hump airplanes were like back then. Over the Hump: Airlift to China (Ballantine's Illustrated History of Violent Century, Campaign Book, No. 23) William J KoenigOver-Hump-Ballantines-Illustrated- Campaign/dp/0345029364/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Hump+airlift&qid=1589682187 &sr=8-1 This book is written by William J Koenig who had experience during the Hump. This source helped us understand the courage and bravery the pilots had while flying the Hump. We used this source to understand how the pilots helped win the war by flying the Hump to China. Spencer, Otha C. “Flying the Hump: Memories of an Air War.” Texas A & M University Press, 2006. This book is an auto biography. It helped us understand the experience a Hump pilot went through. We used many quotes from this book to get a better understanding of the living conditions. Tunner, William H. “Over the Hump.” Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, 1985. This is a book written by William H. Tunner, a general officer in the United States Air Force. This source helped us understand the legacy and experience of the Hump. We used it in our script for our conclusions in the documentary. Images “Aero Plane Heaven.” Aero plane Heaven, 16 May 2017, www.flightsimulatorpilot.com/fspmain/?p=21649. This Album contains many photos of the Curtiss C-46 planes that were used to transfer supplies over the Hump. We used this source to visualize what the Curtiss C-46 model was like. This photo helped us understand how the planes were like and how different they were back then. “Airplanes of the Past.” Airplanes of the past, www.airplanesofthepast.com/c46-commando.htm.