Latest Comments

• • May 8, 2011
  • Cycling the Nujiang: Pianma and Liuku
    

    Amazing that you guys biked the Pianma road back to Luku (as the pilots called it). I get tired doing it in a comfortable car; too many curves.

    The last CNAC living pilots nominated me Goodwill Ambassador to China for them. Not that it does me any good. However I take very serious the job. Specially when it comes to the plane in Pianma, or Pima as they used to call it.

    My dad almost died in 1944 walking from Baoshan to Pianma to find Jim Fox's remains. He did it with Fletcher "Christy" Hanks and red Holmes (Red was Jim's lifelong buddy).

    The plane in Pianma is CNAC number 53. It so happens to also be a C53 (another military model of the DC3). The plane should be called CNAC #53 and not C53 as most people do. There is a purposeful attempt to veil the true History of CNAC... You can find much more in www cnac53 dot org. We are also looking for CNAC #60 and when we find it we will not call it C47 or C53 depending on the generic aircraft model name, but CNAC #60. CNAC#53 should be the same.

    By the way, in your picture titled "The top of the pass over the Gaoligong mountains" you have a Japanese gun emplacement. Christy would say "you could see the white of their eyes". My dad, a CNAC Hump pilot would fly over that pass; sometimes just 50 meters above the Japanese soldiers. Look to the right, to the left of the foot of the tower. It is a rounded and stone-made.

    That part of China is my favorite. Thanks for the excellent article!

• • February 13, 2009
  • CNAC: The godfather of aviation in Yunnan
    

    Hi, I am Diego Kusak. I needed to make a clarification.

    We usually say "...AVG...disbanded in July of 1942, the majority of its pilots joined CNAC rather than return to the US military", but that is not an acurate statement.

    The truth is that the majoirty of the pilots that stayed in China went to CNAC, but not the majority of all the pilots. Most returned to the US to positions in the military or civilian life that they had prior joining the AVG (for example as test pilots for the new airplanes being designed at the time).

    The list I give here is not 100% acurate yet, but it gives an idea on how AVG ended.

    Out 318 men and women that made the AVG in China:
    95 were pilots.
    Out of less than 95 original AVG pilots,10 were KIA and 7 died in other circumstances.
    22 of the pilots were discharged for various reasons before the AVG was disbanded.
    Out of the 56 pilkots left, 31 returned to their posts in the US or jobs they had prior to joining the AVG.
    20 went to CNAC
    5 stayed with the US military in China.

    These are rough statistics. For example, one the of the pilots was POW in 1942 and scaped in 1945. Then he joined CNAC. So it is hard to make bold statements about this unique group of fighters.

    A more acurate statement would be that "the majority of pilots that stayed in China did so in CNAC and not in the military."

Latest Forum Posts

• • March 4, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Hump route aircraft wing in Kunming
    

    The wing the wheel and other things are in display in the hotel you mention yes. Hard to tell you where. I have their brochure. Email me and I will send you a copy of the brochure. It is in Chinese. Check my website for my email: airkmg dot com.
    They do belong in the museum in Pianma, not there. Very sad story...

• • March 31, 2009
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > kUNMING AVG connections.
    

    AVG Hostel number 1 is a protected building by the city of Kunming. It is across the street from the roller that is placed to mark the Km 0 of the Burma Road.

    Also there is another protected building sandwiched between Jimabiji and Carrefour. This building is the same that appears in some of my dad's pictures. You can see the similarities, fun.

    I was always a guess when I visited these places, so I do not know the address. However, I will find out and post soon.

• • March 19, 2009
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Showing old films
    

    OK, I will show the films Saturday 28 at 2pm, at the Kunming Municipal Museum. It is also the last day of the exhibition so it will be a farewell event.

• • March 16, 2009
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Showing old films
    

    Thanks Xiefei.
    I did not realize Yunfest was on at the same time. Of course I should not do it at the same time. They deserve the utmost respect. I will try to push back, but I am not sure of the museum keeping our exhibit open then.

    I was hoping to do in museum because it ties with what is in our exhibition.
    I could always do a small showing this weekend for aviation enthusiasts and tied to the CNAC exhibition. Then a at a later date do it again in the theater you suggest. Can they play dvds?
    Mike, I want as many people as possible to see it. I can always do small showings. I just want to make sure no one films or photographs the screen (that was another reason to do in museum).

• • March 14, 2009
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Showing old films
    

    Hi, I am considering showing some old films (digitized) in my possession. They are the home made films by two of the most colorful pilots of CNAC.

    Allie Allison was a pilot in CNAC since 1929. His homemade films show amazing clips of the earliest days of Aviation in China. For example, you can see the Seaplanes landing in the first airport in Shanghai (on the water). Figures like Bernard Shaw, Lindberg or Doolittle disembarking from our planes, and more…

    Also, I wanted to show part of the home movies by Royal Leonard. His flying career is one of the most colorful ones in China. He was personal pilot to the Chiangs. He was also a personal friend of Chennault. His movies include never seen before clips of the earliest days of the Flying Tigers. His films also include scenes from Yunnan's daily live. Of course there are scenes with his pet panda bear and more…

    Those clips are copyrighted by the families that own them. They are not for sale or copies are not allowed. There will be zero tolerance to anyone trying to copy any of the images as they play. The families have entrusted me with a copy as Goodwill Ambassador for the CNAC Association in China to spread the history of CNAC. I want to share the images with both enthusiasts of film and aviation.

    At the moment I am considering playing them in the Kunming Municipal Museum where we still have our exhibition. There is a room with a large TV screen where 20 people can seat. My idea is to play the films at 2 pm next Saturday 21st of March. I am open to suggestions.

    Nancy Allison's "Yankee on the Yangtze" goes for 30 minutes.

    Royal Leonard's is quite long but I will edit to 30 minutes.
    I may also show 5 minutes of my dad's films.

    Again, I am open to suggestions.

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