Trip to the "Hump"...and back...in a Cessna CJ4...

[P_7878]

[This investigative post is triggered by recent DC-3 mentions in this Forum.]

Here is a most fascinating piece of aviation history...from a time when the legendary DC-3 ruled (air) transport, civil and military. For nearly 3 decades, a more reliable and capable replacement would elude the aviation companies, so, the Pilots remarked, "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3.” Meanwhile, the year 1942 arrived, and suddenly there was a critical need for airlift of supplies from India to China, across the deadly eastern Himalayan Range, leading to the so-called "Flying the Hump" operation. The "Hump", here, implies not the highest point of the passage, but actually the lowest-altitude routes that would take airplanes across these (dangerous) mountains. Humans looked and planned hard, but nature made it impossible to find low-altitude crossings across the Himalayas. Today, I got at least a bit of appreciation for it myself, as I've tracked myself, over the intervening valleys, rivers, and mountain corridors, to the primary Hump, the "Hengduan Mountains". When the pilots crossed these Mountains, the towering peaks (see my images below) looked to them like the humps of camels. It is from this resemblance that the air route came to be known as the "Hump". 

The Hump crossings were first attempted by the venerable (and proven) DC-3s/C-47s, but these a/c were found inadequate (and needed to be replaced) for these perilous high-altitude (cargo) missions. The real glory and fame, for "Flying the Hump" operation, would go to the famous Curtiss C-46 Commando, with its cavernous "double-bubble" design and superior high-altitude performance, until it was replaced by the "4-engined" DC-4/C-54 towards the end of the operation.

The altitudes of the "Hump" mountain passes, such as for the "Hengduan Range", topic of this post, lie between 12,000 ft up to 20,000 ft, so parts of the Hump had to be flown at a safe minimum of at least 20,000 ft. Even as I flew the "Hump" in my virtual world today...🙂... (please be the judge for yourself from the images below), these mountain passes, from above, appear singularly desolate, inhospitable, and extremely treacherous...surely, one of the most hazardous (if not the most) transport routes that aviation had ever faced. Add, on top of it, the following elements (which I/we can never appreciate from our virtual exploration...) of violent thunderstorms, constant cloud cover, torrential monsoon rains, and unpredictable wind currents, and weather that's said to literally change from mile to mile and minute to minute...stretched the limits of aircraft and aviation to the extremes...

So, here we go, as I travel (not in the DC-3), but within the comfort of my (private) Cessna CJ4 twinjet...🙂...from Dibrugarh (VEMN), in Assam/India, to directly overhead of the "Hengduan Mountains" in China. CJ4's CDU, with a [Dir-To] procedure to the entered Google Earth LAT/LONG (27.563, 99.198) of the Hengduan Mountains, has accurately and effortlessly transported me to my exact destination. The distance From Dibrugarh to the Hump was 225 miles (see my ND Display). Once atop the Hump, with (menacing) mountains stretched as far as I could see...🙂...I've preferred to return all the way back to the safe (and habitable) flatlands of Dibrugarh, for a landing on its ILS Runway (05).

Hope you enjoy this set of (20) pictures from my virtual world, of a flight to the (historic) Himalayan "Hump"...! 

Thanks for viewing...!

[Alaska738]

Fine shots! 😉 

[pmplayer]

Beautiful set !

cheers 😉

[bernd1151]

Hey, you are cheating, P_7878, you took the wrong plane! This is DC-3 territory 😄😄

Mighty fine screenies though, my friend!! 

[P_7878]

Friends:

Thank you for the comments...🙂...!

 

13 hours ago, bernd1151 said:

Hey, you are cheating, P_7878, you took the wrong plane! This is DC-3 territory 😄😄

Mighty fine screenies though, my friend!! 

...🙂...Yes, guilty, as charged...🙂...Actually, bernd, the Stock (Asobo) DC-3, in my Xbox system, is a bit buggy...The Autopilot features do not work well for me, and unlike PC version, where there are several enhancements available to fix these issues, I do not have such...I hope, it will be fixed one day...Otherwise, I really like this MSFS plane a lot...Cheers...!