The wait finally is over for a Merritt Island man.
More than 69 years after his cousin’s plane was lost over China, the C-47’s wreckage was found 13,400 feet up a mountain in China’s Yunnan province.
It was Bob Willett’s persistence that led to the search on the other side of the globe. The retired banker and author said the discovery has helped bring closure to his family.magic cube
“It could be said that these efforts were like tilting at the windmill, but to those involved, it is very personal and emotional,” said Willett, whose cousin and childhood playmate, Jimmy Browne, was the aircraft copilot.China Porcelain tile
Browne and two others were flying for the China National Aviation Corp. during the Japanese occupation of China. The Chinese turned to CNAC, a civilian airline it had formed with Pan American World Airways, to transport personnel and supplies to Chinese forces fighting the Japanese.
The Japanese had been seizing control of eastern China before World War II broke out in Europe.
Flight 60 left Kunming,Injection moulds China, where it had dropped off a load of gasoline and ammunition, and was headed back to Dinjan, India, when it disappeared Nov. 17, 1942. The plane, carrying tin cast into molds, was crossing the Himalayas, known to aircrews as “The Hump,” between India and China. It was only the second known aircraft loss on “The Hump” and the first for CNAC.
The crash was one of only a few China National Aviation Corp aircraft losses that had never been found until now.
For years, Willett and other family members wondered about Browne’s fate and whether his plane might ever be located. But the search project was put aside until money could be raised to cover the cost of an expedition.
It wasn’t until Willett met Arizona businessman and adventurer Clayton Kuhles that the search became a reality.Air purifier Kuhles had brought closure to other families through his self-financed searches for American pilots lost and unaccounted for during World War II in China, Burma and India.
“It turned out to be a rather drawn-out affair,” Kuhles said. “It’s not unusual to have to make several climbs.”
Kuhles, 57, of Prescott, Ariz., started his research long before the expedition, which began in September.
Kuhles made contact with a man from a small village in China who said his father was hunting high in the mountain in late 1942 when he saw an airplane spiral down at a very steep angle and crash below the summit ridge.
Following much research, many interviews and calculations, Kuhles set out with his local Chinese guides. After several days of intense jungle trekking and dangerous river crossings, the team arrived as a junction of several mountain streams. There the guides pointed to the distant summit ridge of the mountain, indicating the location of the aircraft wreckage, then stated that it was too dangerous to continue farther up the mountain and insisted on ending the expedition.
“They were not at all comfortable going up that mountain,” Kuhles said.offshore merchant account “They were afraid of the river crossings. The were afraid of being stuck on the mountain in bad weather.”
Three tries later over about 90 days led Kuhles to the wreckage. Among the 44 small pieces found was a metal remnant with the number 4681. It positively identified CNAC 60 because it was the construction number of the Douglas Aircraft assigned to China National Aviation Corp.
The discovery brought to 22 the number of aircraft remains successfully located by Kuhles since 2003.
CNAC was a civilian airline, but because it supported military missions under contract to the Army Air Corps during the Japanese occupation of China, pilots were granted veterans status in 1993.
Kuhles said that although the aircraft wings and other large pieces of metal could no longer be seen on the steep slope, the team easily found the small pieces of wreckage lodged between rocks, stretching far down the rocky ridge. No human remains were found.
The majority of the wreckage is believed to buried under boulders and rocky debris. Kuhles said a major earthquake occurred in the area in 1950. Metal detectors indicated large pieces of buried metal at the site.
“Our goal when we started was to find where the airplane crashed,” Willett said. “As far as I’m concerned, that really satisfied our goal. I think Clayton’s ability to find the plane was miraculous. I’m amazed that he really did produce what we were looking for.”
Other family members were also happy with the results of Kuhles’ search.
Helen Cole, another cousin, wrote to Willett: “A combination of exhilaration and profound thankfulness that in some mysterious way Jim has been drawn back into the family circle again after being lost for so long.”
More than 69 years after his cousin’s plane was lost over China, the C-47’s wreckage was found 13,400 feet up a mountain in China’s Yunnan province.
It was Bob Willett’s persistence that led to the search on the other side of the globe. The retired banker and author said the discovery has helped bring closure to his family.magic cube
“It could be said that these efforts were like tilting at the windmill, but to those involved, it is very personal and emotional,” said Willett, whose cousin and childhood playmate, Jimmy Browne, was the aircraft copilot.China Porcelain tile
Browne and two others were flying for the China National Aviation Corp. during the Japanese occupation of China. The Chinese turned to CNAC, a civilian airline it had formed with Pan American World Airways, to transport personnel and supplies to Chinese forces fighting the Japanese.
The Japanese had been seizing control of eastern China before World War II broke out in Europe.
Flight 60 left Kunming,Injection moulds China, where it had dropped off a load of gasoline and ammunition, and was headed back to Dinjan, India, when it disappeared Nov. 17, 1942. The plane, carrying tin cast into molds, was crossing the Himalayas, known to aircrews as “The Hump,” between India and China. It was only the second known aircraft loss on “The Hump” and the first for CNAC.
The crash was one of only a few China National Aviation Corp aircraft losses that had never been found until now.
For years, Willett and other family members wondered about Browne’s fate and whether his plane might ever be located. But the search project was put aside until money could be raised to cover the cost of an expedition.
It wasn’t until Willett met Arizona businessman and adventurer Clayton Kuhles that the search became a reality.Air purifier Kuhles had brought closure to other families through his self-financed searches for American pilots lost and unaccounted for during World War II in China, Burma and India.
“It turned out to be a rather drawn-out affair,” Kuhles said. “It’s not unusual to have to make several climbs.”
Kuhles, 57, of Prescott, Ariz., started his research long before the expedition, which began in September.
Kuhles made contact with a man from a small village in China who said his father was hunting high in the mountain in late 1942 when he saw an airplane spiral down at a very steep angle and crash below the summit ridge.
Following much research, many interviews and calculations, Kuhles set out with his local Chinese guides. After several days of intense jungle trekking and dangerous river crossings, the team arrived as a junction of several mountain streams. There the guides pointed to the distant summit ridge of the mountain, indicating the location of the aircraft wreckage, then stated that it was too dangerous to continue farther up the mountain and insisted on ending the expedition.
“They were not at all comfortable going up that mountain,” Kuhles said.offshore merchant account “They were afraid of the river crossings. The were afraid of being stuck on the mountain in bad weather.”
Three tries later over about 90 days led Kuhles to the wreckage. Among the 44 small pieces found was a metal remnant with the number 4681. It positively identified CNAC 60 because it was the construction number of the Douglas Aircraft assigned to China National Aviation Corp.
The discovery brought to 22 the number of aircraft remains successfully located by Kuhles since 2003.
CNAC was a civilian airline, but because it supported military missions under contract to the Army Air Corps during the Japanese occupation of China, pilots were granted veterans status in 1993.
Kuhles said that although the aircraft wings and other large pieces of metal could no longer be seen on the steep slope, the team easily found the small pieces of wreckage lodged between rocks, stretching far down the rocky ridge. No human remains were found.
The majority of the wreckage is believed to buried under boulders and rocky debris. Kuhles said a major earthquake occurred in the area in 1950. Metal detectors indicated large pieces of buried metal at the site.
“Our goal when we started was to find where the airplane crashed,” Willett said. “As far as I’m concerned, that really satisfied our goal. I think Clayton’s ability to find the plane was miraculous. I’m amazed that he really did produce what we were looking for.”
Other family members were also happy with the results of Kuhles’ search.
Helen Cole, another cousin, wrote to Willett: “A combination of exhilaration and profound thankfulness that in some mysterious way Jim has been drawn back into the family circle again after being lost for so long.”
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