Friday, December 9, instead of our regular Community Fly-In, we will be hosting a longer (5-6 hour) charity livestream to benefit the Reno Air Racing Association. This event will be a historical re-creation of flying over “The Hump” in World War II.
For those unfamiliar with The Hump, this was a vital supply route to deliver food, medical supplies, and military equipment by air transport over the Himalayas in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theatre of operations. Flying over The Hump was considered one of the most dangerous and challenging feats of aviation in the entire war. In its early days, accidental non-combat losses over The Hump were nearly as bad as those experienced by air crews flying combat missions over Europe.
In 1944, the India-China wing of Air Transport Command was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It remains the only non-combat unit to be so honored to this day.
Further reading: the definitive history of The Hump is written by Lieutenant General William H. Tunner, the commanding officer who led the airlift. His memoire, Over The Hump, is available as a free PDF download at this link.
When
Friday, December 9 at 1800Z.
2022-12-09T18:00:00Z
Estimated Duration
Approximately five to six (5-6) hours
Where
The official MSFS Twitch channel
Aircraft
Douglas DC-3
Flight Plan
Historically, there were two routes used during the operation, known as the “High Hump” and “Low Hump”. The High Hump was shorter, but it required flying over more difficult mountainous terrain in the Himalayas. The Low Hump, while not having the same challenging terrain and weather conditions, was dangerous in its own way as the route was within range of Japanese fighters. For this event, we will be flying over the High Hump.
We will be departing from Guwahati, India (VEGT) and stopping at Chabua, India (VECA) and Putao, Myanmar (VYPT), both of which were airports used during the real Hump operations. Our final destination is Kunming, China (ZPPP), the historic destination of Hump airlifts.
Pilots on PC can download the .pln file here:
2022-12-09 The Hump Charity Stream.PLN (2.2 KB)
Charity
Throughout this event, we will be raising money for the Reno Air Racing Association. Their mission is as follows:
The organizations supported vary from aviation related charities such as the 99’s, Civil Air Patrol and the local EAA chapter to the Knights of Columbus and Boy Scouts of America, and veteran causes such as Disabled American Veterans and Bees4Vets. As a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, we operate this storied event through the dedicated efforts of our Board of Directors, a small staff, and over 1200 volunteers that handle the thousands of details required to carry of such a large operation safely and efficiently.*
Our vision is to “Establish the Reno Air Racing Association as the pinnacle of inspiration, education and exhilaration for people of all ages”. Our donors are the backbone of the Reno Air Racing Association. Charitable giving is critical to our programming, fortifying a strong foundation, ensuring the races stay around for many, many years to come. Contributions not only support the Races themselves, but now we have added Pilot Training Scholarships, STEM initiatives, or you can donate to our Areas of Greatest Need to give us flexibility in distributing the funds.
The Reno Air Racing Association is an IRS approved 501(c)3 not-for-profit charitable organization. All donations are 100% tax-deductible.
I am really looking forward to doing this!
So go get it and use it!!