H. Patton The Ice Follies

The 4th combat cargo squadron was stationed at Chengkung, China during the winter of 1944, when we received a request from a Flying Tigers base for a shipment of gasoline. In response to this request, we loaded a number of planes with 15 barrels of gasoline each and headed for our destination. We were cruising above a solid overcast at 13,000 ft, which for our load, was about maximum altitude. Here and there, we could see black spots protruding above the clouds and we knew that these were the tops of mountains. After a while, the overcast began to rise and since we were unable to climb any higher the pilots decided to fly into the overcast. Now the plane we were flying had no de-icer boots and it wasn't long before the plane began to ice up---first, rime ice which mostly blew off, but as the overcast thickened, clear ice began to form, and we had no way to get rid of it. Finally, as we plunged ahead into the overcast, the propellers began to throw ice, making a terrific din and the plane began to wobble and lose lift, and finally could no longer maintain altitude! We went into a steep dive and knowing that we were in very mountainous country, we figured that we had bought the farm for sure! The pilot yelled for the crew chief and I to bail out and we tried to get to the door, but the angle of the dive was too steep to allow us to make any progress toward the rear of the plane. We fell approximately 5000 to 6000 ft through the overcast and broke out in the clear in a narrow valley surrounded by mountains. When we broke out, the pilots pulled the plane out of the dive so sharply that the crew chief and I were pinned to the floor and could not move. The pilots could barely see to fly because of the ice on the windshield (the entire plane was ice coated), and the crew chief managed to remove a side panel on each side of the windshield to allow them some degree of visibility.

There was a small river below us but no egress from the valley was possible because of the clouds obscuring the mountain tops. We continued to fly back and forth in this little valley in an effort to let some of the ice melt. Our compass was inoperative, probably due to iron ore deposit’s in the surrounding mountains and we couldn't make radio contact with anyone. Our radio antenna looked as though it were about an inch thick with ice, which rendered it useless. We continued to cruise up and down in this valley for some period of time (it seemed like forever), until most of the ice had melted.

Eventually the overcast lifted a little and what appeared to be a "saddle" in one of the mountain tops became visible and it looked as though we might possibly be able be able to skim through this saddle, above the mountain and beneath the overcast, but then we had no idea what we might encounter on the other side---possibly a valley or maybe another mountain side! So we held a four man conference and discussed our predicament and what we should do. We weren't sure of our exact location and didn't know if we were in friendly or enemy territory---so it looked as though we had only two possible options--make a run through the "saddle" or jettison our cargo and try to ditch the plane in the river below and take our chances of surviving and walking out. We recalled having talked to other crews who had crashed or bailed out and their experiences in trying to get back to base, and I guess this was enough to motivate us to take a chance on flying out.

So we all agreed to make a run for it regardless of the consequences! So we started through the "saddle", everyone holding their breaths, and as we skimmed over the ground beneath and the clouds above, I think that everyone said a little prayer, for suddenly we broke out into the clear in a large valley! As soon as we broke out all our radio and navigation gear resumed normal functioning and we were able to make contact with the base at our destination. We landed there a short time later with no further incidents. We delivered our cargo of gasoline, but had to put nearly all of it back in our own plane for the return trip. I believe the tigers got about one barrel from us. To top it all off, the Japanese decided to bomb the base that night and we had to take shelter in some caves back of the base to avoid the bombs. I remember one Jap dropping a string of bombs that was heading straight for our cave, but he ran out of bombs before he reached us. I believe one of our planes received some damage but I don’t recall the extent of it.

It becomes apparent in retrospect that an error in judgement had been made in this incident that could have easily resulted in the loss of four lives and an aircraft. The act of falling blindly for 5 to 6 thousand feet through an overcast in extremely mountainous country and coming out in a valley big enough to fly back and forth in, speaks more of providential intervention than simple luck!

Flying an aircraft in heavy icing conditions without de-icing equipment, should not have been a viable option! We probably should have turned around and headed back to base or tried some alternative route. As it turned out, even though we did get to our destination, the amount of gasoline we delivered to the Tigers was miniscule, and all out of proportion to the risks involved.

From memory

Herb (Pat) Patton (radio operator)

9/2/98 revised 11/3/98

I am looking for former members of the 3rd Combat Cargo Group, 1st, Combat Cargo Group, 2nd Combat Cargo Group and the 4th Combat Cargo Group. In fact I would like to hear from anyone who flew over the Hump during WW II, or flew any Combat Cargo Missions at any time (Berlin Air-Lift, Korea, etc.)

Please e-mail comment, suggestions, corrections,etc to: bill@comcar.org

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