June 12th
June 12th
Daily Flight Information:
The World Flight will be delayed for up to a week while a spare engine is installed in "Chicago" and the airplane flown from Hue to Tourane to join up with "Boston" & "New Orleans" before continuing on to Saigon, the next scheduled stop.
"Chicago" to be Repaired at Hue
Daily Report
by Lt. L. P. Arnold "Chicago", Mechanic
About 2 a.m. I woke up and hearing a boat approaching kept watch to see who & what it was. Soon it was near enough to hear voices and I made out Nelson's -- and how good it was. Immediately on landing at Tourane he had made arrangements with Mr. Cheveliar and by auto they left at once for Hue. Here they picked up sandwiches, water, beer, arranged for an interpreter and a sampan and set out to find us.
After eating and drinking a bit the rest went ashore returning about six o'clock a.m. with two large sampans and coolies to tow us to Hue -- some twenty miles away.
Unfortunately we had no camera with us, for pictures of our outfit would have been worth a mint. Of course it was hot -- it always is here. Accompanying our sampans was another one run by their women which kept them supplied with water, tea, bananas, etc.
Our trip took us through a narrow river -- the banks were covered with dense tropical foliage, many native villages with their thatched huts, and innumerable natives were on the the banks watching us go by. Also we saw elephants with great tusks, plodding along with huge loads on their backs, water buffalo laying in the water with only their nose and horns sticking out, sampans of all sorts and descriptions, and natives garbed in all ways.
About 4:30 p.m., we reached Hue and pulled the plane out on the beach and left it in the care of guards procured from the French residents by Mr. Chevaliar and went to the hotel. We cleaned up, made arrangements for a tailor in the morning, took a final look at the plane, had dinner and then turned in.
The experiences and sights of today, we both agree, will never be forgotten and yet we could never describe to anyone. They must be seen to be appreciated.