June 26th
June 26th
Daily Flight Information:
Departed: Akyab, Burma
Refueled at: Chittagong, Burma
Arrived: Calcutta, India
Miles Flown: 445
Flight Time: 5 hrs. 27 mins.
(7:30 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. & 12:04 p.m. to 3:21 p.m.)
Total Miles Flown: 11,185
Total Flight Time: 149 hrs. 0 min.
World Flight Arrives in India
Daily Report
by Lt. L. P. Arnold, "Chicago", Mechanic
At 7:30 we left Akyab in a rainstorm, but by driving out to sea we escaped the heaviest part of it, and sometime later came inland -- picked up the coast, and went on. Chittagong is on a good sized river so that the landing was easily made. We fueled up, had some lunch & at noon took off for Calcutta where we arrived at 3:30. This part of the trip was mostly over swamps -- tropical jungles and swamps are very much alike except for the amount of water & the odor of the latter.
Calcutta from the air is rather a dingy looking place, big brick yards, jute mills, and the crowded docks being mainly responsible for that impression. There are parks & white buildings about & these present a sharp contrast. The sacred & muddy Ganges where the natives bathe is a most unsanitary place I'm sure.
Our moorings were big ship moorings & it was necessary for us to get towed to them -- which was hot work & the perspiration soon had us soaked through.
We are moored 16 miles above the city & came to town in the Commissioner's launch -- "the ride & a peg" cooled us off nicely.
Quarters were reserved for us at the Great Eastern Hotel -- Lowell [Smith] being the C.O. -- drawing a suite -- and not wanting to be lonesome took me with him. We have a sitting room, writing room, two bath rooms, large bedroom, a room for our maid ( even though we are shy the maid), a valet which we promptly named "Bozo."
Being tired & hot we spent the evening -- entertaining callers & newspaper men.
Daily Report
by Lt. L. H. Smith, Commanding
Being anxious to get ahead of the typhoon season, the flight left Akyab in a heavy rain storm at 7:30 a.m., this morning, flying up the coast through a number of small typhoons until reaching Chittagong at 9:40, where excellent refueling preparations had been prepared in the Chittagong River by the U.S. Destroyer Preston.
At 12:05 this afternoon, the flight continued to Calcutta, taking a direct compass course to Port Canning, 25 miles from Calcutta and then followed the railroad to Calcutta and up the river 8 miles to where the moorings had been established, landing at 3:22. The buoys provided for use here were large enough to hold a battleship and high enough to strike the wings of the planes. This caused us considerable difficulty in getting tied up to them.