A venerable C-47, the transport workhorse airplane during the Second World War that was seemingly used everywhere, is going on permanent display at the Flying Tigers Heritage Park in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
The C-47 aircraft, contributed by the Flying Tiger Historical Organization in the United States, flew from Australia, using the route employed during the war that included flying ‘over the hump,’ in the Himalayas after passing through Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Kunming, capital city of China’s Yunnan province, before landing at Guilin.
The journey was scheduled to take ten days, but it took three months, explained Larry Jobe, head of the historical association. Engines were changed twice in addition to having to perform an emergency landing.
C-47 transports were used by the Flying Tigers, an American fighter plane squadron that assisted the Chinese in fighting the Japanese, China.org.cn reported.
Funds to finance the journey and buy the plane was donated by Chinese living in the United States and Flying Tigers history aficionados. The Flying Tigers were organized in the first year of the war.