Anne, that’s so fabulous. Thanks for reaching out. I met him during the first three or four reunions when I was working on CHINA’s WINGS. Cool dude. Those guys were amazing. Breaks my heart that none of them are with us anymore. Best, Greg

My father Charles Rountree was a Hump pilot in the early 40s and flew 640 missions. He went to all reunions until about 2007. He passed away in 2008. Pete Goutiere would visit often as they both lived in South Florida. Dad went to China when invited for the dedication to the WWII CNAC aviators. Other special friends were Moon Chin, Bill Maher, Christie Hanks, Len Parrish, and Lad Moore. We miss him and all the brave pilots, mechanics, and others who served in this campaign.

All four pictures were in the Yale portfolio file. They were pictures 14-17 of Huang Wei Shih’s examination portfolio: http://findit.library.yale.edu/?id=digcoll%3A4205455&page=2&q=Huang+Wei+Shih&search_field=all_fields&utf8=%E2%9C%93. Wish I knew where the anchorage was. In two of the pictures it appears the Dolphin is in the vicinity of a floating dock. I’m assuming mail and passengers were brought to the dock by a small tender, then boarded the airplane. One picture shows it on the step, taking off and the definitive picture is big enough to make out the N number.

Dear Dean, sorry to be so slow on the uptake. YES! That’s definitely one of CNAC’s two Douglas Dolphins. Excellent find. I’d be interested in the links to the three others if you were able to send them along. Your family’s history in China sounds fascinating. Thanks for reaching out, Greg.

My paternal grandparents went to Foochow, China in 1907 to work with Methodist missionaries. My grandfather was an agricultural teacher and vocational school administrator. My father was born in Foochow in 1911 and grew up there until graduating from high school in 1929, actually at the Shanghai American School. My grandfather spent his entire career, 40 years in Foochow, returning to the U.S. in 1947. My grandmother left China in 1944 via the Hump to India and by ship across the very southern Pacific but that is a different story. My grandparents had a summer house in Kuliang which stands to this day and I have visited it several times. It is now equivalent to a National Historic Monument and is being restored.

I have always been interested in the Pagoda Anchorage on the Min River as it was the embarkation point for the ships my grandparents traveled on between the U.S. and Foochow. While researching photos of the Min River I ran across a photo of a seaplane on the Min River in a portfolio by a student. The portfolio is in the Yale University Library Digital Collections. Yale University is a vast repository of China missionary information. When I traced the N number of the seaplane, I found you.

This is the link to the four photos: http://findit.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:4205455
Click on “Next” to scroll through the four photos. The one that led me to you is the fourth photo.

Needless to say, I have many questions.

Dear Langhorne! So delighted to hear that you enjoy the CNAC-related stuff on my website and China’s Wings. Grandaddy had a fascinating life, and I’m glad I got a chance to write about him. ;-)

Langhorne Carter Bond and Prescott McCook Gunther
grandson and granddaughter to William Langhorne Bond

Shanghai was an amazing place, Susan. Its municipal history was one of my favorite China’s Wings discoveries. Thanks for reaching out! GC

Good news! Glad to hear you enjoy it. (And thanks for subscribing.) GC