The Betty G's Gold

By Jacques Evans

There was no name on the C-46 but the ground and flight crews who flew the Hump called her the Betty G. The airplane was identified by a painting of a scantily clad female on the left side of the nose that resembled Betty Grable.

In 1944, the Betty G encountered severe turbulence and crashed into the side of a mountain—there were no survivors. The wreckage was located in an uncharted area and attempts to reach the site were futile. Rumors circulated that gold coins for Chiang Kai-shek's payroll were aboard.

Fifty years later, Joe Reynalds inherits his father's business but is unable to pay the $1,500,000 estate tax. Joe learned of the Betty G from his father who flew the Hump—his father wasn't sure there was gold aboard. To save the family business, Joe decides to throw a 'Hail Mary' and search for the Betty G's gold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jacques Evans
• Release date: Jun 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452333854

Jacques Evans

Jacques Evans retired from the U.S. Air Force and is a life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has worked on numerous aerospace projects and spent years at Cape Kennedy as a member of the Apollo team. He is the author of action/adventure novels. His favorite novelists are Nevil Shute and Patrick O'Brian.

Book preview

The Betty G's Gold

by

Jacques Evans

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2010 Jacques Evans

All rights reserved.

Also by Jacques Evans

Scammed

Fraser's Run

Mizrahi's Prison

Kuchma's Dictum

South of Cayenne

Flight to Dungavel

The Betty G's Gold

The Mannerheim Line

The Czar's Last Soldier

Von Weizsacker's Diary

Last Bridge to Baghdad

Last Flight of the Blue Goose

This book is for personal use only. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior written consent of the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a newspaper, magazine or journal article.

This is a work of fiction. All similarities between characters and persons living or dead are purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 ~ Chabua Airfield, India, September 1944

Chapter 2 ~ Flying the Hump, September 1944

Chapter 3 ~ Chabua Airfield, India, March - April 1945

Chapter 4 ~ Newark, New Jersey, April 1945

Chapter 5 ~ Ferry Flights, May 1945

Chapter 6 ~ Newark, New Jersey, October - December 1945

Chapter 7 ~ Oxford, Nebraska, 1975

Chapter 8 ~ Oxford, Nebraska, 1979

Chapter 9 ~ Newark, New Jersey, July 1979

Chapter 10 ~ Newark, New Jersey, August 1979

Chapter 11 ~ Oxford, Nebraska, 1983

Chapter 12 ~ New Jersey, New York, Ohio, 1988 - 1994

Chapter 13 ~ Oxford, Nebraska, 1995

Chapter 14 ~ India, 1995

Chapter 15 ~ Oxford, Nebraska, 1995 - 1998

Chapter 1 ~ Chabua Airfield, India, September 1944

Twenty-five miles from Chabua, a twin-engine C-46 approaches the field with one propeller feathered—tongues of flame intermittently escape from the feathered engine's nacelle. An Army Air Corps corporal and first lieutenant manning the control tower hear a southern drawl over the loudspeaker, Chabua tower, 009, we've got one turnin' and one burnin' request a straight in approach. Over.

009, Chabua tower, you're cleared for a straight in approach. Do you read?

Chabua tower, 009, that's a Roger.

009, Chabua, you're breaking up, say again!

Chabua tower, 009, understand we're cleared for a straight in approach. Over.

009, Chabua tower, that's affirmative.

The lieutenant yanks the field phone out of its leather case and turns the crank, There's a C-46 making a straight in approach with an engine fire. We need a meat wagon and fire trucks to follow 009 down the runway.

A line of C-46s and C-47s are parked wingtip-to-wingtip on the flight line. When the flight line crews spot an ambulance and fire trucks racing toward the runway they turn their eyes toward the airplane on final approach. At the far end of the flight line, Staff Sergeant Kirkwood in charge of a four-man engine change crew tells his men to take a smoke break. The sergeant, a corporal and three privates climb down from their crew chief stands and move to the edge of the ramp to get a better view. They light cigarettes and watch as the C-46 makes a near perfect landing.

When the airplane rolls to a stop, fire trucks douse the flames while the flight crew scrambles out. Two mechanics push a crew chief stand alongside the feathered engine and remove the cowling. A fireman hands one of the mechanics a hose and he sprays the interior of the accessory compartment. Minutes later, a tug hooks up a tow bar and tows 009 alongside the C-46 Kirkwood and his men are working on. As the airplane goes by, a painting of a scantily clad female that resembles Betty Grable can be seen on the nose of the aircraft. A new private on Kirkwood's crew asks, How come there isn't a name painted on 009, sarge?

We call her the Betty G; she's one of the oldest C-46s on the flight line.

You still haven't told me why there isn't a name on the machine.

Back in '42, after the Air Transport Command started flying the Hump, an engineer on one of our flight crews was a commercial artist in civilian life. When he wasn't flying, he'd paint the noses of our airplanes. It took him a couple of days to paint 009; he had to fit it in between flights. Just after he finished the painting he flew the Hump and was going to add the name when he returned. He never came back. The wreck was sighted on the side of a mountain and there were no survivors. In respect for the flight crew, a name was never added to the painting.

Does anyone know what happened to the airplane? the private asked.

I'm not sure anybody knows. In those days we were short of pilots, mechanics, engines, tools and spare parts even more than we are now. Some guys blamed it on maintenance others think they lost an engine and some blame it on weather. You can take your pick. I worked on the bird a couple of times; as far as I know, it was one of our better machines. This is some of the worst flying weather in the world and there are no weather stations on the Hump. The only weather information comes from returning flight crews. The weather changes from minute to minute so pilot reports aren't much good. If the weather is good on one side of the Hump, it's usually lousy on the other. Our C-46s and C-47s can't fly under or over the weather they have to bore though it. If you lose an engine over the mountains; you have a problem, some of the clouds contain rocks.

Is there a chance the crew bailed out?

"I think we've