Ed Costa Visits Some Old Friends
Sunday, January 31st, 2010January 30, 2010
By Way Paver
After 65 years, Ed Costa was united with some old acquaintances. The Collings Foundation brought its living museum and the last B-24J Liberator that flies to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Airport, along with a B-17G Flying Fortress and P-51 Mustang.
I picked up Ed at VFW Post #2550 and took him down to the airport. Although he constrained himself he was really excited about going. His eyes lit up when he saw the big B-24J sitting on the tarmac beside the runway. He explained how the systems worked and told stories about his adventures and close calls, while “flying the Hump” as a Flight Engineer on one during WWII.
“The Hump” was the name given by Allied air crews in WWII to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the United States Army Air Forces based in China. Fuel, parts and food had to be ferried in and the United States Army Air Force didn’t have any large transports capable of carrying large amounts of fuel at high altitudes.
B-24D Liberator bombers were converted into fuel transports to support B-29 operations at forward bases in China. Fuel tanks were installed inside the bomb bays that could carry 2900 US gallons of aviation gasoline and they were called C-109s. The modified B-24D was difficult to land fully loaded at airfields above 6000 feet and many of the aircraft crashed and exploded. Another problem was the hydraulic pump, located in the forward bomb bay that would automatically switch on during takeoff. Sparks from its electric motor in the gas fume rich environment would cause the C-109 to explode.
Ed’s method of survival was to turn off the circuit breaker to the hydraulic pump motor and to keep the bomb bay doors open to vent the gas fumes until the aircraft was airborne. Ed still calls the C-109, the “C-One-Oh-Ka Blooey”, because them blowing up was so common.
Ed is a veteran of 48 Hump missions, 30 in a C-109 and 18 in a C-46. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and other decorations for his service in the China-Burma-India Theater. After WWII he joined the active reserve and maintained fighter aircraft until he retired with 22 years of service.
Ed is an active life member of VFW, and a past Post Commander.
See Photos in the Photo Section.