[Milsurplus] "Lost in Shangri-La"

[Hue Miller]

This is the title published in 2011 to not much fanfare.
I had known the basics of the story for years, after reading
it in National Geographic, but had long yearned for more
information, but there was scant to find.  This book is 
available in paperback, list $16,  and it's worth every
cent, I think, as a swell story from the Pacific War.  
Another super-confident pilot takes up a DC-3 over
New Guinea supposedly to maintain his training level,
but it's really an excuse for a tourist flight over a 
remote jungle valley. He manages to crash it into
a mountain, killing most aboard. The injured 
survivors drag themselves to near a village and
discover, to their great relief, that they natives are
shy, friendly, and not the aggressive cannibals they
had expected. But there's really no way to walk out
of the valley. They're seen by search planes, and 
supplies are dropped, and eventually, medics. 
Finally, astonishingly, the way out is - by means
of a glider snagged and towed into the air, and
back to home base, by another cargo plane. Hell of
a swell story, G-rated, no sex, violence or even bad
words, and radios in it too: a BC-1000 was first
dropped, then a BC-611, and there's a photo of 
the 611 being used. Plenty of photos too. If you're 
interested in Pacific War + aviation, worth every
cent. 
-Hue Miller