In the 1943-45 log book of Don McBride, Lynn listed his address as: L. Crapuchettes CNAC Capt. 197 - 41std Ave. San Mateo, California  Lynn Crapuchettes - Dinjan (Photo Courtesy of Jim Dalby) November 4, 2000 From Jim Dalby "I don't remember very much about Lynn except that I thought he was a nice guy. I believe that he started with CNAC the first part of 1945 and probably left in the summer of 1945. Lynn died about ten years ago ." (ed: see para below) January 5, 2001 Your CNAC Web Editor (Tom Moore pepperbud@pobox.com) is in contact with the Crapuchettes Family and there are in the process of gathering more information and pictures for Lynn's page. Lynn's brother, Paul, tells me that a group of about 100 went to China about the same time as Lynn and only 6 returned. When Lynn came back from China he had logged 2500 hours of flight time. Lynn died December 2, 1965 and was burried at the National Cemetery in San Francisco. Please check back again for more of the story... January 6, 2001 From Valerie Parish Kendrick "His (Lynn's) boots are the same type of boots my Dad (Len Parish) wore. I have a pair here. They were hand made, leather, unborn llama fur in the inside of the boots, taps on the heel. Hand made in China. In the States they were called Wellingtons. August 6, 2001 The following was submitted by Lynn's family in collaboration with Bud Rideout, Lynn's cousin who was with him at Luke Field. Lynn Crapuchettes was born in San Francisco, CA on Nov. 22, 1922. When he was 14 his older brother took him on a charter flight and his fascination with aviation became an obsession. He volunteered for the Aviation Cadet program within days of the rule change that permitted acceptance of non-college graduates. This program was set up so that if you washed out you reverted to civilian status. Lynn's cousin, Ransom "Bud" Rideout met up with Lynn at advanced flight training at Luke Field in Phoenix, AZ, and has provided interesting and factual information about their experiences at Luke. Bud still recalls how impressed they were when Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders landed there on an overnight stop. What an impressive sight it was to see those "hot rocks" peel off over the field! The B25 was a new and awe-inspiring plane to them, but unfortunately the whole flight of 20 or so planes was secured far off from their flight area so they weren't able to inspect the planes or meet the pilots. No one had any idea what was in the works for that group at the time. During advanced flight training at Luke Field in Phoenix, Arizona, Lynn encountered a 2nd Lieutenant with a well earned reputation as an S.O.B. who was prone to using foul language and verbal abuse of the students. Lynn was very upset after two rides with him and told his cousin that if he gave him trouble again he, Lynn, was going to tell him off. Well, again Lynn was under the hood (standard for instrument practice when with an instructor. All the student pilot saw was the instruments) with the dreaded instructor. After about an hour of verbal abuse, the instructor took over the controls without telling Lynn, and put the plane (AT6) in a near inverted position and close to a stall and told Lynn to take over! This came as a complete surprise to Lynn and with all the stress he'd already endured, he was furious! He told the Lieutenant in just so many words to "shove it." After he landed the plane the Lieutenant told him he was through. Only a few miles from Luke was a primary flying school called Thunder Bird which was run by civilians, including the instructors. Lynn was hired immediately and remained there for over a year as an instructor and building up flying time. By this time United Air Lines was contracting out jobs with the military and Lynn was accepted as a copilot on DC3s and wound up ferrying supplies to Russia out of Alaska. After becoming First Pilot, which was about a year later, he accepted a job with CNAC flying supplies and personnel into China. He flew "the Hump" for many years, flying out of Assam. Lynn soon learned that his life depended upon his own carefulness as ground crew and inspector. He spent several hours after landing, going over his plane and compiling a list of what needed to be done. After resting, and before flight time he spent hours reviewing the work. Twice he found cleaning rags in the gas tanks. He did not trust his poorly trained and undisciplined crew. In addition to the language barrier, there was a problem with thievery; he frequently found that parts had been stolen from the very plane in which they were scheduled to fly. He chose to fly two engine and four engine planes without a copilot. Several times he was assigned flights to Chungking, taking spies in and out. This required that he enter the Yangtse River Canyon at some distance from the city, flying upriver to the sharp turn of the channel, land and immediately taxi to the end of the field, unload his passenger(s), turn around and get out. He was often chased back to Burma, once being strafed after wheel touch down. He returned to the states when the war ended, with 2500 hours on his log. He was skin and bones, due to dysentery. After two years clerking at a grocery store and graduating from aircraft mechanics school he went back to flying for Southwest Airlines. This was an intrastate carrier, not the current Southwest Airline. The carrier for whom Lynn flew underwent several name changes, eventually becoming Hughes Airlines, which was bought by Northwest I believe. At the time of his death from lung cancer Dec. 2, 1965 Lynn was negotiator for the Airline Pilots Association for his airline. All who knew Lynn enjoyed his quick wit and tremendous sense of humor. He was well respected both as a pilot and a person.  Do you happen to know the Kopp's? I saw the web page on Lynn. The question was asked under the photo of a letter, does anyone know the Kopp's? YES! That letter was sent from China by my mother whose maiden name was Kopp, sent to her parents CM Kopp in Yakima, Washington. Mailed before May 1949 because of the KMT stamps on it. My name is Chuck Crapuchettes, son of Eugene Crapuchettes, cousin to Lynn. Does anyone have pictures of my father, Eugene Alexis Crapuchettes, who was also serving in the Kunming area with the Chinese American army at this same time? He was killed there on the Burma Road. I presently live in Kunming and am trying to dig up some of my roots. Chuck (Chuck passed away on April 29, 2004) and later; October 14, 2007 Hi, I just found this page (http://www.cnac.org/crapuchettes01.htm) while researching my grandfather's brother, Lynn. On it, I was surprised to find that email from his cousin Chuck, dated March 4, 2004. I regret to inform you that on April 29, 2004, Chuck died in Kunming, where he was born and his father was buried. Chuck's family has put a remembrance of him on this page: http://www.wildalaskansalmoncompany.com/contactus.html Dave  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |