You point the airplane at the first NDB, Moran Beacon, and climb for all you are worth. Occupying a prominent place on the panel before you, the Bendix ADF needle will point unerringly at Moran unless there are thunderstorms in the area, such as there are tonight. As usual, they are just past the beacon, piled up along that first ridge of the Himalayas, dumping moisture and promising you blinding lightning and hard work for the first 20 or 30 minutes after you pass Moran and have no choice but to get in among them. However, that is in the future, right now you are nearing the beacon and it's time to be thinking about setting up the racetrack climb pattern you will have to use, because you don't dare proceed further until you have attained no less than 14,500 feet. Drifting away from the climb pattern is not conducive to longevity as that first ridge alone tops out at some 13,000 feet.

Passing through 14,500 feet you confirm that the ship is still climbing in a satisfactory manner even though you have already begun collecting that gift of summertime on the Hump - ice. The lapse rate means you will get ice so long as you are in the clouds and, based on your knowledge of the route, you figure you'll be in the soup another 30 minutes, so you'll get several inches of material you would much rather be putting in drinks. With the boots and everything working, you'll be okay if the downdrafts in the thunderstorms are not too persistent. You tell the radio operator to report Moran to ATC, because each NDB on the Hump is a mandatory reporting point, and to give your estimate to the next one. The thunderstorms are there, big as life, so you crank up the cockpit lights to full bright to reduce the time you can't see anything following a nearby bolt of lightning and slug it out with the hammering turbulence while confirming that the boots are keeping the ice under control. In winter ice isn't much of a problem at the altitudes at which you operate, but summer means the icing level will have moved upwards to where you are to cruise. Add the soaked-sponge moisture of monsoon season and the recipe couldn't be better for serious clear and rime ice. Tonight the boots handle the wings, but the alcohol on the windshield is worthless, as usual; it's going to be opaque until well into the descent for Kunming.