Comments on: To Antarctica

By: Roger AC Williams

Roger AC Williams — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:42:26 +0000

Haven’t been to “the ice”–I have worked with folks that wintered over, though–or on a C-17 cargo plane (I did get rides on C-130s on leave in the Army in Europe long ago–flew from Frankfurt to Athens, then on Olympic Airways to Crete). The C-17 is an improvement to the smaller C-141 they used to use; but has one major drawback it shares with that–apparently it has no windows :-(. It’d be frustrating to miss all that scenery on the way down over the Ross Sea. Take what you’re offered, I guess. The C-130 had a few portholes and I enjoyed a spectacular flight across the Alps from Chateauroux (before the French kicked NATO out) to Athens, and back past Corsica (which I’d visited) on a C-131, the USAF version of the Convair 340 twin. I’ve seen spectacular pictures of the Transantarctic Mts taken from C-130s on the way to the S. Pole.
I wonder if that’s distant Mt. Erebus in one picture.

By: Harry Derr Jr

Harry Derr Jr — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:05:59 +0000

Hi John

Spent Cristmas at McMurdo Sound. 1956 We where on our way to build bases at Knox Coast & Cape Hallett.
Our ship USS Arneb AKA 56 was damaged when we met up with an iceburg. I was in the Seabees.

By: Bobby Northcutt

Bobby Northcutt — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:34:20 +0000

Hi John:

Nice to hear that the work is still going at McMurdo and the South Pole station.

Dec 24, 1956 some of us Deep Freeze II guys were playing soft ball on the ice at McMurdo. In 1957 I Wintered over at Cape Hallett with 13 other guys.

Good luck with your work and travels.

Bobby Northcutt CMCS US Navy Retired

By: John

John — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:27:17 +0000

Adriana,

Our plan is to not do any UAV launches if the temperature is below -30 F. We also need relatively light winds as we can’t launch with a crosswind stronger than 8 kts or a headwind stronger than 25 kts.

Some of the manned flights are limited by temperature. At very cold temperature the hydraulic fluids used to control the flaps on the plane become too thick and don’t allow proper operation of the plane. Several years ago the first mid-winter flight to the South Pole was completed to evacuate one of the winter over staff that had become sick and needed surgery. This flight was completed by a Twin Otter aircraft, which can fly at lower temperatures since it does not use hydraulic fluid to control the flaps.

John

By: Mark Tschudi

Mark Tschudi — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Hi John -

Thanks for posting to this blog – a great way to keep up with how it’s going down there! Hope the UAV ops go well. I’ve had great experiences with Aerosonde in the past – a good group of workers.

Mark

By: Adriana Bailey

Adriana Bailey — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:10:03 +0000

John – Polar light, frigid temps, cold weather gear…hearing about the details is great! Will the UAS be able to take off in -45?? Do they ever delay manned flights because of the cold?
Stay warm!
Best,
Adriana

By: jeff witman

jeff witman — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:09:00 +0000

John,

great narrative. wish I could be there with you! Keep up the blog and I will check in regularly to see what your research reveals and new pictures.

thanks,

Have a safe and fun time.

Jeff

By: Bev & Gra Logan

Bev & Gra Logan — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:38:23 +0000

Hi John – we are Nick Logan’s parents and are very interested in the Life & Conditions that you will all be experiencing.

Altho Jody said it was 19 degrees yesterday we have a week of very high winds and rain, but like Jode said its hard to imagine what you are in.

Keep us posted.

Cheers
Bev & Gra

By: Jody Holmes

Jody Holmes — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:37:26 +0000

Hi John,
I’m looking forward to following your blog – my brother, Nick, is down there with you and sent us a link to your blog so we could see what he’s up to and look at the pics you post. Sitting here in Melbourne, Australia on a sunny 19 degree celsius day, it’s hard to imagine what -45 is like!!
Wish you all the best with your research,
cheers
Jody