RNZAF
southpole
Monday, January 19, 2009
Figure 1: Flight to McMurdo
Well, this is a first for me. I am one of about 5 or 6 Polies traveling south to McMurdo along with a gaggle of New Zealand Defence Forces cargo loaders. We are flying in a Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 stuffed to the gills with cargo, a lot of it bound for the South Pole. I have never traveled courtesy of the Kiwi military before. So far it seems a bit more relaxed than either VXE-6 (US Navy) or the New York Air National Guard, as exemplified by the lack of x-rays, metal detectors, pat-downs, etc. during check-in, the short and casual briefing by the flight crew, and the people sleeping here and there on top of various cargo pallets (including our carry-on luggage, from which I just had to rescue my stash of bananas before they turned to mush).
Figure 2: Boarding the flight
When we took off the plane was so loud that it echoed in the cavern of my mouth. I could change the pitch of the sound rattling through my skull by opening and closing my mouth or moving my tongue. It was like being able to sing without breathing—very strange.
We were delayed an extra couple of hours taking off due to weather in McMurdo, and we’ll arrive later than usual because this is a slower plane. I like C-130s because you can see their insides better and because they’re sort of an iconic military aircraft, but the C-17s are faster and more comfortable. The trip on a 130 is almost eight hours instead of the usual five in the C-17. In another hour or so, by my reckoning, we pass the point of no return (after which they have to land, as opposed to boomeranging back to Christchurch, even if the weather is sub-optimal). At any rate, we’ll get in for a late dinner, probably get weighed with our bags again, sleep, and then fly (hopefully) to the Pole tomorrow morning. I’m ready to get there, cosy on into my room (whether in summer camp or, more likely, the station building) and start getting stuff done.
Figure 3: Playing cards to kill time
Figure 4: The View
Inflight video tour:
Figure 5: Getting ready for landing
Figure 6: Welcome to McMurdo
Figure 7: Briefing in ‘Delta’ transport into town — how to use a radio to talk to the driver.
Figure 8: Farewell RNZAF
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