The Flight South

I am now at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The flight south went extremely well without any problems along the way. That is more of an anomaly as you typically expect at least something small to go wrong. I woke up at 4:45 AM to be ready in time for the shuttle to the airport leaving at 5:15 AM. Once arriving at the Clothing Distribution Center we changed into our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear as it is required to be worn on the flight south. At that point it was an organizing project deciding how to distribute my gear and clothes between a carry-on bag, a "boomerang" bag, and a checked bag. There are weight limitations on the "boomerang" bag and checked bag. They started checking us in at 6:00 AM followed by an hour to grab a quick breakfast at the cafeteria in the International Antarctic Center, which opened early for us. At 7:10 AM there was a flight briefing including some videos providing more training for life in Antarctica. Around 8:00 AM we were sent through security, similar to what you'd go through with TSA, and then a bus ride to board the plane. There was a small delay with the bus ride but it was small and it didn't impact the departure. There are different planes that fly to McMurdo from Christchurch depending on the time of the year. We flew down on a C-17, which is a large military cargo plane. The configuration inside of the cargo plane is dependent on the flight. For this flight we had 76 passengers because of a weather delayed flight earlier in the week. To accommodate the larger number of passengers they place what are like pallets of airline seats in the middle of the plane. The passengers then sit in those seats in addition to the canvas type seating along the sides of the plane. Beyond the passenger seating, there were a few pallets of cargo as well as a helicopter aboard the C-17. Overall, it is a reasonable arrangement. It is loud enough on the plane that you can't really have a conversation with the person next to you but it is not too bad. Right at 9:00 AM the plane started moving hitting the departure time exactly.

One of the advantages of flying in the C-17 is that it has the, or one of the, fastest flight times to McMurdo Station at 5 hours. Flying in a C-130 cargo plane can be as long as 8 hours. We landed at Pegasus Runway, which is a glacier-ice runway about 13 km from McMurdo Station. The glacier-ice runway is solid enough that it allows for wheeled landings. Other than Pegasus Runway, all fixed-wing fights for the USAP use skis for landing on the snow. For me, getting off the plane that initial time after landing is always one of the highlights of the trip. You get off the plane and are greeted by crisp cold air and an expansive landscape of snow, ice, and mountains. It is a "welcome to Antarctica" greeting. The temperature was around 5F when we got off of the plane. We were able to take a few minutes to take some pictures and then we loaded onto a large passenger vehicle for the trek from Pegasus to McMurdo. That trip took about an hour. In the end, we were in McMurdo Station a little before 4:00 PM with about the most uneventful trip imaginable.

I've said enough for now for today. I'll get into more of the details in introducing life in McMurdo tomorrow as well as an overview of all of the training sessions that are required. The general rule of thumb is that it will take us a week before we are ready to go out into the field.

My checked bag, boomerang bag, and carry-on bag as I wait to check-in for the flight south. I am wearing the required ECW clothing.

Going through security screening before boarding the bus to be taken to the C-17.

My seat onboard the C-17 for the flight to Antarctica. There were 76 passengers on the flight. Yes, that is a helicopter catching a ride with us.

Looking towards the front on the C-17. The flight deck is at the top of the stairs.

First few minutes in Antarctica with a picture from Pegasus Runway outside of McMurdo Station with the C-17 in the background.