Flight Delays

I am still in Christchurch, New Zealand. The original schedule had me flying to Antarctica on Monday (remember, I am 18 hours ahead of mountain time). It will now be Wednesday at the earliest that I will make it to Antarctica. I wouldn’t call such a delay as expected but it certainly does not come as a surprise.

This time of year is referred to as “WinFly” for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). WinFly is short for winter fly-in, which occurs at the end of the winter and at the beginning of the transition to spring. WinFly is a special period where there are a series concentrated flights to increase the personnel at McMurdo Station in preparation for the main body season, which starts at the beginning of October. WinFly also used to be the first flights to McMurdo Station since the station closed in late February. However, this past year they started doing mid-winter flight and they have had a flight approximately every six weeks. There are three flights using an Airbus and two flights using a C-17 military cargo plane that are scheduled for this year’s WinFly. Once those flights are completed, that will be the end of flights into or out of McMurdo Station until the start of the main body season on October 3. The first Airbus flight was scheduled for Saturday and I was scheduled to be on the second flight for Monday. The weather at McMurdo Station (actually, the airfield - Pegasus Runway) precluded the initial Airbus from traveling on Saturday and Sunday. The reports that I heard today were that the weather had cleared but they needed a day to get Pegasus Runway in groomed conditions for the Airbus to land safely. The plan is now for the initial Airbus flight to go on Tuesday and if all goes well, I will get out on Wednesday.

After the initial training and briefing we go the Clothing Distribution Center where extreme cold weather (ECW) clothing has been pulled for us. At the CDC we try on the ECW clothing to verify fit and that we have all that is necessary.

I arrived into Christchurch Saturday afternoon. Much of Sunday was spent at the USAP Clothing Distribution Center going through some training and orientation, as well as being issued our extreme cold weather (ECW) clothing. They had us come back to the CDC on Monday to go through some more training, which eliminates some of the training to be done when we get to Antarctica. Tuesday will be the first day with no formal activities to be done related to the trip to Antarctica. I have spent some time doing touristy activities around Christchurch, as well as trying to relax and catch up on life. Things were really busy the days leading up to my departure. Generally, the delays when we know well ahead of time that we are not flying are easy to handle and can be relaxing. Once we are scheduled to fly the next day, then any delays can start to be wearing. In 2005 I had seven days of 24 hour delays, including one day where we flew half way and then returned to New Zealand. Hopefully, I’ll avoid any similar experience this time around.

Two of the key components of the ECW gear are the bibs and the "big red" parka. "Big red" can be your friend and comforter in extremely cold conditions.