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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0100.PDF
tried Omega, but it does not work over ice. Doppler, however, works well. It does not unlock over ice, as it will over calm water, so it is a reliable navaid. The four "R model" LC-130s operated by VXE6 are fairly well equipped, but the two old "F" models have outdated avionics and no external fuel tanks. The squadron has left one of them back at its winter base in California, and only flies "local" missions with the other. "Venerable" would be a kind adjective to describe the Antarctic Development Squadron's fleet. As I entered the operations room one of them was returning from the South Pole on three engines with an hydraulics problem. Nevertheless, despite their age, the Hercules are budgeted for up to 3,500hr of flying per Antarctic summer, with about four flights per day on average. Work begins in August with "Operation Wind Fly". This involves the first Hercules flying in from California to Christchurch and then on to McMurdo with start-up provisions for the scientific season. Maybe eight round trips will be made from New Zealand to Antarctica within two or three weeks before the Hercules fly back for some Californian sun. The crews then wait until October before flying to McMurdo en masse ready to perform the go-anywhere, take-anything trans- Antarctic shuttle. The biggest problem facing the squad ron is heavy maintenance. It is risky to jack up the Hercules in case they get blown over in an instant storm. Whenever necessary they are flown 2,000 miles to Christchurch to be fixed. Major bugbears to be sorted out on the spot by maintenance crews are hydraulic leaks—especially early in the season before the whole aircraft has had time to "cold soak". Even then, every other preflight inspection throws up an hydraulic snag. The first golden rule about life in Antarctica was explained to me by Norman McPherson, operations director of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. It is simply "Never shut down a Hercules at the South Pole". Wind-chilled effective temperatures below minus 100°C are not unknown, and it can take 18hr to heat up a cold Hercules bit by bit, until it is flyable. The other rule—explained by a kindly soul who shall remain anony mous—is "Never pat a husky". It is not that they are vicious—quite the reverse. It is simply that they always operate in pairs, and while you are patting one of them the other will use your leg as a tree substitute—there being no trees in Antarctica. Long before the little red speck became visible over the ice sheet, I could hear the throb—like a dumper truck with a rusted exhaust. The noise was unmistakeable. A Huey was in the neighbourhood. Every summer, starting in October, six 15-year-old UH-lNs of VXE6 clock up l,500hr of Antarctic flight. With their PT6 Twin Packs they can operate at up to 15,000ft altitude—a vital capability because Antarctica has many mountains, and the 6,000ft-thick ice sheet makes it the highest continental plateau on earth, despite the fact that much of the land has been pushed beneath sea level by the weight of ice. The South Pole itself is 9,000ft above sea level. Helicopter pilots such as Lieutenant Commander Phil Tetlow often spend whole days out with scientific parties— typically transporting 1,5001b loads of five people, plus their equipment together with building supplies, such as warm water. Why warm water? Simple—throw it over a pile of stones and you have instant concrete. The Hueys are flown strictly by visual flight rules. "Go IMC and you are in big It - j RNZAF air drop Unlike the ski-equipped American Hercules, the wheeled RNZAF aircraft cannot land in Antarctica except on the Ross Sea ice runway during a short season each summer. Here a Hercules of 40 Squadron, RNZAF, parachutes diesel fuel to a new scientific base. The aircraft had previously dropped a single 14,0001b load of prefabricated panels which were assembled into a labora tory. Photo courtesy of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. trouble", says Tetlow. They fly with two pilots plus a crew chief who is an integral part of the flying team, especially when landing in that Antarctic enigma, the rock-strewn iceiess dry valley. Without his vigilance, skids would get hooked in rocks and flip the helicopter on to its back. It is all seat-of-the-pants stuff for the , US Navy helicopter pilots and some New Zealanders on exchange with them. It is extremely challenging flying, especially 13,000ft up on Mt Erebus, as the power fades with altitude and controls go mushy , in the thin air. Oxygen is mandatory for pilots above 10,000ft, but the Hueys carry H only a 30min supply, so on these missions the pilots have to get in quick, do the job, * and get out again. <, This year, for the first time, a detach ment of two or three helicopters will be * operating from the Beardmore glacier, mid-way between McMurdo and the Pole. Joe Mazza says that they will probably .* dump fuel halfway to Beardmore by Hercules, then ferry the helicopters in two stages. The Hueys are pretty reliable and have a three-year maintenance cycle. So each Antarctic winter one goes back to Califor- < nia in a Hercules for heavy maintenance, [ and two more return for light main tenance and continuation training. The ' remaining three are over-wintered in ( Antarctica, where scientific research would be almost impossible without them. Six Bell UH-lNs are flown by VXE6 in Antarctica. Landing sites vary from the volcanic crater rim of Mt Erebus to this enigmatic iceiess dry valley, strewn with rocks 28 FLIGHT International, 12 January 1985
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