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Hi Fly details pioneering A340 flight to Antarctic runway
Wet-lease operator Hi Fly has detailed its landing of an Airbus A340-300 on an Antarctic ice runway, the first time the four-engined type has carried out such an operation. (www.intecaerospace.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBRX3QJJ0Jg&t=10s
Pretty cool! Thanks!
Thanks for the link
Very 'cool' video and airplane, and if they had any ATC folks down there one might have said "braking action poor".
Except for the fact that it wasn’t poor at all.
Having 9 trips to South Pole supporting the US Antarctic Program in the early 2000s with stops in McMurdo, a few thoughts:
Had Flights to/from the ice between Christchurch and McMurdo on LC-130 (ski-equipped NY ANG), C-130, C-141, C-17, and a return trip on an Australian A319 (1st class seating with windows and FAs - a luxury!. All travel to/from South Pole were on LC-130. Intercontinental flight times ranged from 5 to 8.5 hours (Jet vs C-130, LC-130 was the worst packed in there like sardines for 8.5 hours. C-141s were marginally better from a comfort perspective, the advantage was a shorter trip. Flights to South Pole took 3 hours. FL was 220 to 290 depending weather and direction. At one point they had a PAR at Pole, but that was before my time. As I recall there is a GPS approach. The runway at South Pole is snow packed (not a true ice runway), that requires periodic grooming for ski equipped aircraft, mainly LC-130 and Basslers. On a busy day there would be 5 LC-130 arrivals. Engines were kept turning while offloading/onloading cargo and pax.
I recall one trip looking down on the waves on the Southern Ocean, they were enormous, those early explorers making the crossing in wooden boats were incredibly brave. One of the problems at McMurdo is the katabatic wind. It can be ferocious over 100 kts. We think there might have been an instance where it exceeded 150kts since radomes at the Black Island Telecommunication Facility were damaged. They were rated for 150 kt+.
All in all an interesting experience and I didn't pay $96k for the pleasure of a South Pole visit.
Had Flights to/from the ice between Christchurch and McMurdo on LC-130 (ski-equipped NY ANG), C-130, C-141, C-17, and a return trip on an Australian A319 (1st class seating with windows and FAs - a luxury!. All travel to/from South Pole were on LC-130. Intercontinental flight times ranged from 5 to 8.5 hours (Jet vs C-130, LC-130 was the worst packed in there like sardines for 8.5 hours. C-141s were marginally better from a comfort perspective, the advantage was a shorter trip. Flights to South Pole took 3 hours. FL was 220 to 290 depending weather and direction. At one point they had a PAR at Pole, but that was before my time. As I recall there is a GPS approach. The runway at South Pole is snow packed (not a true ice runway), that requires periodic grooming for ski equipped aircraft, mainly LC-130 and Basslers. On a busy day there would be 5 LC-130 arrivals. Engines were kept turning while offloading/onloading cargo and pax.
I recall one trip looking down on the waves on the Southern Ocean, they were enormous, those early explorers making the crossing in wooden boats were incredibly brave. One of the problems at McMurdo is the katabatic wind. It can be ferocious over 100 kts. We think there might have been an instance where it exceeded 150kts since radomes at the Black Island Telecommunication Facility were damaged. They were rated for 150 kt+.
All in all an interesting experience and I didn't pay $96k for the pleasure of a South Pole visit.
Great description! I never quite got that far south, but I did fly in a RNZAF Orion fishery protection aircraft to the Auckland Islands (?), half way between the southern tip of NZ and Antarctic for 12 hours!
Ah, katabatic winds! The cousin of anabatic winds! I knew that geography degree and multiple pilot exams would come in useful one day!!ðð
Ah, katabatic winds! The cousin of anabatic winds! I knew that geography degree and multiple pilot exams would come in useful one day!!ðð
A few other tidbits, its not very windy at South Pole. I believe the peak wind gust was 52 kts. However there is a prevailing wind direction. Higher terrain is to the grid Northeast (towards a longitude of 45 degrees). Consequently its common for wind to flow from that direction. A "downslope" wind if you will.
Also, earth's rotation and centrifugal force on the atmosphere at the equator pulling it away from earth has the peculiar effect of increasing the pressure altitude. This rotational effect creates a lower pressure than a similar altitude at mid latitudes. The geographic elevation is ~9300 feet (2835m) of which all is ice except about about 25 feet of dirt at the bottom. The pressure altitude can vary widely, typically ranging between 10000 to 12000 feet. Altitude sickness is not uncommon. It would take me about 2 weeks to really adjust, diamox was used and helped considerably, particularly with sleeping.
GPS works really well there, all those MEO satellites converging over the pole results in very accurate readings. I took my receiver to the Pole (it actually moves about 30 feet a year, well the ice is really moving). And bingo 90S. The longitude was going crazy though. However, 10 feet away from the pole and it was stable.
Also, earth's rotation and centrifugal force on the atmosphere at the equator pulling it away from earth has the peculiar effect of increasing the pressure altitude. This rotational effect creates a lower pressure than a similar altitude at mid latitudes. The geographic elevation is ~9300 feet (2835m) of which all is ice except about about 25 feet of dirt at the bottom. The pressure altitude can vary widely, typically ranging between 10000 to 12000 feet. Altitude sickness is not uncommon. It would take me about 2 weeks to really adjust, diamox was used and helped considerably, particularly with sleeping.
GPS works really well there, all those MEO satellites converging over the pole results in very accurate readings. I took my receiver to the Pole (it actually moves about 30 feet a year, well the ice is really moving). And bingo 90S. The longitude was going crazy though. However, 10 feet away from the pole and it was stable.