What I Do

I put people on airplanes in Antarctica. Much of the time, it's on planes like this C-17 that landed here recently.

2011-2012 Passenger Services

The last member of our Passenger Services team arrived on the
C-17 yesterday, so we are now a complete unit. Each person in
our group has a unique personality, so we have a bit of diversity.
I think that this will help keep us working well as a team.
Pictured in the front row are Jamie and Talia. In the back row
is Tricia, Christen and me. Jamie and Talia will start the first
half of the season on the day shift, working 6am to 6pm and
Tricia and Christen will start on the night shift, working 6pm
to 6am. They'll all be on 5 days a week. I will be working 6
days a week from 7:30am to 5pm. I miss those weekdays off,
but I get to have the same schedule as Lynn this year!

Full Swing

photo by Jean Varner
We're almost two weeks into the summer season and
we've already had nine C-17 flights. There have
been very few weather delays and the station's
population has soared to 869 people! It definitely
feels like things are in full swing!

It's How Far???

This morning, I received my itinerary for heading down to the Ice.
This will be my sixth summer season and in addition to my six winters,
I will be entering my twelfth season in Antarctica. I'll be leaving on
September 27th, with an on-Ice date of October 3rd. Often, I'll tell
people where I work and I'll get one of the two W's. People will say
"Wow" or more often than not, "Why?" Either way, most people can't
wrap their head around just how far McMurdo Station, Antarctica is
from the United States, let alone the logistics involved of getting there.
I found an excellent mapping program called "Great Circle Mapper"
that will actually let you connect dot-to-dot how far it is between
the world's airports (including those in Antarctica!) I used this to
illustrate just how far it is. I live in Colorado, so my trip is actually
shorter than flying from say, Maine. Several friends of mine have this
distance to fly so I feel their pain! As for me, it will be 10,426 miles of

flying. 8,041 of which I will get frequent flyer miles. Why not the

additional 2,385? Because these are flown from Christchurch, New

Zealand to McMurdo on a U.S. Air Force C-17 or an Airbus A319 CJ

operated by the Australian Antarctic Division. Unfortunately these

fine organizations don't give frequent flyer miles. This total

distance will take 23 hours of flying time. This doesn't include layovers,

delays, scheduled stops, etc. Just flying time! So there you go. It is

indeed a long, long trip, and I'll be making it in just over three weeks

from now.

The First Crew Tour

Yesterday, Air Services performed it's first Crew Tour of
the season. Last year we conducted quite a few tours,
and we will have many this year as well. Every time a C-17
drops out of the sky, we offer the crew a "tour" of McMurdo,
generally showing them briefly around town, giving them
some history of the area, taking them to shop at the store
and letting them take pictures of themselves in front of
the "McMurdo" sign. For the most part, when a C-17 lands,
the weather on the ice shelf is generally sunny and
visibility is good. Today was not the case as the plane had
to abort it's first attempt because it couldn't see the
runway. The second try was a bit lower and they were able
to see the lights on the Ice Runway so that they could land.


After the plane pulled into a parked position, it was business
as usual as all of the passengers disembarked and we drove out
onto the Ramp (where the plane parks) picked up the crew and
made the ten minute drive into town. The crews love going to
the store, purchasing souveniers for themselves and loved ones
and of course they ham it up for their "hero" photo in front of
the sign. Almost as quickly as it starts, the tour ends as we
drive back to the runway and they get on their plane for the
five hour flight north.

Labels

When I updated my blog, using the newer Blogger format,
it opened up a lot of new possibilities to get creative, as well
as market the blog to new readers. One of those changes
is the use of Labels. These are key words that describe the
content of the blog entry and make it easier for readers using
search engines to find content. For example, if someone is
looking for blogs the contain the word "C-17", they can find
my blog more easily now that I've inserted these labels. Those
that read my blog on a regular basis or just happen to visit
can also use the labels by clicking on the label list on the right
hand side of my blog and pull up every entry I've posted with
the word "C-17" or any other word listed on the label list.
Now, the hard part...I have to go to all 1400 or so entries and
insert labels. This may take a while...

Off The Ice...With Perks!

Today I completed my 10th season on the Ice! Ten seasons of a
very different lifestyle, yet one I enjoy. There were only six of us
ATO folks leaving today. Because we're in ATO and we're in charge
of the bags being loaded onto the plane, our bags got to go on top
of the baggage pallet. More about this later. Usually all ATO employees
get to go out on our own separate transport, but because there were
only six of us, and three were working the plane, loading and unloading
cargo, only Amy, Melanie and I were riding out to Pegasus Airfield.
Supply Melanie though was nice enough to reserve us our own seats
at the front of Ivan, so we got a special ride anyway. When we got
out to Pegasus, we milled with the other folks on our plane (99 in all)
and waited to board. Then, unexpectedly, Bear called our names on
the radio and we got to board the C-17 first, getting the seats we
wanted. In that case, Melanie and I wanted a seat on the side with
a outlet to plug our electronics into. The ride back to Christchurch
was pretty uneventful and five hours later we were in 75 degree weather
and sunny skies. Because our bags were on top of the baggage pallet,
they were amongst the first onto to conveyer belt and for the first
time ever, I was the first one from our plane through customs! I
believe this is Karma since a few years ago, I was pulled aside on a
random search and spent 45 minutes telling someone what everything
in my bag was. So we walked over to the CDC (Clothing Distribution
Center) which is always good since we've been sitting for the last
five hours. I turned in all my gear, got my hotel reservations and
again, all six of us ATO folks were on the first shuttle leaving the
building! My room at the Hotel So is very pleasant but we were hungry
Amy, Melanie and I went to Bailie's. Bailie's isn't my usual hangout
but it's a traditional watering hole for Ice folks. We got food and
was surprised when Susie appeared! She was on her way home and
saw us go into the Bar. She bought me a drink in thanks for my work
the last day, closing out Air Services for the season. We joined other
Ice folks and then I called it a night. A long day, but very satisfying.
Another season completed,

Boarding the Airbus

Again this year, we are being helped with our
redeployment airlifts by the Australian-owned
Airbus A319. Using this, in addition to our C-17
allows the program to get everyone out without
taxing the C-17 with too many flights during
redeployment.


Last season was the first time we used the Airbus
for redeployment and I flew back on it. It was a
fun experience, leaving the Ice in an airline seat
in business class!


Unfortunately, the whole plane in not equipped with
business class seats. Last year was a nightmare, with
everyone running to the plane to get the best seats.
This year, boarding passes are being issued and strict
ground rules are being enforced. Especially no running!
Sauntering and Skipping were considered, but it was
decided that a Casual Walk was probably best!

Northbound Baggage

This baggage frame holds the 142 bags, weighing
3719 pounds for 72 northbound passengers to
Christchurch on today's C-17. In the next few
weeks we will have at least two of these for
every northbound flight since each plane will
be filled with 130 passengers.

Cargo

The largest part of my department, ATO, handles cargo.
Receiving and Sending cargo makes this place run.
Granted, we get a huge amount of cargo each year on
the vessel, which will be here next week, but the day
to day operations of cargo transport via airplanes
is handled by ATO. As you can see from the photo,
all of the items are tightly strapped onto large,
flat pallets, called Air Force Pallets that slide
easily onto either a LC-130 or C-17 and covered for
protection from the elements. These particular
pallets are headed for Christchurch.


Once the cargo is ready to go, it receives a PID, or
Pallet Identification Card. There are two of these on
each loaded pallet...on the Aft and Left side, so they
can be seen on the plane by the Loadmaster.
It is HVY (heavy). It is Do Not Freeze (DNF).
It is Fragile (FRG). It should be Kept Upright (KU).
It should be Kept Dry (KD). This particular pallet
is 100 inches high, weighs 4200 pounds, is going to
Christchurch (CHC) and is the 172nd pallet going to
Christchurch this season (C172). If it were going to
South Pole, it would have a "P" designation instead of
a "C" designation. Also, this PID is yellow. This
means that it should either be kept DNF or KF. If it
was white, it would be neither DNF or KF.


The process of keeping track of what is on each pallet,
where it is going and where it will be placed on an
airplane is the job of the Load Planner. If the
load of pallets and cargo (this includes passengers)
is not balanced correctly, the plane wouldn't be
able to safely fly to its destination. They use
a program called AALPS to help them with this task.

So there you go...a very very brief synopsis of how
cargo works here in ATO. Of course there are lots more
stages of the process that I don't or probably will never
know, but this makes sense to me now, and hopefully to
those reading this, it will to you too. Thanks to
Loadplanners Melanie and Matt for their help with this
post.

Old Habits

We recently had a southbound C-17, which meant
that we received Freshies. On the way out of
the Galley, I spied bananas. I'm not a huge
fruit consumer, but I do like bananas, apples
oranges and grapes so I look out for them. I
went over to the bananas and the first thing I
did was look at the sticker. Where was it from?
ECUADOR the label said. So I grabbed two! Why
so fussy? Well, Lynn and I got into the habit
of eating delicious Ecuador bananas when we
lived there last summer and when we came back to
the States, we only bought bananas from Ecuador.
None of those "nasty" Guatamalan bananas! Would
I have left these bananas in the bowl if they
weren't my favorites? You bet!

Pegasus Airfield

This year, both skier and wheeled aircraft are
using one runway. Pegasus has been converted
to operate LC-130's, C-17's, Baslers and Twin
Otters. They don't actually use the same
runway, but share the same facilities at Pegasus.
In the past, all of the skiers used Williams Field
and the C-17s would use Pegasus, but in an effort
to save both money and manpower Pegasus has been
made the sole landing site with Williams Field
as an emergency backup. I found these great
photos of the operations on the common drive
and they give a great viewpoint of how things
work out there.


This gives a good view of the refueling set-up.


The Skiway that is utilized by the skiers.


The White Ice Runway, used by the C-17s

More

More bad weather, more canceled flights.
We've had two days in a row now where
every flight has been canceled, including
the southbound C-17 from Christchurch.
This has been a weird weather season. Maybe
It's just sympathy weather for all the crummy
white stuff that's happening in the northern
hemisphere right now!

Blustery

Although this photo is from a football game,
thousands of miles away, it's strangely appropriate
here as well. Strange because it's summer at 77 or
so degrees south and it's snowing. Yes, it is
Antarctica and it does snow here, but not with the
regularity we've been having. It canceled all
seven Herc flights today and the C-17 flight from
Christchurch. Forecasts call for it to be just as
bad or worse tomorrow. The only benefit is that it's
very warm. Very typical when we get snow accumulation
of any kind. If it was much warmer, it would be
raining.

Making the Move

The move to Pegasus Runway has begun and the
first C-17 since the first week of the season
is landing there. The Ice Runway is officially
closed, meaning no more quick trips to the
runway, and much longer transportation times
for passengers either headed north or south.
This year, both wheeled planes (C-17's) and
skiers (LC-130's) will be landing at Pegasus,
instead of the skiers landing at Williams Field.
This will add even more time to the transport
times to Pole and Field Camps as well. It
should be interesting over the next few
months to see how all this works.

The Long Day

Today turned into a long day. Everything actually
went very smoothly for most of the day. Flights
actually made it to WAIS Divide and to Byrd Surface
Camp. No small accomplishment considering the
weather in those places lately. Just after 4PM,
I needed to conduct a crew tour. Pretty standard
stuff, but Store was closed so I drove the crew
to a few additional photo-taking spots. When
I dropped them off at the plane, I was instructed
to stick around. I would need to pick up four
generals and their escort from the LC-130 Herc
and take them to the C-17. However, when I picked
them up, they decided to wait in the Airfield Galley
until the plane left. Not a big deal at all, but
by now the clock was spinning and my day was getting
longer. By the time I dropped them off at the
plane going north, I had been at work for 13 1/2
hours. Ugh. Just in time to eat dinner and go
to bed.

Something New

I was out at the runway today and noticed
that this really cool looking helicopter had
just been unloaded from the C-17. It's one
that the Kiwis over at Scott Base have received
for this season. It reminds me of the helo that
I was lucky enough to ride in down here back in
2002, except even more modern. Maybe someday
I'll get to ride in this one as well.

Not So Big

All week I've been going on and on about how big the
C-17 is. However, my friend Dave proved that it really
isn't that big as he can hold it in the palm of his hand!

McChord Air Force Base

The folks from McChord Air Force Base provide
the C-17 service to and from McMurdo. McChord
is located in Tacoma Washington and the flight
crews typically rotate through every few weeks.
I didn't take this photo but it's one of my
favorites I've seen of the C-17 on the Ice.


This is the sticker that the flight crew was
selling on the plane headed south from
Christchurch.


I like that they have a small drawing of Mount
Rainier on their tail.

Crew Tour

After yesterday's crew tour no-go, another
C-17 arrived today and my new co-worker, Mia
and I went out in a van to meet the crew.
There were only four crew members taking the
crew, but we had less than an hour to show
them McMurdo. The place most people like to
go to is the store in Building 155. All four
of them bought lots of fun things to take
back home. Ironically, crewmember Kathy
(in this photo, shopping) spends part of her
time working at Altus, AFB in Oklahoma, where
my brother in law, Greg works. She told me
she's going to look him up when she gets back
to work in Altus!


All four of the crew members posed for me
outside of the store in B-155, carry their
purchases


Our last stop of the tour was the McMurdo
Station sign where many people take their
"Hero Shots", proving that they were here.
They were a fun group and it was a pleasure
showing them around.