My boss, Susie, is trying to get me out of
the office as much as possible over the next
few days as I'll pretty much be chained to
the desk for most of the season. This means
that I got to drive back out to Pegasus
Runway again today. This time, to take
people out, going north, instead of picking
people up that just arrived. I drove an
Airporter (pictured) and my friend and
roommate, Jed, got to ride shotgun!
It was a beautiful afternoon and there
were only 12 folks from McMurdo and 4
people from Scott Base headed north.
The same plane brought 107 people in
just a few minutes before my people
headed to the plane.
When you're out at the runway, you also get
to see the other side of ATO (Cargo) work.
They bring large quanties of items out, but
it seems like there are usually more things
to remove from the plane and bring into town.
This photo gives you a good idea just how big
the cargo pallettes are and how big the vehicles
that they work with are. The Cargo Handlers
climb all over these things like monkeys! They're
very agile.
As big as the loaders and cargo are, they are
still dwarfed by the C-17 itself!
I had to wait with the Airporter until the plane
actually took off; just in case the plane didn't
leave, I would have to return the passengers to
town. Since the plane did leave, I roMcMurdo, de back to
McMurdo all by myself. It's a pretty drive and
the scenery is wonderful! This is a view of
the south tip of Ross Island (where McMurdo is
located) and Observation Hill, Arrival Heights
and Castle Rock are predominant.
