Well here we are again, entry number five and the half-way point of the season (our team has started our transition to night shift). I apologize for the delay, but it has been a very busy month. In the time since my last post I had the opportunity to work three weeks at the "ice runway" which was a welcomed change from being in town.
A typical day consisted of checking out/fueling vehicles as needed, uploading the first missions of the day (hercs flying to south pole, WAIS, BYRD, etc), lunch, downloading the same hercs as they returned from their missions, and shoveling snow on occasion (we had three big storms during our time at the runway). In addition, certain days of the week also included a C-17 which brought in cargo that usually needed to be loaded up and driven back to town.
One of the highlights at the strip was having the opportunity to help offload a brand new heli from a C-17 for the Kiwis. Once it was removed from the aircraft, workers attached additional rotor blades from a crate and made a (seemingly) small number of other adjustments. At this point, a couple of Kiwi pilots hopped in and flew the heli right off of the ramp and over to Scott Base.
*Note 1: I still have not seen a penguin (but I have a good feeling about our next rotation).
*Note 2: I was fortunate enough to spot three seals (from a distance).
*Note 3: As of this writing, all airfield operations have been moved to the Pegasus runway.
A typical day consisted of checking out/fueling vehicles as needed, uploading the first missions of the day (hercs flying to south pole, WAIS, BYRD, etc), lunch, downloading the same hercs as they returned from their missions, and shoveling snow on occasion (we had three big storms during our time at the runway). In addition, certain days of the week also included a C-17 which brought in cargo that usually needed to be loaded up and driven back to town.
One of the highlights at the strip was having the opportunity to help offload a brand new heli from a C-17 for the Kiwis. Once it was removed from the aircraft, workers attached additional rotor blades from a crate and made a (seemingly) small number of other adjustments. At this point, a couple of Kiwi pilots hopped in and flew the heli right off of the ramp and over to Scott Base.
*Note 1: I still have not seen a penguin (but I have a good feeling about our next rotation).
*Note 2: I was fortunate enough to spot three seals (from a distance).
*Note 3: As of this writing, all airfield operations have been moved to the Pegasus runway.
