Planes,...

The next few posts will look at the various vehicles found in and around McMurdo and what they are used for.

Australia's Airbus A319, used to transport personnel between Christchurch and McMurdo.

US Air Force C-17 Globemaster, used for transporting personnel and cargo between Christchurch and McMurdo.

The video shows the C-17 taking off on it's way back to Christchurch.  I have no idea who the guy with the camera is.  He was a part of a foreign science group that was down at the runway the day I made the video.

US Air Force LC-130 "Hercules", flown by the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard.  The Hercs are ski equipped and do most of the heavy lifting on continent between McMurdo and the larger field camps with groomed runways or between McMurdo and South Pole.  In some cases, the Hercs will also be used to transport personnel and cargo between Christchurch and McMurdo, but typically only at the beginning and the end of the season when it coincides with the arrival/departure of the aircraft for the season.  New Zealand also has a ski equipped LC-130, but it is not stationed at McMurdo and rarely used.

A close up of the front ski assembly on one of the Hercs.  From the cockpit, the crew can raise or lower the ski assembly as needed for landing.  According to the crew, each ski assembly weights about 1 ton.

DC-3T Basler, flown by Ken Borek Air out of Calgary, Canada.  The Basler serves primarily as a medium lift aircraft for non-established camps.

A close up of the Basler's ski assembly.  I didn't ask the crew, but from looking at it, I believe the ski assembly can be raised and lowered as necessary like the LC-130.

A Twin Otter, also flown by Ken Borek Air.  The Twin Otter supports the smaller science groups and can land just about anywhere there is enough flat space.  You'll notice that the this variant of the Twin Otter only has skis, no wheels.  Something about it makes me think of MacGyver every time I see one.

The video shows a Twin Otter taking off.  As the C-17 in the video above was taxiing to the far end of the runway, the Twin Otter darted out at the midpoint of the runway and took off.

The C-5 Galaxy is also used , however the current air operations schedule for this season only has it making flights between the US and Christchurch.

While the fixed wing aircraft support the deep field camps, near field camps are mainly supported by helicopters operated by either PHI Inc. or Helicopters New Zealand (via the Antarctica/New Zealand program).  Right now we have two AStar-B2s, three Bell 212 Twin Huey's (shown below) and a Eurocopter EC-130 on station.