Back to Blighty

[G-HEVN]

Leg 1: Wellington Intl (NZWN) to Christchurch Intl (NZCH)

195 nm, 1.6 hours

It's amazing what a little publicity can do to the price of an aeroplane, and I was made an offer for the Marchetti that I simply couldn't refuse. So what was I going to fly back in? Well, I really wanted a Baron, but it seems that there are only two in New Zealand; Towerguy has one, and the other is "not for sale" (although there's a strong rumour that Naki got in there!). So, after scouring the for sale ads, I eventually came up with a slightly tatty Seneca II.

It's got a lot of time on both engines and props, not to mention the airframe, and I'm sure a trip of some 160000 miles is not going to do it any favours. But after several weeks in the shop getting an overhaul and a new paint job, I think she'll be up to the task.



Now, having been fairly conventional on the way down here, the trip back is going to go distinctly the "wrong" way, ie we're heading South! Possibly not the best time of year to visit Antarctica, but I gather there's not very much to see there anyway. We have managed to book space on one of the RNZAF C130s out of Christchurch, which means this little bird will have to be dismantled and crated (who said sense and brains would be part of this trip?). Anyhow, we're getting ahead of ourselves.

The day of departure dawns, and it's a gloriously sunny day. All the preflight checks are done and the bagage stowed in the back. The final action before we can start is to tape the small greenstone tiki I'd been given by my hosts of the last six weeks onto the panel.

We're given clearance to start up and taxi to the holding point for runway 34. Our departure clearance is for the VFR 34 Karori departure, which is fabulous, since that's the very suburb I've been staying in, and there may be one last chance to see the house.

"Hotel Victor November, with 34 Karori departure, cleared take off. Winds light to variable" How often do you hear that in Wellington?!



And so we're off. A left turn takes us over the city, and past the suburbs of Kelburn and Karori. Pretty soon, the houses give way to the hills, and the hills give way to the sea.



We're crossing the Cook Straight to the Tory VOR, which is a recommended VFR crossing, not above 2000 ft. There's very little traffic today, and ATC gives us the option to climb into the class C, but the weather's good and we're enjoying the view, and so elect to stay put.



Come on Robin: We need that Marlborough scenery!



Our routing takes us around the coast, and even at our 6500ft clearance limit, we're looking up at those magnificent mountains. I look down at the railway tracks snaking along the coast: That would be a magnificent trip to take one day...



Eventually, the mountains are left behind and we reach the Canterbury Plain. Time to start our descent into Christchurch.



Today's map and route.

[Naki]

Nice one G-HEVN - you could of borrowed my Baron but its parked in Invercargil - I guess you could of picked it up before heading further south! Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

[Alex]

Great pics G-HEVN, although the mountains there look suspiciously like sand dunes.... .

I'll definately be following this 'mission' as well.

Alex

[Ian Warren]

Prrtty horrible the X default lanclass ...but it is ....

[chopper_nut]

Jeeze your a lucky fella to get an 'H' rego on an aircraft, usually reserved for helicopters . Good on ya, sort of inspired me to do a similar trip.

[towerguy]

I know where you can get a really good deal on a used C210!


just forward $100,000 to my Nigerian bank account!

[ardypilot]

Looking forward to following another one of your trips mate, going to Antartica sounds very interesting. Heard it got all fixed up in FSX, as in FS9 the runways tend to move around when you appoach them (lat bug I think).

Also, I believe there is very little sunlight during our winter months, so I hope you make it in during daylight!

[G-HEVN]

Chopper_Nut: Somehow, the CAA managed to find 'Seneca 2' listed under 'rotorcraft' on their database. Can't imagine how that "mistake" happened!

TG: You got a brother just won the lottery, by any chance?

Trolly: We shall see....

[chopper_nut]

Well, CAA are being nice to you arnt they, that good because they arnt being nice to me. Lots of paper work and red tape to get an American aircraft on the NZ register. Not to mention dealing with the FAA More details to follow.

[G-HEVN]

Hope you get it sorted. They're not called the Campaign Against Aviation for nothing....

[chopper_nut]

Haha yeah Im glad that the virtual world is easy! Im about to start an adventure of similar proportions in a slightly bigger aircraft! Just looking for some better scenery and waiting for a repaint.

[G-HEVN]

Leg 2: Christchurch Intl (NZCH) to McMurdo Sound (NZIR)

2360nm, 6.8 hours (total: 2555nm, 8.2 hours)

Getting to Antarctica is harder than you might think. The easy part was taking the wings off the plane and crating it up for transport. As well as the plane, we were taking enough drums of Avgas to get us from one side of the continent to the other. The hard part was the waiting. Although we were booked on a flight,it was contingent on the weather at McMurdo, and on the appointed day, it was declared too bad, and so we stayed on the ground. After a further three days, it was declared good to go.



In order to arrive in McMurdo during the limited hours of daYLIGHT, we would be making an early start. Our first port of call was Christchurch's Antarctic Centre, where we were kitted out with ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear. This was at 2am! Customs and security checks followed, and we were bussed to the airport, along with the other passengers on the flight. Here we were briefed on what to expect once we got there (or not: It was entirely possible the plane would turn around mid flight if the weather showed signs of deteriorating.)

More waiting. Finally, around dawn, the four 4,190-horsepower Allison turbo prop engines were started, and we were cleared to taxi.



A moment's pause, and then the engines spool up to a deafening roar, and we begin to accelerate along the runway. We can't so much hear but feel the thump-thump-thump of the nose wheel over the centre line lighting. Then the thumping stops and the nose pitches up.



We're off! We take a final look at the colour green: We won't be seeing it again for a while!



This is a seven hour flight, and there's no movie! Paperbacks are the order of the day, and packed lunches. These planes were not designed with comfort in mind, and before too long I'm wishing I'd brought a cushion. And earplugs.



Six hours in to the flight, and finally below us, there's land. Well, it might be land, or just ice. Anyway, it's Antarctica!



ATC vectors us in a crazy series of zig zags over the Ross Sea. Pretty soon we'll be descending into McMurdo Sound...



... And final for the Ice Runway. Actually, all the runways here are ice, but of the three airports at McMurdo, this is the only one suitable for wheeled aircraft (the others require skis due to snow cover), and it's closed during high Summer when the ice shelf has melted!



"Landing on ice is just like landing on concrete". So said the briefing. Somehow I don't think Microsoft attended, since even with the temperature in the low minus twenties, we slide to the end of the runway like a 70 tonne figure skater. In the background you can see Mount Erebus, Antarctica's only active volcano.



Finally we're parked up, and the "self-deploying cargo" unloaded. A bus takes us tthe three miles or so to Hut 155, for our orientation briefing.



Fortunately, even here they have a bar or two, and there's time to have a few beers. Tomorrow we unpack the crates and start putting our plane back together...

[chopper_nut]

we slide to the end of the runway like a 70 tonne figure skater.

And that is the reason I stay away from Antartica. What C130 is that, the external model looks very good.

[Ian Warren]

we slide to the end of the runway like a 70 tonne figure skater.

And that is the reason I stay away from Antartica. What C130 is that, the external model looks very good.

Thats our home grown C130 and P3 model man Adrian Brausch

[ardypilot]

Congrats on making it down to the deep-frozen South!

The first screenie in that post of the C130 at NZCH is amazing by the way

[scon]

YAY another trip to follow, what NZCH scenery is that

[Kelburn]

geez flying the route your taking has got to be hard.
You'll need a lot of courage

[G-HEVN]

Leg 3: McMurdo Station (NZIR) to South Pole Station (NZSP)

739nm, 4.5 hours (total: 3294nm, 12.7 hours)

One of many things I don't recommend you 'try at home' is reassembling an aeroplane in the middle of the Antarctic! The workshop we've been assigned is actually an old shipping container that's been left on the ice. It's a toasty (for Antarctica, anyway!) minus 16 Celcius outside, and not a lot warmer inside as work gets underway. On day two, a storm blows through and deposits a thick layer of snow over the container. This actually improves the temperature, and we find we can remove some of our protective outer clothing for short periods. The down side is that the container is much harder to spot when we arrive from the camp each morning, and we resort to planting flags on the top just so that we can find it!

Eventually the plane is finished, and the proving flights made. While we're not flying, heated blankets are draped over it to keep it from freezng up! Even the AVGAS we're using is a special formulation with antifreeze, just to cope with the cold conditions. We've had barrels of fuel flown to all our planned stops, in the regular C130 transport flights that go from station to station - you can't actually buy fuel here; everything you use, you must bring yourself!

Finally we're ready to go, and we line up on the ice runway. The makeshift 'ramp', along with the "tower" and our workshop is clearly visible in the distance, with several C130s parked waiting for their cargo.



All the buildings here are on skis, and during the Summer, when the ice breaks up, they're actually towed back onto the rocky mainland to await the next season!



Saying goodbye to Mcmurdo Radio on the radio, we take one last look behind us at the base that as been home for the last few days. Even Mt Erebus is strangely quiet, its normal plume of white smoke missing, as if mourning our departure.



We climb out over the Ross Ice Shelf. This is the biggest coastal ice shelf anywhere in the world (roughly the size of Spain), with ice that ranges from 600 to 3,000 feet thick. Except Microsoft appears to have introduded global warming, and replaced it with open ocean. Maybe this explains all the desert textures elsewhere in the world...

At least they've left us the odd iceberg!



Eventually we come to the coast, and the end of the sea ice(!) The Prince Albert Mountains rise spectacularly in our path. Even though we're at 9500ft, we're going to have to climb significantly to get over them. Time to break out the oxygen!

(btw, we're heading South, but notice the DI and compass!)



After the rich palette of greens and browns that we're used to in other parts of the world, these mountains of ice, in their muted shades of grey, look like a surrealist 'painting by numbers' kit!



11,500 feet, and the mountains are still higher! I think we'll go round this one!



Past the mountains now, and the central ice plateau stretches into infinity before us. We're past the point of no return, so we have to hope that fuel - and oxygen - won't fail us. It starts to feel even colder as the sun begins to sink.



Mid day at the South pole. The sun barely gets above the horizon, and we need the VDF facilities of the radio operator to talk us in the last few miles until we can see the lights of the station (the only navaid here is TACAN, which is not available for civil use). A quick glance at the airport chart reminds us of the dangers here, and sens a quick shiver through the spine: Use at own risk. Dimensions may change without warning! Still, at least they use Kiwi standard time here, so we don't have to change our watches!



The route. Head South, although our initial magnetic heading is 030, ie North East, because the magnetic pole is not in the same place. Notice the distortion on the FS map view (inset), this shows up on the GPS too, making it useless for navigation near the pole. I had my RW Garmin 296 attached via the serial port, and that fared better, although it too gave up with about 10 miles to run!

[scon]

The Antarctic is a strange place



Did you get a chance to go to the memorial at Mt Erebus for the ANZ flight

[towerguy]

I think from memory you can still use the dme portion of a tacan station.

if so then you can actually use the dme homing method to get a rough guide in toward a station. just a trick to keep up the sleeve for those 'unusual' situations - like being near the south pole for instance.