I was a co-pilot for the British Antarctic Survey

     And you didn't even know I could fly . . . neither did I . . . 



It's the smallest plane I've ever been in.

        BAS, British Antarctic Survey, is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation.  Somewhere I'm logged in as co-pilot on a couple Twin Otter flights.
     Maybe you remember PIG.  Pine Island Glacier field camp, located about 12,000 miles up the coast from McTown.  Last year it was delayed over a month in part because the Air Guard's C-130 Hercules had difficulties flying and/or landing.  As a result, there was very, very little research accomplished. 
     This year the plan changed.  Instead of flying all the way there on the C-130's, we just flew to WAIS Divide, about 900 miles away.  WAIS is so big, it's almost a station.  30 or more people full time, showers, a washer and dryer.  They still sleep in backpacking tents, but there is a Jamesway set up with cots for transient, migrant workers (that's me) and others that aren't  there long enough to make it worthwhile setting up a tent. 


Hotel d' WAIS

           But enough about WAIS.  I got in one evening about 7 PM.  In the galley, the BAS pilot and mechanic were quizzing me about how much I weighed, how much my gear, tools, etc. weighed.  Seems they were going to be based at PIG.  They already had cargo and were trying to decide if they could squeeze in another passenger besides me.  Guess not - the next morning it was just the three of us loading up.  While we were getting my stuff and some fresh fruits and vegetables loaded, Ewan, the mechanic was telling me I would be co-pilot.   I should watch because Steve, the pilot, sometimes dozed off . . . I could tell from his attitude Ewan liked to joke around.  Then they told me to get into the shotgun seat.  Ewan would ride in the rear with the gear.
     From WAIS to PIG is around 250-300 miles.  A couple hours in a Twin Otter.  Steve said with no head or tail wind we would cruise at a ground speed of about 135 mph.  As luck would have it, we had a 50 mph tail wind so we were doing about 180.  In between filling out paperwork including the log -"What's your last name? . . . Is that Russian? . . . Spell it . . ." and talking to whoever does air control around the continent, Steve told me about all the instruments, altimeters, gps, gyros, true compasses, magnetic compasses, grid compasses and several other hootenflickers and thingamajigs.   One was a little plane with a line going out to a spot labelled PIG.   All  of this at about 180 mph with his boots off and barely a hand on the wheel, I mean, yoke.  Steve also showed me the emergency fuel shutoffs in case of a crash landing.  Thanks . . . 

That's Ewan exploring his sinuses and Steve on the right.  These two are a couple of real characters. Ewan is an antelope rancher in the Kalahari desert of South Africa.  Steve is Canadian.  Both tell wild stories of adventures on - and off - the ice.

 Anyway, back to my flight . . .

     One of the little gizmos on the dash looked like a tiny cartoon plane.  Steve said that was the important one.  The little wings had to stay level.  He turned the yoke to the right, the cartoon plane drifted right and we did too.  He pulled the yoke back and we went up.  Down, and we went down, although he pulled that back up fairly quick.  I think we were flying a couple thousand feet above the ground, snow, ice, whatever while the altitude showed about 7,000 ft.  By the time we neared PIG we were still a couple thousand feet up, but the elevation was down to about 4,000 ft.
     After Steve went through that stuff, he said, give it a try - so I did. I didn't (intentionally) mess with the up and down.  Must have been a cross wind or maybe the wings were out of alignment, something, but we seemed to drift to the right.   I was holding it straight, with the little plane headed straight at PIG.  About the third Steve looked up from his paperwork and told me to bring it back to the left, he said ignore the little plane going to PIG, just keep the wings level.  After that I did okay.  When Steve finished taking a break with his paperwork and such, he took back control. 
     So maybe I wasn't exactly flying the plane, but for a while, I was steering the plane.  Ten, fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, I don't know how long, I just know it was fun.  
     Before long, Steve pointed out a little spot w - a - y out ahead.  Took me a while to see it.  Then, there it was and we were heading in to land.


PIG, a little piece of home in a big, flat, white place.

      It had been tough for the PIG 'put-in' crew, the carps and the camp staff.  All the gear and even some of the provisions had been stored over the winter.  Covered in snow and frozen in.   There were a few pieces of mechanical equipment there, a groomer, a small fork lift, but they had to be dug-out by hand and then warmed up with a heater - which had to be dug out by hand as well.
     The last two large tents were going up the day I arrived.  Only a few of the PIG science folks were there yet. 
     I put up my personal tent, stowed my gear and got to work.  My job was about the same as last year, with a few tweaks to take care of some issues, both from last year and things that came up.  It was Thursday afternoon when I started.  By Saturday afternoon, we had the kitchen prep area complete and the water system melting snow, storing and heating water.  The cook was happy to have real ovens, ranges and especially because he had electricity to run his ipod instead of recharging it all the time.  A few small generators provided power before I got the place wired up and they fired up the big generator.  50 kw, if you wondered, way more than necessary for PIG.


A happy cook makes a crew happy.

      While we were setting the camp up, electrifying it, getting a shower set up (!?!), Steve was hauling cargo and the scientists out to set up the drill camp out on the glacier, about a twenty minute flight, one way.  He also flew back to WAIS a couple times.  Most of the scientists went directly from WAIS to the drill camp.  They were finally up and starting operations after about 5 years of planning, preparing, practicing and last season's dismal season.  They were very happy campers.
     More people got to be co-pilots because Ewan stayed in camp most of the time.  As Steve explained it, both he and Ewan were restricted as to how many hours they could work.  If Ewan went out as co-pilot and something went wrong with the plane, he might not have enough hours to be able to work on the plane right away.  So, - it worked out for Ewan and Steve and all the happy co-pilots.  Most of us in camp got to fly out to the drill site and see the glacier.  A few even got to see the coast, about 6 miles from the camp. 
     By Monday, I was tying up loose ends - sometimes literally, getting dangling cords secured - and making notes for my report, writing out some directions for the camp staff. Sunday three of the put-in carpenters were relieved by other in-coming carps.  Two others and myself were scheduled to leave Tues. morning after I co-piloted a flight to the drill camp and back.
     Fog at the drill camp delayed that flight.   Eventually we flew over and then Steve had to make a second trip.  By then the trip to WAIS to get the three of us headed on to McTown had been cancelled.  The real reason for the trip to WAIS wasn't for our return; it was to pick up a hydraulic hose for the forklift.  Getting the hose was important; getting us out wasn't; the hose hadn't arrived, there was no need for the trip.
     Before we flew to the drill camp, I took my backpacking tent down.  I was told there wouldn't be enough time between when I returned and we left for WAIS.  The other two had their tents down by the time I got back from the drill camp.  Rather than putting them up, it was decided the three of us would sleep in one of the big tents that hadn't been put to use yet.  As it turned out, that was a good thing.   


    

     Sometime during the night, a storm blew in and kept on blowing.  Winds were about 22 mph with gusts in the high 20's.  I'll bet they were higher than that.
     Nothing was happening on Wednesday.  Actually there was a little action.  All the tents have flys, basically a fitted second covering.  Snow blew in under one, accumulated and collapsed the tent.  A fly on a second tent was shreaded by the wind.  So more folks slept in big tents that night.  We left behind two of our tents as replacements and spare parts.

Thursday morning, sunny, clear and relatively calm.

     As happened last season, once the storm blew through, it was a beautiful day around camp - once we shoveled the snow out of the doorways and the groomer plowed the drifts out.  We left that morning.  Steve dropped us off at WAIS and picked up three more folks to replace us.  There was still work to be done, some helicopter pads to be set up, a gantry to erect and always, snow to shovel.
     The three of us hung around WAIS until Friday evening.  About 9:30 a C-130 touched down.  After an hour of unloading, loading and fueling, we took off for the flight to McTown.  I don't recall what time we landed, I slept part of the way, but it was about 2 AM when we got off the shuttle in town.
     Tomorrow morning, Dec. 26, I'm scheduled for a helicopter trip to Black Island.  It's just a short 10 minute flight out to the satellite receiver site.  It's manned and we'll spend the night while a plumber and I work on replacing part of the heating system.  After that, who knows.  There has to be an electrician at WAIS full time.  So far, three have rotated through.  Maybe I'll go out there for a couple weeks.
     I may get another blog or two in before this trip is over, but like all plans around here, that's susceptible to change.
     See ya next time.