A340 lands in Antarctica

V

Ventucky Red

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They have been landing these for the past umpteen years from October to March to support the research efforts going on there.

RL-aircraft-5.jpg


 
Foreverslow

Foreverslow

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Hope those bozos did not pull their shoulders out patting themselves on themselves on their backs.

USAF has  been flying down there for 40+ years and hauling cargo to boot.  Here is a c17 doing the route.





Had a husband of one of my charges do a winter down there in the 80s as a research scientist.   He told me in the winter if anything has a motor you have to be able to keep it warm or have the ability to tow it into a hut, else it is not going to restart.  Cheaper to fly in a new piece of equipment than to ship it north in the summer season and repair it.

They would just put all the kaput stuff in a corner.

 
Boathavn

Boathavn

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Hats off to the guy who started this thread:  Upstart Hi Fly doing something interesting with an A340 in this day and age.

The SA Sailing Anarchy forum tie-in of course, is that the Airbus A340 is the $4KSB of the large commercial transport world. (Voila! The required sailboat-related subject link)

If Sailing Anarchy did have an aircraft section, we would be reading about A340s, A380s and MD-11s in a "AIR Landfills" thread.  All have too many engines for their own good.  With todays fuel prices, most are now "free to a good home".

That said, I recall the old joke: "..why do aircraft that fly over water have four engines?  Because nobody makes one with five."

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Every $4KSB and $400K Commercial Transport Aircraft is sacred !  

 
V

Ventucky Red

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On 11/30/2021 at 5:54 PM, Foreverslow said:

Hope those bozos did not pull their shoulders out patting themselves on themselves on their backs.

USAF has  been flying down there for 40+ years and hauling cargo to boot.  Here is a c17 doing the route.

Click to expand...

My neighbors were pilots in the USN VXE-6 - The Puckered Penguins with the orange tails out of NAS Pt Magu.  They would go down in October and come back in April when they were having summer down there.  

C-17, they built those in Long Beach, CA (KLGB)...  they are an awesome beast

Lockheed_C-130_LC-130R_159131_VXE-6_Marietta_07.74.jpg


 
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V

Ventucky Red

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Boathavn said:
why do aircraft that fly over water have four engines?  Because nobody makes one with five."

_______________________________________________________________________

Every $4KSB and $400K Commercial Transport Aircraft is sacred !  
Click to expand...
Quantas will disagree with you on that..   I know, it was transporting a spare engine...

QANTAS-747-5-ENGINES-1-1000x605.jpg


But the crazy kids in Mother Russia refuse to be outdone..

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Boathavn

Boathavn

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"..Quantas will disagree with you on that..   I know, it was transporting a spare engine..."

Ah, the rare 747 engine ferry kit.  I should have qualified it further by saying "turning" ("ETOPS - Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim"). No that won't work either, as occasional #5 freewheels in flight. "Powered" works.  Curious how the lubrication system is supported when free-wheeling at cruise, perhaps self pressurizing from the main fan?

I think QANTAS pioneered & paid for this option, first on the 707? (pic).  I guess the Next-Gen giant twins (777/A350) must in the future go by boat :(

I was on the Anotov AN-225 once.  My impression was it looked like it had been hand beaten from aluminum using only a  ball peen hammer. I think its flight crews would be happy if 5 of the 6 Progress D-18T turbofans made it their full targeted removal hours.  Still, you can't knock a niche filled by a long-lived successful one-off.  

It's 2:30?  Where did the day go...?

707.jpg

 
Boathavn

Boathavn

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Ventucky Red said:
My neighbors were pilots in the USN VXE-6 - The Puckered Penguins with the orange tails out of NAS Pt Magu.  They would go down in October and come back in April when they were having summer down there.  

Click to expand...


Sadly Hercules "131" (above) crashed in Antarctica supporting the recovery of her sister Herc "231".  Both were owned and operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"231" was a similarly specially equipped C-130 aircraft to "131" above.   "231"  crashed in Antarctica when it's un-used JATO rockets malfunctioned during release.  After landing with only two engines, she was buried under the accumulating ice and snow for sixteen years.  In 1980's "231" was rebuilt in situ and eventually flown out for further repairs.  It then flew Antarctic missions for another decade.  It's mothballed now at the David-Monthson storage facility.  Hopefully it will end up in a museum.  Shows how tough these aircraft are.

The "231" story is found here:

https://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/history/321/321.html

door1.jpg

"231" after crash landing with two engines out.

 "131" (quoted picture) later crashed supporting this amazing remote repair effort, sadly with loss of life.

The story of the crash of "131" is here:

https://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/history/321/131crash.html

The irony is losing an airplane to save an airplane for a net gain of 0.  

Arctic air operations are no walk in the park regardless of season or aircraft type. The men and women who support them are brave and noble airman (airpersons?).

...is it 10:00 already?  Where does the day go...?

 
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