Pole Flight! - Leg 5 of 5

I got a ride out of McMurdo! And on the Basler! Now for those of you that might have doubted that I'm really in Antarctica and really flying around the continent in a hot rod DC-3. I give you my first official "Hero Shot" (term used for pics of yourself frolicking on the ice)

By the way, we are on ice that is over water not land. After all of our bags got loaded we were shown our seats. Fortunately there were only four of us on this flight to the South Pole aside from the crew of three. There was plenty of room and windows to look out of. Once settled in we started down to the ice runway for takeoff. The Slip'n Slide for airplanes and off we went. What a ride!

More Polies!

I quickly found out that the cabins in these hot rods are not pressurized meaning that you WILL feel the altitude. Fortunately there were oxygen ports that one could plug into with provided tubing and nose gear similar to what you would get at the hospital. I opted out as did the two other gents settling for the altitude acclimation that would occur during the 4 1/2 hr. flight over the Trans-Antarctic mountain range and on to the South Pole Station sitting at 10,000 feet elevation. 

Along the way we saw some marvelous works of nature. Glaciers that have been moving for thousands of years, mountains that in some cases may be as tall as Everest but just have the tops showing since the rest is swallowed by the ice.

At one point the crew chief indicated that we had been flying at 10,000 feet for some time and that soon we would be climbing to 13,000 feet to clear the mountain range. We were feeling the altitude. Breathing became a conscious effort, elevated heart rates were felt and a general feeling of tiredness overcame the body. The only thing that kept me going was the sheer amazement and adrenaline running through my veins as I looked below realizing that no person had ever set foot on any of what I saw. Truly a moving experience.

At 13,000 feet I snapped the above image as we cleared the mountain range through a passage. At this point we were feeling the full brunt of the thin oxygen we were breathing. It got much colder so more layers went on and we kept hydrating, drinking lots of water as it helps when at altitude and extreme dryness. You are probably wondering why the black paint on the wings. Well, black absorbs heat and the fuel tanks in most planes are in the wings. This helps keep the fuel from turning into a gel that would not circulate through the fuel system to the engines.

Next Post? At The South Pole!