The Enormous Plane has Landed

standard ECW Gear: Frankenstein Boots!

Yup, we made it. Been here over a week now- mostly training at our jobs in Shuttles and Cargo.

Here are a few photos from the plane ride down. We flew down in a C17 with no windows really. Its a military cargo plane. They put in a pallet with airplane seats attached to it to accomodate passengers- and other seats fold out of the walls. I've never seen the inside of a plane like this- pretty sweet- all of the "business" side of things was right there to view- no paneling to cover it up. The ride down is really loud, so they give you ear plugs as you board the plane.


baggage check in- the pallet full of bags going down- nothin' fancy here!


we ran into our friend Evan (previously seen at Burning Man)


inside of the C17- look mom, no windows!!


this is how the seats are connected to the plane


seats along the walls- our buddies (R-L) Kevin, Joe and Matt


everyone flying down is required to carry on their full ECW Gear.... this guy is all suited up...just in case we crash?

In the back of the plane, you could see another pallet with our bags, and other cargo, including a replacement propeller for one of the C130s that was grounded on the Ice Runway.


the replacement propeller is under the green plastic sheet

Once we started flying over the continent of Antarctica, they started allowing people up into the cockpit to look at the land and take photos. Pretty amazing! Of course, pictures can hardly do it justice....











We landed on the Ice Runway at McMurdo Station. This is a temporary airfield on the sea ice that breaks up in the summer every year. The ice is at least 30" thick, and a gorgeous blue! Planes will be landing here for another couple of months before the ice gets too thin and we change to Willy Field, on the other side of the peninsula we are on....that is also on ice, but its a permanent ice shelf that doesn't melt out every year. I will try to post a map sometime soon!


Shuttles! waiting to take us from the airfield to town!


bodies, spewing forth from the plane


we have arrived! can you see us? we're the ones in red


our first view of McMurdo Station- up on the hill. (fuel containers are brown in the foreground)


sunset over the Royal Society Range- our view across the sea ice (the small cluster of brown shacks on the ice, to the right, is where the ice runway is)