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Continued |
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Upon completion of the assignment at Bemidji,
Major Fitzwater was issued orders to spend 31 days TDY in Greenland to assist
the 61st to become operational with their ski-equipped C-130s. The mission of the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron
in Greenland was the complete airlift of personnel and material for the
construction of two new sites on the Greenland Ice Cap. Those sites were part of the eastern
extension of the Distant Early Warning system (DEW line) The sites were
identified as "Dye 2" and "Dye 3" and were located
approximately 100 nautical miles (elevation 7650 ft.) and 200 nautical miles
(elevation 8700 ft.) east of Sondrestrom. The mission required airlifting a
total of some 13,000 tons between April 1, 1959 and November 1 of that year.
That was the first time that an undertaking of such a magnitude had ever been
attempted by airlift to such a remote environment. Although heavy equipment
drops by parachute into remote areas of the arctic and Antarctic had been
made in the past with limited success, for this mission the feasibility of
air dropping structural steel beams 40 feet long, weighing 29,000 pounds was
completely out of the question. However, with the advent of the ski-equipped
C-130, an airlift had become a reality. But Major Fitzwater had some misgivings concerning the airlift operation. In a "memo for the record" letter, he wrote: |
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a. |
Flight
testing of the prototype ski C-130 in the ice cap environment was conducted at
design gross weight of 108,000 pounds and was terminated prior to completion
of the program due to failure of the nose gear supporting structure. |
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b. |
The
production aircraft which the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron are operating had
never been flight tested on skis. |
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c. |
The
experience level of the pilots on ski-equipped aircraft was very limited and
there were no personnel with previous ice cap experience |
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d. |
Ski landings
were being made at gross weights of approximately 120,000 pounds, regardless
of the roughness of the snow. (The maximum gross weight overload for that
aircraft was 124,000 pounds.) |
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