factor which plays any significant role in this
high adventure in the far north is the dedication and skill of the
aircrews who carry-out the annual airlift operation. For the most part, they and the
ski-equipped C-130's represent the only physical links
the ice-captive Dye Sites have with the outside world. |
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b. |
Every landing and take-off made on the
ice cap is a calculated |
risk resting solely in the skill of the men
in the cockpit. Airborne radar and "being talked-in" are
standard procedures for each landing. The runways and parking ramps servicing the
Dye Sites consist of no more than bulldozer smoothed stretches of
ice and snow. Diesel fuel and other POL products air lifted by C-130
aircraft to the Dye Sites are packaged in 500 gallon collapsible bladders
at Sondrestrom from the main tank farm. These bladders, like the larger ones used for storage at the sites are cylindrical in form. They were originally so designed for quick unloading operations, but
unfortunately this is limited to hard surface operation. There, they can be rolled out of the
aircraft and to storage, by one or two men relying
only on muscle- power. On ice, especially Chat covered with a coat of loose
snow, this becomes a physi- cal impossibility. Consequently, when the "Bladders" are filled at Sondrestrom, they are lashed in pairs on
heavy equipment drop pallets. Three such pallets constitute a full C-130
load which represents three thousand gallons or about 25,000
pounds. From time to time, small amounts of miscellaneous materiel, supplies,
personnel, mail, etc, are also carried with the three pallets. On arrival at the Dye Sites, bull- dozers, winches and sleds are used to drag
the pallets from the C-130's cargo hold and to the storage tank
area. As empty bladders accumulateat
the Dye Sites they are loaded on the empty C-130's for the return trip to Sondrestrom. |
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c. |
Fighting for every
minute of flyable weather, this operation is |
highly reminiscent of other famous air lifts
of past USAF history. Sel- dom, unless the airworthiness of the
aircraft is suspect, are engines shut down for the off-loading
operation. While the engines idle,
waiting ice cap ground crews join forces with the
C-130 loadmasters to draw these ungainly cargoes onto the snow and permit
speedy returns to Sondrestrom for the next load. Under ideal conditions - if all goes well, if tied- down chains don't snarl, if the load doesn't
skew and hang-up in the cargo compartment - the C-130 can discharge
its load of six bladders in about 20 to 25 minutes. Unloading difficulties in the Arctic tempera- tures even in its "summer-time"
are frequent, however, and turn-around unloadings are not achieved on every
sortie. The altitudes at which the Dye Sites #2 and #3 are located also
contribute to the difficulties of unloading.
Dye Site #2 has an altitude of 7650 feet and #3 lies at about 8700 feet.
The air gets thin at this height especially where heavy manual exertion is required of personnel
accustomed to much lower levels. This is especially hard on the aircrew
personnel assisting with the off- loading operation. The normally prevailing sub-zero temperatures also contribute liberally to the further
discomfort of these arduous physical demands.
This, then, is the broad picture of the annual POL airlift to the interior ice cap radar sites. Against this challenging and forbidding backdrop, Captain Glenn and his crew
established a unique and unparalleled record of achievement. Page 3 |