The POL Airlift at Sondrestrom Air Base

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Bill Heaphy

 

Until the 1968 POL airlift, diesel fuel was flown to the DYE sites in 300 gallon rubber bladders which were offloaded and then drained into permanent tanks.  For this POL airlift, the rubber bladders were replaced with semi-permanently installed metal tanks which were not removed for filling at Sondrestrom, or emptied at a DYE site.  Loadmasters are shown checking the fuel levels in the diesel tanks.

 

 

 

Photo by Bill Heaphy

 

The fuel was pumped into the tanks through a hose, flown to the sites and drained into the storage tanks through another hose.  The new system is faster, hauled more fuel per load and required fewer men to complete the mission. In this photograph, the hose is shown connected to the DYE site under-snow fuel tanks.

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