The
POL Airlift at Sondrestrom Air Base
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Photo courtesy of Bill Heaphy |
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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. |
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Photo by Bill Heaphy |
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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. |