I've been prevailed upon to post photos of the trip that I've just had to Antarctica, on the icebreaker L'Astrolabe supporting the French at Dumont D'Urville. Lots and lots of photos (it was my first trip ), not all directly aviation related; but I hope they're interesting nonetheless. I know that many Rotorheads have done this sort of flying many times, and are far more knowledgeable about the area, so just enjoy the views as much as I did
I only took 900+ photos as the camera broke and would only take one photo, then it had to be turned off, then turned on, then take another shot. I missed a lot of good pics, but there are enough to keep the memories
The mess was tiny (like the rest of the ship) and if you didn't like meat and potatoes, you could have potatoes and meat. Nice guys, the Ukranians, but
Once into the pack ice, it was time to find a decent size chunk of ice to park on:
So that we could juggle the helicopters out of "Le Garage"
On the way through the ice, the penguins started appearing. They're on their way to the nesting grounds, and are so funny to watch:
Once the blades were on, we were scheduled to start ferrying passengers to Dumont D'Urville. Which would have been fine, except that my fuel control cable froze, and in trying to free it, the starter switch assembly fractured in the cold We had a very capable engineer who managed to get the switch repaired, so we only lost an hour or two
Then the first flights over the coast and the ice. Stunning, it's just so vast that distances are difficult to judge; each of these icebergs is over 250 metres long
My first Antarctica landing, at Cap Prudhomme
The coastline in the background: the blues on the iceberg were just stunning
Many of the bergs in the ice had seal colonies around them, especially if there was a break into the water for them to get through
The horizon is well over 100km away in this: it's hard to take in at first!
Next to DDU is a glacier, this is over the head of the glacier looking to the north, and the bergs that have calved from it
and over the glacier, looking inland
More bergs stuck in the ice
With 165 degrees of magnetic variation, and so close to the magnetic South Pole, the compass just kept spinning most of the time. I was heading east when I took this
We had a bit of fun trying to keep the internal loads within reason, but we were stuck in the ice 60nm from DDU (Dumont D'Urville) and the turn round times were far more than expected so we had a lot to move over long distances.
Plenty of sling loads, the LTS101 powered B2 manages the loads with ease (and a load cell!), but 60nm at 40 - 60kias can be a PITA The prevailing wind was in our favour outbound, and we generally had a headwind only when returning empty
That was a load of gear for geologists: they needed the basket to bring samples back. It obviously wasn't the right photo to post, how about this one instead
We were tasked for plenty of underslung cargo work: the mirror will be a familiar sight to many
We were the first visitors to DDU (Dumont D'Urville) for 10 months. As well as all turning out to unload the cargo we brought, they raised the flags for us, too!
The most intense colours were deep inside the icebergs
This is DDU, with the runway and hangar in the foreground. CASA 212's run into the strip from next month
More of the glacier next to DDU
Because of forecast strong winds, we took the blades off and craned one machine into shelter on the cargo hatch
On an average year, L'Astrolabe gets closer than 20nm to DDU in the November cruise. Often they can get almost alongside the DDU runway, but as with all averages, there are years like this where the ice was too thick to get closer than 50nm. We had a round trip (with loading/unloading) took about 1 hour 20 minutes, so we then ran into flight and duty times limits, but the magic of SatPhones got us an exemption from CASA to meet the demands of extra flying.
L'Astrolabe is a fairly small icebreaker, and having got where she did the ice then closed around us for a long time. Enough to get a bit worried about getting home on schedule, and lots of hot water piped over the side to free us up from the ice.
Lots of freight and goods were flown into Cap Prudhomme, the satellite base from DDU: and yes, that is their own ski slope up the hill
The major factor in breaking up the ice is bad weather, followed by tidal effects. As the tide 'comes in' the ice breaks up a bit, then as the tide goes down, the sections of ice collide and often ride over each other. Well shown in this aerial:
As my hook played up initially the other pilot got to do lots of sling loads, mostly at 40 - 60 knots. I was quite happy to cruise past with internal loads at 120 knots instead
DDU is in the middle of a nesting area. Lots of penguins, and associated smells
Whilst Cap Prudhomme has the neatest quad bike (iPhone photo, not the best)
Lots of seal pups were there: this one (& Mum) had the inevitable gaggle of Adelies nosing around to the right of the photo
I managed lunch at DDU, and a quick nose around to see the rapidly increasing penguin population. Only a week earlier the total number of penguins was zero!
The choice of a good looking pebble to offer your loved one is imperative: their whole world seems to revolve around the pebble 'nest', and raiding another male's offering is grounds for a serious fight
The ice doesn't always look very thick, but the amount below the surface is always significantly more than on the surface
More bergs: you may be able to make out the annual snowfall layers in some shots
This was my "landmark" berg that I could see from 50 nm away, to get back to the ship
Some ice creep off the continent next to Cap Prudhomme
and a bit of a cornice
There are times when the lack of flight instruments isn't a Good Thing
We went to Pt Martin to drop some geologists, rock hoppers in the ice! The French built a base there back around 1950, and only 2 years later it burnt down at the beginning of winter. The Expeditioners had to survive the winter in one remaining survival hut, with what little they salvaged to eat. The wreckage is till there, no attempt seems to have been made to clean it up.
Some of the nearby coastline
Back at DDU, they must be Top Gear fans: one indestructible HiLux
DDU bar and grill. 10 winter months must go very slowly....
Once we finished transferring pax and freight to DDU, the next task was geological and glacial research. We took a group of rock hoppers out to Correl, a rock outcrop near the Mertz Glacier which has been identified as having the same rock as South Australia. Finding somewhere to land was challenging, especially as the constant katabatic wind scours around the rock, with many gusts and eddies
View from the cockpit
While they were drilling for rocks, we nipped off to the Mertz Glacier to look for old GPS stations. They are tracked to map the position of the Mertz, which has a crack developing which will eventually allow 100 years of glacial growth to separate and float off into the ocean. A natural event, it has been monitored for 30 years by the French, and could completely break within years.
The crack is growing from both sides of the glacier, plus offshoots in the bulk of the glacier
While we refuelled, one of the French glaciologists wanted a photo with the penguins and glacier in the background. Who was I to say no?
When we got back to the ship it was slowly grinding to a halt in the ice, but before we shuddered to a stop we had a visit from three Orcas
Great shots John. Welcome to my world! One the ice is in your veins, you can't leave it.
I have had many trips sitting in the back of that ute with Patrice driving across the sea ice ... always an adrenaline rush
And a minor correction - the runway next to the base has never been used - a looong story. All fixed wing aircraft use a skiway about 5 kms from Cap Prud'Homme up on the plateau.
Last edited by compressor stall : 20th November 2009 at 11:55.
Antarctica trip
), not all directly aviation related; but I hope they're interesting nonetheless. I know that many Rotorheads have done this sort of flying many times, and are far more knowledgeable about the area, so just enjoy the views as much as I did 
We had a very capable engineer who managed to get the switch repaired, so we only lost an hour or two 
(iPhone photo, not the best)
. All fixed wing aircraft use a skiway about 5 kms from Cap Prud'Homme up on the plateau.
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