Rotorheads Around the World (incl 'Views from the Cockpit')

[John Eacott]

I've just returned from a 4 week trip to Antarctica, flying an AS350B2 supporting the French at Dumont D'Urville. My first trip to the ice, and it was certainly eventful!

A few of the photos:

L'Astrolabe is the smallest ice breaker in use, and the evolution to get the Squirrels in and out of the hold has little margin for error!







We initially flew pax and supplies into DDU, but the ice was so thick this year that the distance from the ship was nearly 60nm, making for a lot of flying



Lots and lots of icebergs, and vast distances with confusing perceptions of range. The ship's nearest iceberg was visual at 50nm from only 1000ft









The thick ice kept us trapped for quite a while, we worried about getting out at one stage





One session with 68kt winds and frozen sea spray we could have done without







But a fresh water blast with warm water, lots of WD40 and a long ground run got us going again