Today we were delayed by weather so here is some information on transportation around Mcmurdo.
The photos sent today show vairous ways we travel around Mcmurdo and the surrounding area. For travel near Mcmurdo that requires going somewhere that there are no roads we have the ultimate offroad vehicle - the SPRYTE. It has treads (like a tank) rather than wheels. This allows it to go over ice and snow. I have used a spryte to climb a nearby glacier , where we had installed one of our automatic weather stations (AWS). They work very well, but the ride is very bumpy and the engine is very loud.
When we have to go from Mcmurdo to the snow runway at Williams Field or the Pegasus hard snow/ice runway where the big C-130's fly, we travel in a very large vehicle with the name "IVAN the TAERRABUS". It is a large van that has large balloon tires on it. The large tires allow it to travel over the very rough area where the Ross Ice Shelf meets Ross Island. During the summer much of the surface ice melts requiring large tires to get over the rough areas. The tires are big enough that if the van broke through the ice they could still float the van.
For travel to places within 100 miles of Mcmurdo , we use helicopters. The largest helicopters are the Bell 212's also known as Hueys. They were used during Vietnam and have been used in Mcmurdo for more than 20 years. They can lift or carry 2000 pounds. They have two jet engines. The smaller helicopters are called A-stars. They can't carry as much but are useful for lighter loads.
Finally, there is the Coast Guard helicopter , Dolphins which are made in France. They were designed for search and rescue. Since they are on the icebreakers, wherever the icebreaker can go , the helicopters can then travel and additional 100 miles from the ship. This is a very useful combination of ship travel air travel.
Tomorrow we are to travel to a field camp on a Twin Otter. When we return we will have a report on using Twin Otters and life in a remote camp.
George Weidner
(click on picture to enlarge)
