Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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A Herc being unloaded at the South Pole,with o sled and a D-8 tractor. When a plane lands, anyone who is not on duty, often including scientists, comes to help unload it. Even the simplest movements here are awkward because of the extreme altitude, and shortly after this picture was taken the storekeeper was killed while helping to unload another aircraft. Walter Sullivan says that the human body adiusts itself to the climate by increasing its rate of metabolism. But the increase in adrenalin secretion some- times causes men to be terribly touchy during the long winter. Whatever the problem, and whatever the condi- tions under which a iob must be done, the Navy men usually say, We can hack it. Right: The geographical South Pole, about a quarter of a mile from the main station. The flags are the Norwe- gian, for Roald Amundsen who discovered the Pole in 1911, and the American, for the people who have lived there continuously since l956. . .. ,f , ws-My I f I f f ,M 7 A V , ., ., M f' N f 'vw ' A... V ,. - v mf. , ,... .,.W.,,.w,t...,,, '33, .xy ,J A slight scraping is felt as Lcdr Brabec sets the plane down- Then a sudden slowing, as the ubrakesn are applied to save the skis. By reversing the propellers, the Herc can stop within 2,500 feet. After taxiing to the fuel pits, Lcdr Brabec shuts down three engines, leaving one running to keep the hydraulic system func- tioning. Off-loading usually takes about 20 minutes, although today, since Admiral Bakutis is aboard, 319 will wait for two hours. When the door is thrown open, a husky dog bounds up the steps and greets each member of the crew. Then she scrambles up the steep ladder to the flight deck where a little sign saysg HAntarctic flying consists of hours of sheer boredom, interrupted by moments of stark terror. Dick Brabec is reassuring. 'elf anything failsf' he explains, uit fails in a csafe' position. A valve, for instance, will be turned automatically to a spot that can't endanger the aircraft. The de- sign thatis gone into these things is wonderful. The Hercs have an almost miraculous ability to endure conditions thatwould finish off any other plane. They can operate down to 65 degrees below zero, although occasionally they may develop mysterious ailments after years of punishing, open-field landings. HThe paper life of an LC-130 is twenty years,', says Admiral Bakutis, ifbut they're pretty beat up. These are the original four we ordered in 1960, and the hours we put on them are half again as hard as the wear they would get in the States. This season two of them had cracks in the airframe, but Lockheed-Georgia came up with a special steel plate to correct the trouble. The com- pany sends several technical representatives to the ice every season to keep an eye on them. --H

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Below: The South Pole. The station is iust below the sur- face, whereas Byrd was built deeper and covered with a special steel arch. As for the men who winter-over, the problem is best described by Admiral Byrd, who said that any man who elects to inhabit such a spot must reconcile himself to . . . enduring the bitterest temperatures in nature, a long night as black as that on the dark side of the moon, and an isolation which no power on earth could lift for at least six months. Now, against cold the explorer has simple but ample defenses. Against the accidents which are the most serious risks ofisolation he has inbred resourcefulness and ingenuity. But against darkness, nothing much but his own dignity.

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