Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 76 text:

The marvelous Goony-Bird. For thirty years in civil aviation it has been called the DC-3, but the one shown here with skis is the Navy LC-47. Admiral George Dufek landed in a similar plane at the South Pole in l956, the first man to set foot there since Scott left it in l9l2. The Goons are used now for shorter flights, to place scien- tific parties in the field and to resupply them. Goony-Bz'm's y The DC-3 has gone through as many changes as a moulting chick. In the early days of Deep Freeze it was called the R4D or c'Dakota or Skytrain, and the survivors are the LC-117 and LC-47 or 'cGoony-Bird. The crews say this with affection, since they have to admire unpredictability. The LC-117 is a Super- Goon, configured with more power and other modifications. They used to fly to the Pole, but planes designed 30 years ago would have a hard time now, with their piston engines panting as they gain altitude. One of them was held for 17 days in Christchurch once, waiting for a fair wind. In December a Goon was putting a field party in the Horlick Mountains, halfway between Byrd and the Pole, when it caught a ski in the sasirugi - violently contorted waves in the snow made by the wind. Fortunately, only two of the six scientists were aboard and, intentionally, they had enough supplies to be self- sufficient. Later, in the same area, a second Goon suffered strike damage, it was a total loss. For some reason, in these accidents, there are rarely any injuries. When Cdr jerry Driscoll was taking off on the second flight of the season, a propeller came off and sliced through the cockpit, missing him by inches. His mechanic was a tall, supple man with black hair and a two-day beard, named Dan Dompe. This curi- ous name may be a contraction of Don Pedro. He was lucky t0 be sitting down, since ordinarily he is all over the plane, making adjustments with a pair of pump-pliers. The Coon is a 'ado-it-yourself airplane, and Dompe is con- stantly improvising, using everything but friction tape and baling wire. One moment he is aft, and the next he is squeezing past the radioman and the navigator, whose seats seem to have been add- ed as an afterthought, to fix something between the two pil0tS. The ice goes out, at Hallett Station, usually by the Gnd Of November. Since this is the only other runway for wheeled air- craft, the Air Force ends its supplementary flights from New Zea- land as close to that date as possible. Once an aircraft passes PSR fthe point of safe returnj, a little more than halfway from 74 r

Page 75 text:

4 ,L '.- ,J . o r k , . 11: 'w Vila, V M . 319' 3 . Q X, 44. 1' L, is

Page 77 text:

0 ., . . W W p . . S. x . , p . , Q. f Christchurch, it must land somewhere in the Antarctic. In the event of a white-out at McMurdo, a Herc on skis could land at Byrd or the Pole, but with wheels it could only circle until de- creasing fuel forced it to land. In a place where everything is upside-down, where the sun goes around counterclockwise, they call the region around Hallett, 400 miles to the north, the HBanana Belt. Compared to the rest of the Continent, it is rather like going to Miami Beach, and more than 100,000 tourists - Adelie penguins - spend the summer there. A visitor who chose to wait for the next flight, in Novem- ber, might have to stay there until january when the icebreaker Burton Island comes with supplies. From day to day, no one knows exactly when the ice will go out. Immediately after takeoff, Dompe goes to the after compart- ment where the generator is. He almost attacks the little door, thrusting himself into a space that was meant for a tiny steward- ess. He turns off the generator, then goes to the windows, port and starboard, to see if the flames from the exhausts indicate the right mixture in the carburetors. On top of each engine, inboard, is an oil-cooler which is mounted there because, in its normal position, it would interfere with the skis. just behind the cockpit, against the port bulkhead, is a two-burner electric stove and a large old-fashioned coffeepot. Mfurn the coffee on,H says someone in the cockpit. Dompe fills the pot with water, throws in half a pound of coffee, and switches on the stove. Then he lies on the cold deck and fiddles with a valve on the after end of an auxiliary 200-gallon fuel tank in the cabin. Art Weber of the Navyis Bureau of Yards and Docks, and Major jim Verlautz of the Admiral's staff are along to have an official look at the station. An aerial ice observer pulls out his charts and goes to the cockpit to have a better view of the frozen Sound. Whenever he sees a Hleadn or open patch of water, or brash, or a change in color, he enters it on a list of symbols, with the time and position. The ice below is a mosaic far more subtle and far more exciting, than an abstract painting. Ronnie Iankowski is very young but highly trained, and what he sees will affect future ship operations. 75 f