The Strange Habits of Writers

[Robinne Weiss]

I seem to recall it's a 7-8 hour flight from Christchurch (haven't done it myself, but I think that's what I read). The cargo planes they take are impressive! Of course, there are no flights at the moment--they can't land in the dark down there, and the sun won't rise until late September. It's always in the papers, the first and last flights of the year--always a few words about the movies or other treats they're taking down to see them through the winter.

 

[MichaelBlackbourn]

Quick googling shows around 4000km of water between them. 3800km is the range of the c130. So either they have extra tanks, in air refueling, or my estimation was a little off using Google maps on my phone. They must be on fumes when they arrive.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I will admit that last time I was in the Antarctic Centre, I skipped all that info--not my area of interest, I'm afraid! I do know that it's a touch-and-go sort of thing, and they'll only fly when conditions are perfect. Rough for the scientists down there--a couple years ago, one was diagnosed with cancer while on the ice. Middle of winter. They managed to get her some treatment eventually (can't remember how), but it was one of those situations where she really needed treatment immediately, but they couldn't even med evac her.