On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 21:52:46 +0000, Robert Bonomi wrote:

In article , BWB CIA wrote:

AVweb quotes an EAA staffer in saying that they don't even stock avgas
down there. What's needed is space on a cargo plane for hauling it
down there, and I suspect there's more too it than just throwing some
jerry cans on a pallet.

Even so, it sounds like the NSF is being its old hidebound self.
There's a good book out, written by an ex-Navy pilot who used be one of
the Hercules pilots down the _Flying Upside Down_, by Mark A.
Hinebaugh. He really makes the NSF (the agency in charge of US
operations in Antarctica) sound like a bunch of idiots.

Ron Wanttaja

They are. I worked on this problem with the Governor of Nevada last
week and many retired politicians that I know. They applied a lot of
pressure but really got nowhere. I am out of town right now but I heard
from Jarvis that Jon got out of there by getting fuel from an English
woman on an Around the world flight who was on the continent at the same
time. Anyone know the details? Bill


Yeah. She did _proper_ "plan ahead", and had _her_own_ fuel at McMurdo.
Had equipment troubles, and had to abort the around-the-world attempt.

See:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8183083%255E1702,00.html
(beware possible line-wrap)

She, like Jon Johanson, had made sure that fuel was available at all her
planned stops, but she did not make sure that fuel was available at all
possible diversion airfields (the list of planned legs on her web site
shows that McMurdo was a planned fuel stop).

She, like Jon Johanson, ran into higher than expected wind over Antartica,
and had to divert. She, like Jon Johanson, diverted to an airfield that
did not have fuel for her (she went back to her destination, but she had
already used all the fuel in her fuel cache).

Please explain how her planning was any better than Jon Johanson's.

http://www.worldwings.org/route.htm
http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D&ID=226
http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D&ID=228
http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D&ID=230
http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D&ID=232

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Ottawa, Canada
http://go.phpwebhosting.com/~khorton/rv8/
e-mail: khorton02(_at_)rogers(_dot_)com