Ice Runways Near the South Pole

• Main Author: Swithinbank, Charles
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1989
• Subjects: Terminal Flight Facilities; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *LANDING FIELDS; *RUNWAYS; *ICE; SURVEYS; WHEELS; WIND DIRECTION; JET TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT; SITE SELECTION; AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS; TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT; BLUE(COLOR); AIRCRAFT LANDINGS; ANTARCTIC REGIONS; GLACIERS; CROSSWINDS; MOUNTAINS; TRAFFICABILITY; GROUND LEVEL; SURFACES; TRANSANTARCTIC MOUNTAINS; BLUE ICE; LANDING FIELDS SITE SELECTION; ANTARCTICA; ICE TRAFFICABILITY; ICE RUNWAYS; RUNWAY TECHNOLOGY; Antarctic; Mill Glacier; Mount Howe; South Pole; Transantarctic Mountains; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice; permafrost; South pole
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA211606; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA211606

Following an examination of air photographs of the Transantarctic Mountains, 37 blue-ice areas were reconnoitered from the air, using a ski-wheel Twin Otter operating from the South Pole. Two sites were selected as potential airfields for conventional transport aircraft, and ground surveys were made. On the Mill Glacier at 85 deg 06'S, 167 deg 15'E there is an area of smooth and level ice which gives a 7-km run directly into the prevailing wind. Five wheel landings were made there. Alongside Mount Howe there is a large area of level ice at 87 deg 20'S, 149 deg 50'W. It offers a 7-km runway, but there is a strong crosswind component from the prevailing wind and some bumps on the ice surface need to be planed off. Eight wheel landings were made at Mount Howe.