Ski, anyone? Lockheed's big bruiser takes to ice.



Picture: DoD/US Air Force

In the picture above, taken earlier this month, a ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft from the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing takes off during an Operation Deep Freeze mission in Antarctica. In the fish-eye picture below, an equally formidable aircraft, the C-17 Globemaster III, carries personnel from the US National Science Foundation to McMurdo Station.


Picture: DoD/US Air Force

The US Air Force, Navy, Army and Coast Guard are lending operational and logistical support to the NSF’s research and exploration efforts in this seriously chilled part of the world through an outfit called Joint Task Force Support Forces Antarctica. Check out some more pictures here.

Many years ago, PM’s editor boarded a different version of the legendary Hercules for a flight from his military camp in Pretoria to the Cape, where he and his SA Air Force platoon were deployed to guard a roadblock and prevent the spread of Newcastle disease, which affects chickens and other birds. This experience was memorable primarily for his introduction to every chicken-based dish imaginable (confiscated birds and eggs were happily consumed by the platoon), but also because of an altercation between a leopard and a baboon just outside his tent. As far as he can recall, the leopard won.

If you’d like to know more about Lockheed’s big bruiser, check out this Wikipedia entry.