[HN Gopher] How to Operate an Airport in Antarctica
___________________________________________________________________
How to Operate an Airport in Antarctica
Author : Arnt
Score : 268 points
Date : 2021-03-04 09:26 UTC (13 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.flightradar24.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.flightradar24.com)
| jeffrallen wrote:
| Fantastic blog series. I also learned that oktas are a unit of
| cloud coverage!
| agustif wrote:
| I just learnt today about Okta, a Cloud Auth SaaS buying up
| Auth0 another Cloud Authentication SaaS... So I will have to
| now add this asterisk to my mental entry, so much for a second
| language.. pheww
| happy-go-lucky wrote:
| Video of an aircraft landing at the airfield:
|
| https://mobile.twitter.com/flightradar24/status/136633455367...
| mcguire wrote:
| I hope the pilot could make out the runway better than I could.
| capableweb wrote:
| Absolutely. Not by looking out of the windows though, but
| because of the magnitude of instruments pilots have in front
| of them to "see" the world around them.
| supernova87a wrote:
| But I don't think that's fully correct -- my understanding
| was that the Antarctic runways do not have instrument
| precision approaches. GPS etc. gets you to the airfield
| approx. location, but the landing is done visually.
|
| Or am I recalling incorrectly? I seem to remember this from
| an Air & Space article or National Geographic or something
| similar.
| mzs wrote:
| and liftoff: https://www.instagram.com/p/CL4kfpxjDXM/
| supernova87a wrote:
| Here's also an amusing fact I keep in my mind:
|
| Who serves the route between New Zealand and McMurdo Station?
|
| The New York Air National Guard.
| Waterluvian wrote:
| A twin otter seems like the right plane for landing down there.
| rtkwe wrote:
| With about 40 people coming down for the summer season and all
| their luggage plus some equipment it's probably too small for
| the job of the main load in and out of people. Plus it has to
| refuel there where fuel is many times more expensive so that
| also makes the smaller planes less economical than they would
| otherwise be.
| phire wrote:
| The twin otter doesn't have enough range to fly from Cape Town
| to Troll research base. That's why they use the 767-300ER.
|
| They do use the twin otter for internal flights, but they have
| to be ferried down via south america (without passengers)
| nerdponx wrote:
| The article says it's commonly used at Troll.
| Waterluvian wrote:
| Yeah. And has a nice photo. I love that plane.
| nxpnsv wrote:
| They are quite common in Antarctica for sure. On south pole
| station it was mainly those and hercs...
| laurent92 wrote:
| > The original construction of the runway was done over two years
| and accomplished using a laser cutter
|
| We live in science fiction.
| 0_____0 wrote:
| It's not clear what they mean by this. Is it an actual laser
| doing the cutting? Or a traditional implement guided or
| verified by a laser (to my ears more plausible)?
| stergios wrote:
| My guess is they used something akin to a laser level to
| identify the high and low spots. Then you grade down the
| highs and fill in the lows with the machines.
| foobarbecue wrote:
| This must be a mistranslation or something. They would have
| used a laser for surveying but there's no way they used a laser
| to cut any ice -- that just doesn't make physical sense.
| unwind wrote:
| Like other commenters, I unfortunately don't think that's true.
|
| The Wikipedia [1] page says:
|
| _To build a permanent airfield at Troll, the Norwegian Polar
| Institute bought a snow groomer and a tracked vehicle with a
| snow blower, flatbed and ice cutter. The works was organized
| with a land-based Global Positioning System laser system._
|
| So that might very well be where the idea that the actual
| cutting was done using laser came from. I wasn't able to
| quickly goog up some example of what it probably was (an
| accessory on some kind of tracked heavy equipment), but perhaps
| someone else knows?
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_Airfield
| michaelt wrote:
| They probably mean a laser-based "grade control system" -
| such as the Trimble GCS900, CAT Accugrade and similar.
|
| The idea is, instead of having the heavy equipment operator
| move some dirt then someone following with survey equipment
| and telling him he removed too much or too little, the survey
| equipment is mounted right on the blade/bucket and
| automatically gets the height right on the first pass.
| jcrawfordor wrote:
| In this video an excavator operator explains the use of a
| very simple laser grading system:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sklWQQGnC4o
|
| And of course there are much more sophisticated systems
| available including automated control of the blade. Pretty
| much standard equipment on any construction project today.
| underseacables wrote:
| Related: Ice Pilots NWT was a reality show (free on prime video)
| about an airline company called Buffalo airways in the northwest
| territory of Canada. They fly in and out of very remote, iced
| over regions, with VERY old aircraft, and it's fascinating to
| watch.
| mopsi wrote:
| Flying Wild Alaska was similar, a documentary series about a
| family-run airline in Alaska. It is a bit less sensational than
| Ice Pilots NWT. Somewhat less "will they - won't they"
| repetitiveness and more calm wide nature shots.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Wild_Alaska
| gkolli wrote:
| thanks for the rec! going to give it a watch
| snypher wrote:
| Newer aircraft aren't available with a gravel kit so they
| sometimes stick to older models.
|
| http://www.b737.org.uk/unpavedstripkit.htm
| thedrbrian wrote:
| There's also Mikey's YouTube channel
|
| https://youtube.com/c/MikeyMcBryan
|
| Full of behind the scenes videos about the planes and the
| logistics of their operation.
| SiempreViernes wrote:
| > Jet A-1 fuel is sent to Troll once a year in 200 liter barrels
| aboard the re-supply ship that docks at the edge of the ice shelf
| about mid-summer season. All of the supplies, including the fuel,
| are then taken via tracked vehicles and sledges on a 250 km
| journey back to the station. That long journey from _Denmark_
| helps explain why fuel is so expensive at Troll.
|
| The _Norwegian_ polar institute buys its jet fuel from Denmark?!
| I knew they are supposed to be close buddies, but that was a
| surprise.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| The ship is coming from Denmark. The cost of transporting the
| fuel on that ship across the ocean is probably miniscule
| compared to the cost of dragging it over land from the ship to
| the airstrip. Moving heavy things by ship is remarkably cost-
| efficient, a few dollars per ton to move something across the
| planet. Getting it that last few miles from ship to customer is
| where the real costs start.
| tyldum wrote:
| Exactly. I had a bunch of servers on that ship sent from
| Norway by truck.
|
| OpenStack and Kubernetes coming to Troll this season!
| PotatoNinja wrote:
| The potential additional distance between Denmark and Norway
| is nothing compared to the overall distance of sailing
| halfway round the globe to Antartica.
| SiempreViernes wrote:
| I mean, even sending the ship from Denmark is rather strange,
| it's not like Norway lacks a coast. Neither is any spot in
| Denmark the closest spot to Antarctica in continental
| Europe...
|
| Possibly the danes have the closest port that is home port to
| an ice breaker?
| Symbiote wrote:
| Transport between Denmark and Greenland probably means
| Denmark has more suitable shops than Norway.
| SiempreViernes wrote:
| On the other hand, the northern half of Norway is
| basically just coast and that a lot of iron ore from
| Sweden goes by ship from a Norwegian port above the
| Arctic circle?
|
| Then there's also all that shipping of oil that Norway
| does...
| Symbiote wrote:
| But that might mean Norway has bulk carriers and tankers,
| plus coastal vessels.
|
| Denmark should have ocean going mixed freight ships for
| the Arctic.
| hutzlibu wrote:
| I'd say it is likely both countries have both ..
| lmilcin wrote:
| > Moving heavy things by ship is remarkably cost-efficient
|
| This assumes you have sending a huge tanker full of fuel.
|
| When you have a smaller ship to send a handful of barrels of
| fuel I guess the calculation changes. If not, everybody would
| be sending fuel in small ships in barrels.
| rtkwe wrote:
| The ship carries all the supplies not just the fuel and
| since the fuel needs to be transported across land on a
| tracked vehicle it's easier to do that in barrels than to
| have a specialty sled made and maintain a tank on the
| slowly shifting glacier.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| Another nuance is likely environmental. They probably
| could transport the fuel in a big tank and then offload
| it to smaller containers, but that is a bulk fueling
| procedure that could go wrong/leak/spill. It is
| environmentally safer to transport fuel in closed
| containers all the way to the final destination.
| rtkwe wrote:
| There's tons of reasons traditional tanked shipping makes
| little sense. Volume, they're going to get quite a bit of
| fuel but it's still a tiny amount compared to the volume
| of a tanker. They're also sending down a lot of non
| liquid cargo, so being able to send it all on one ship
| makes sense.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| A bulk container would be more space-efficient, but on a
| ship it is the mass that counts against fuel efficiency
| rather than bulk. The price differences would only be
| significant when it comes to loading/unloading which, in
| Antarctica, are a very special case.
| akiselev wrote:
| The price difference comes from operational overhead on a
| tiny delivery (of which loading/unloading is a part), not
| from fuel inefficiency.
| happy-go-lucky wrote:
| > Before 2005, getting personnel to the Norwegian Polar
| Institute's Troll Research Station (AT27/QAT) in Antarctica
| involved a weeks-long boat ride followed by a 250 kilometer trek
| over snow, ice, and rock.
|
| Things were so grueling at the time.
| astrea wrote:
| I know it was probably not very romantic in reality, but I
| can't help but imagine a Star Trek style adventure and the
| exciting challenges that come along with it.
| happy-go-lucky wrote:
| Being an outdoorsy type, I would say such an adventure is
| exciting and all :)
|
| They approached this earthbound problem pragmatically.
| Imagine taking such arduous journeys at regular intervals.
| ideashower wrote:
| Good opportunity to share one of my favorite Vimeo documentaries
| about Union Glacier in Antarctica: https://vimeo.com/107231188
| wim wrote:
| Another interesting problem with the weather sometimes is "high"
| temperatures, negatively impacting the friction characteristics
| of the blue ice runway.
| rob74 wrote:
| What would be nice to know is if the 767 shown in the photos is
| typical for the aircraft using this airport? I can't imagine that
| they need the plane's passenger capacity (~200), but maybe they
| use it for cargo? Also, if they want to make the trip from Cape
| Town and back without refueling, they probably need a widebody
| airplane (EDIT: according to the aircraft's page, it's even an
| "Extended Range" model)...
| phire wrote:
| I assume it's been selected entirely for range.
|
| All narrow body aircraft only have enough range to do a one-way
| flight. The 767-300ER can land, do a return flight and have
| plenty of fuel left over for reserves.
| mattlondon wrote:
| When I flew down to the Antarctic peninsula from Chile in 2016
| we went on a BAe 146 I think (1) The explanation given was that
| it had landing gear that was toughened for rough airstrips, had
| a relatively short takeoff, and the 4 high-mounted engines were
| good for landing in snow/ice and offered good redundancy.
|
| It felt pretty cramped on the inside compared to "normal"
| planes, especially when wearing all your cold weather gear
| during the flight (you stepped off right onto the snow - no
| airport buildings)
|
| 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Aerospace_146
| icegreentea2 wrote:
| I might be the start/end of season transfer? Wiki says Troll
| station has ~40 summer staff (and 6 winter). The combination of
| range, cargo, and the awkward amount of people probably makes
| something like a 767 pretty reasonable.
| londons_explore wrote:
| To take all the cargo for 40 people to live there probably
| involves _many_ trips of a 767 each year.
|
| Just bringing in the fuel for the generators to keep
| everything heated and lit for a year is probably the cargo
| capacity for a 767.
|
| That stuff would normally move by ship to other continents,
| but with no nearby port, I guess everything is moved by air.
| mauvehaus wrote:
| TFA says fuel is delivered to the nearest port and brought
| in with tracked vehicles pulling it in 200l drums on
| sledges. The cost is commensurate with the length of the
| supply chain. They prefer it if planes can fly in with
| enough fuel to fly back home unrefueled for that reason
| among others.
| Quai wrote:
| The link below is to an interview where the Norwegian King is
| trolling(phun intended) the queen when talking about this
| airport/science station.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXw9jGTdBy0
|
| It's worth noting that the word "troll" in norwegian references a
| type of being in scandinavian folklore, not your typical
| "internet-troll".
| dylan604 wrote:
| And where exactly did you think the internet troll's name was
| derived?
| Quai wrote:
| Trolling, the fishing method. For me, a internet troll is a
| person that says something provocation hoping that someone
| will "bite" and waste time arguing.
| Symbiote wrote:
| Trolling is indeed a fishing method, but "don't feed the
| troll" was a common phrase on Usenet.
|
| Both meaning were probably intended.
| ericlewis wrote:
| I always figured it just meant Troll as in the fairy tale
| creature who are notoriously not nice.
| DarmokJalad1701 wrote:
| > trolling, the fishing method.
|
| I am pretty sure that one is "trawling".
| rootusrootus wrote:
| Trawling is with a net. E.g. commercial fishing. Trolling
| is traditional rod/reel/bait.
| astrea wrote:
| I had the same thought, but they're both a thing:
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_(fishing)
| hinkley wrote:
| This is a really good movie:
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trollhunter
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2021-03-04 23:01 UTC)