EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 On 2/4/2021 at 12:55 AM, BacktoCricaddict said: Amazing! Congratulations on doing this. I would never venture that far! Thanks mate. There is no secret to any of this stuff - Show up and do the work. The results will come.
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 On 2/4/2021 at 2:09 AM, coffee_rules said: Did you land there and felt the cold? I bet even in summer it will be in sub-zero celsius Hey mate, Hope you had a great start to the year so far. Antarctica is always cold. It is cold in summer (24 hour daylight) and colder in winter (24 hour darkness). Haven't landed there yet. But with a potential 6 month stint in Antarctica coming up, I'll have plenty of opportunities to make up for lost time. And explore the continent up close.
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 On 2/4/2021 at 3:24 AM, bowl_out said: Have this in my list of things to do.. Maybe in 10 years.. How was the experience.. Did you fly from Australia or South America? South America or Australia --- aah, opened up a can of worms there mate. If you go from South America, you'd have to cross the "Drake Passage" (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Passage) I've held off from crossing the Drake Passage - 100+ km/h winds and 15 metre high waves. Maybe, one day I might. Flew down from Australia for this trip. And for the other trips before this. bowl_out 1
coffee_rules Posted February 4, 2021 Posted February 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, EnterTheVoid said: Hey mate, Hope you had a great start to the year so far. Antarctica is always cold. It is cold in summer (24 hour daylight) and colder in winter (24 hour darkness). Haven't landed there yet. But with a potential 6 month stint in Antarctica coming up, I'll have plenty of opportunities to make up for lost time. And explore the continent up close. Congratulations. On the trip! I can’t imagine going there, will enjoy it vicariously. TFS pics. We just had a 24 in snowfall, scenes in the neighborhood is almost like Antarctica. Nah not even close. EnterTheVoid 1
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 (edited) There are things that you see from the sky that are impossible to see from close up. That glacier - a body of ice that is moving under it's own weight - is absolutely huge. From the crevasses - cracks in the ice - you can see how the glacier contours around the environment. Edited February 4, 2021 by EnterTheVoid coffee_rules and Cricketics 2
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 Those crevasses are a lot deeper than they appear. Some of them are simply impossible to cross. You just have to go around them. Or find another route. coffee_rules 1
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 (edited) 31 minutes ago, coffee_rules said: Congratulations. On the trip! I can’t imagine going there, will enjoy it vicariously. TFS pics. We just had a 24 in snowfall, scenes in the neighborhood is almost like Antarctica. Nah not even close. The Casey station isn't too bad. There is a bit of greenery there. If you were to get a position there, you'd have to spend 6 - 12 months away from family. There is no real option for Antarctic expeditioners to bring their family along with them. Supplies come by air once every few weeks lol. Ships come once every few months. Edited February 4, 2021 by EnterTheVoid zen and coffee_rules 1 1
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 There are a lot of research bases in East Antarctica. India has three stations, Dakshin Gangotri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakshin_Gangotri), Maitri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maitri_(research_station) and Bharati (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharati_(research_station) I'd call them up and try get a job there. And if you aren't successful at the Indian ones, can try the other ones. There are no shortage of bases.
EnterTheVoid Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 (edited) You can also go to Antarctica via an ice breaker. Push, prod, poke your way through the ice - Will take a couple of weeks. But worth it in it's own ways. Edited February 5, 2021 by EnterTheVoid
EnterTheVoid Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 (edited) These pilots have absolute balls of steel. Where are you going to land in the case of an engine failure? Edited February 5, 2021 by EnterTheVoid Mariyam 1
Mariyam Posted February 6, 2021 Posted February 6, 2021 @EnterTheVoid Thanks for sharing these lovely pics. Did you fly over the continent? Or did you step down and spend time on the ground?
EnterTheVoid Posted February 9, 2021 Author Posted February 9, 2021 On 2/6/2021 at 4:46 PM, Mariyam said: @EnterTheVoid Thanks for sharing these lovely pics. Did you fly over the continent? Or did you step down and spend time on the ground? Heya Mariyam, On this trip, we did a flyover over the continent (specifically East Antarctica). It's all in preparation for an upcoming stint in Antarctica in one of the research bases there - plan on living and working there for six odd months. Cricketics and Mariyam 2
Cricketics Posted February 9, 2021 Posted February 9, 2021 Brilliant, all the best for your journey. EnterTheVoid and Mariyam 2
EnterTheVoid Posted February 9, 2021 Author Posted February 9, 2021 That long phallic looking ice sheet is called the "Drygalski Ice Tongue". Read up more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drygalski_Ice_Tongue Mariyam 1
EnterTheVoid Posted February 9, 2021 Author Posted February 9, 2021 Some dormant strato volcanoes. Awww yeah, why not. It's Antarctica. Anything goes. Mariyam 1
EnterTheVoid Posted February 9, 2021 Author Posted February 9, 2021 4 hours ago, Cricketics said: Brilliant, all the best for your journey. Thanks mate. In all these expeditions to remote places, having a supportive partner helps immensely. The Missus runs a tight ship whilst I'm away. So I can just focus on the task at hand. Without any distractions. Mariyam 1
EnterTheVoid Posted February 9, 2021 Author Posted February 9, 2021 When the pilots did the flight planning for the Antarctica trip earlier this year, they had 19 DIFFERENT ROUTES they were considering. Yup, 19. Biggest consideration in eliminating the other 18 routes: The weather. TAFKOKC 051130Z 051212 14008KT 5SM BR BKN030 TEMPO 1316 1 1/2SM BRFM1600 16010KT P6SM SKCBECMG 2224 20013G20KT 4SM SHRA OVC020 PROB40 0006 2SM TSRA OVC008CBBECMG 0608 21015KT P6SM NSW SCT040 = If you can decode the above gibberish, you've done well. That's the weather report we use for our pre flight planning. It tells me everything I need to know (the wind layers, the cloud layers, visibility etc). coffee_rules 1
coffee_rules Posted February 9, 2021 Posted February 9, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, EnterTheVoid said: When the pilots did the flight planning for the Antarctica trip earlier this year, they had 19 DIFFERENT ROUTES they were considering. Yup, 19. Biggest consideration in eliminating the other 18 routes: The weather. TAFKOKC 051130Z 051212 14008KT 5SM BR BKN030 TEMPO 1316 1 1/2SM BRFM1600 16010KT P6SM SKCBECMG 2224 20013G20KT 4SM SHRA OVC020 PROB40 0006 2SM TSRA OVC008CBBECMG 0608 21015KT P6SM NSW SCT040 = If you can decode the above gibberish, you've done well. That's the weather report we use for our pre flight planning. It tells me everything I need to know (the wind layers, the cloud layers, visibility etc). How low do they fly in Antarctica? the photos look like they were taken in a 1000 ft distance. Funny that I don’t bother about all flight planning, as they are well driven commercial route and weather data is available through sat and probably fed into the airplane software. All I worry is about getting nearby seats for family, my aisle seat, cabin luggage room, and my alcohol intake. Antartica is a different game altogether Edited February 9, 2021 by coffee_rules
EnterTheVoid Posted February 9, 2021 Author Posted February 9, 2021 (edited) 17 minutes ago, coffee_rules said: How low do they fly in Antarctica? the photos look like they were taken in a 1000 ft distance. Funny that I don’t bother about all flight planning, as they are well driven commercial route and weather data is available through sat and probably fed into the airplane software. All I worry is about getting nearby seats for family, my aisle seat, cabin luggage room, and my alcohol intake. Antartica is a different game altogether Excellent question. From Australia to Antarctica, the plane flies at it's typical cruise setting. Say, 30, 000 feet @ 400 Knots. Once we are over the continent, we fly low (say, 5, 000 feet) and slow (say, 200 Knots). We need to understand what the wind is doing. It behaves differently at different altitudes. For example: From 0 to 3, 000 feet: Wind is coming from 270 degrees and has a magnitude of 20 Knots From 3, 000 to 7, 000 feet: Wind is coming from 174 degrees and has a magnitude of 15 Knots. Gusting to 25 Knots. From 7, 000 feet to 10, 000 feet: Wind is coming from 84 degrees and has a magnitude of 5 Knots. If you are flying at 5, 000 feet, and you get hit by 25 Knots gusts (equivalent to 50 kilometres/hour), it's a pretty unpleasant experience for everyone Similarly, the clouds behave differently at the different altitudes. From 0 to 3, 000 feet: No clouds, clear visibility to 25 Nautical miles From 3, 000 feet to 7, 000 feet: Scattered clouds with visibility to 5 miles If you are flying at 5, 000 feet and you are not able to see clearly because of clouds, well, than this probably isn't a good route to fly. Based on the behaviour of the wind and the clouds at the different altitude levels, they go from 19 possible routes to the one the ultimately end up flying. Edited February 9, 2021 by EnterTheVoid coffee_rules 1
EnterTheVoid Posted February 9, 2021 Author Posted February 9, 2021 19 minutes ago, coffee_rules said: How low do they fly in Antarctica? the photos look like they were taken in a 1000 ft distance. Funny that I don’t bother about all flight planning, as they are well driven commercial route and weather data is available through sat and probably fed into the airplane software. All I worry is about getting nearby seats for family, my aisle seat, cabin luggage room, and my alcohol intake. Antartica is a different game altogether The flight planning is not something the passengers would worry about. I was pointing to how the pilots choose the final route from the 19 possible routes. By decoding the weather report I posted earlier.
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