After nearly 4000 miles/3500 nms, since, lifting off wheels at Punta Arena, at midnight, then, past the abject desolateness of the Southern Oceans, and into the (inhospitable and frigid) northern coastlines of Antarctica, here, finally, I've landed my DC8 on the Ice Runway of NZIR/McMurdo Station...without any (untoward) incidence...to catch (welcome) sights of humans and human activity...🙂...

I pick up, where I'd left off in Part II, (INS did bring me safely, close enough, westward, to near Ross Island, for me to take manual control of navigation), see, below, the first shot, which is taken after INS is deactivated, and just after the (Sperry) Autopilot selector knob is flipped one position (CW) to the HDG Mode, with Heading bug on the [VC] HSI, set towards Ross Island. Having never (virtually) approached NZIR, from the Eastern side of Antarctica, as the case, in this flight, my (planned) strategy is shown in the 2nd Screenshot (see FSC MAP). I mean to, cut across the Ross Island, in the depression, between the twin peaks of the two treacherous (volcanic) mountains of the island, Mt. Erebus (12,448 ft) and Mt. Terror (10,600 ft). These two mountains are seen from the [VC] 3rd Screenshot, (Mt. Erebus on my LHS and Mt. Terror on RHS). Mt Erebus, forever, will be marked in history, as the infamous site of the Mt. Erebus disaster (aka: Air New Zealand Flight 901), and of course, the incredible story of (subsequent investigation and analysis) that followed, especially by the tenacious Air New Zealand Captain, Alwyn Gordon Vette, who is not only credited with "solving the mystery of Flight 901", but, also, in the process, made flying in this region, safe, for future pilots.

I've kept my altitude to 12,000 ft while (respectfully and gingerly) passing by Mt. Erebus (see 4th and 5th Screenshots). Once (safely) past these mountain peaks, I've followed a CCW/Left bank (per the FSC Map), fortunately directly into the beautiful glow of the Sun, to align myself with the Heading for the Ice Runway. The Artificial ILS Gauge, shown in several screenshots, was extremely helpful in the process, without which, I could not have guaranteed proper alignment. See e.g. the first clear sighting of Rwy Lights (at Gauge DME 5.85), with the hills of McMurdo Station (called Observation Hill) on my LHS and clear space on my RHS, an indication of correct final heading to the Rwy (003 degrees, see Gauge top LHS for pre-selected Rwy). Also, another point of interest about this Gauge: The hollow thick Grey Arrow is (always and conveniently) pointed at the (pre-selected) Rwy HDG, no matter how far you're from it, so, the objective, then, is to align the thin narrow Orange Arrow with the Grey Arrow, with both Arrow Tips pointing in the same direction. Additionally, the white artificial (ILS) needles help you adjust forward and vertical speeds (carefully, especially on a large airliner like this), so that the needles remain centered (e.g. see how nicely the needles are centered at DME=0.785 and even later at DME=0.418, when the Lead up Arrow, on the ground, of NZIR's Ice Runway, has already appeared directly in front of the plane's nose. [BTW, I'd once read that, the well-known (freeware) developer, Manfred Jahn, was engaged in the use and discussion of this gauge, hence, my continued faith and interest in it....🙂...it's a "Fun" gauge for sure...for SIM use...]

The Top-Down Globe shot, below, shows clearly the (vast) frozen Ross Ice Shelf, and the DC8's landing position, at one corner of it. To my comfort, from the [VC], I can easily spot the Airport buildings (along with probably two C-130 Hercules aircraft) and other (McMurdo) community houses. I'd (also) heard there was a Grocery/Department Store, somewhere there, so I can possibly get a beverage, of some kind, to celebrate this safe arrival...🙂...

Anyway, this wraps up my (successful) DC8/Antarctica adventure...!

Thanks for your interest, and hope you enjoy the final set of pictures, below, and this account...!!

[AS(DC8/Antarctica)]

Exhaustive...and exhausting. Really admire your thoroughness.

John

Edited February 1, 20215 yr by John F

Great shots!

Appreciated, John and Schwarzgruber...!!

John:...🙂...wasn't too bad for me....though, these days, my flights are always <500nm, even if a plane is capable of 5000nm+. This DC8 survived two extended Pauses and the vagaries of my PC and FSX...for continuity...from start to end, so thankful. And, I started fresh each time, unlike the RW crew...🙂...

Seriously, the thoroughness of Operation IceBridge is the message here...I was reading a bit more today about it. Quite fascinating...! The preparations for the real mission took six months, including e.g. thorough testing of the laser (topography) instruments, in advance, in the deserts of California (such as Mojave) to ensure proper functioning (seemingly sand and flowing sand make good test-bed for ice and for movements on such frozen terrain...) . Surely, malfunctioning instrument on site, after reaching Antarctica, has to be avoided at all costs...

Also, the trust of the Crew in this (old) DC8 seems remarkable...though, the P&W JT3D engines, we see in my pictures, were replaced, in the RW plane, by (newer and better) CFM56 Engines in 1986...(prior to their later Antarctic missions)...

7 hours ago, P_7878 said:

Also, the trust of the Crew in this (old) DC8 seems remarkable...though, the P&W JT3D engines, we see in my pictures, were replaced, in the RW plane, by (newer and better) CFM56 Engines in 1986...(prior to their later Antarctic missions)...

It's funny that these old birds (equipped with modern equipment) seem to have an edge over their more contemporary alternatives. The same goes today for the DC 3 in its modern Basler version.

What an adventure! And what a wealth of information you provide us with. I just wonder what the breaking action is like on an all-ice runway 🤔

BTW, with this long distance operation finished, you might as well think of last week´s company-record breaking nonstop flight of a Lufthansa A-350  from Hamburg, EDDH to RAF Mount Pleasant, EGYP on the Falklands. The plane carried 92 scientists and ship crew, who will board the scientific research vessel Polarstern, which will finally carry them to the German Neumayer antarctic station.

Edited February 2, 20215 yr by duesenwerni

Thanks, duesenwerni, for your further interest...and for the news bits, too...

First of all, Neumayer Station III is indeed modelled by AS (Antarctica), and, in fact, I was snooping around there....🙂...during one of my past visits to the Ice Continent..., see an image, below, from my (virtual) visit, to this (German) Research Station (if I may be permitted one extra image, here)...

And, yes, record-breaking flights always fascinate me. LH's newest A350 sounds good. At one point, I was a frequent flyer on LH Airbuses (atypically, though, they never deployed B777s on their long-haul, but they might be one of the launch customers of B777-9). Before they acquired the new A350s, I recall, they had supplemented their A330s/A340s with B747-8s, which was the last LH plane I'd travelled on...Would love to fly in their A350...Maybe someday...we'll see....(considering the state of affairs now)...

About my (virtual) DC8 touching down, in this post, onto the Ice Runway, I'd read in the DC8 Tutorial, that although Flap 35 is customary, Flap 50 (Max) is sometimes applied for reduced landing speed...which is what I did. (In the (RW) videos of DC8, the large Fowler Flaps, fully extended, are a sight, on this plane, when it's coming in to land)...and, you can see those impressive flaps in my end-pictures too. I exactly forget but the (final) speed was remarkably low for such a large jetliner "SIM"....In my eagerness, after the long flight, I might have closed the throttles a bit too early...🙂...(all this, of course, from a (virtual) non-pilot...🙂...so beware...)...nonetheless, it was quite exciting to land, here......, ...

The (Ice) runways are made of incredibly compacted snow...here is a quote, by C-17 pilots, landing at McMurdo/NZIR, from the Wiki:

"Pilots landing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft on the sea ice runway report that the surface is stable, not unlike landing on concrete. The similarity with land bases ends when the jet aircraft rolls to a stop, however. The nearly 201 tons weight of the plane,...causes it to sink into the ice, albeit only a matter of inches. A laser light is trained on the aircraft to measure the settlement rate. The $200 million aircraft is moved to a new location on the six-foot-thick ice as a safety measure if the 10-inch red line is reached..."

Interesting...!

Happy flying and have fun...!!

Edited February 4, 20215 yr by P_7878