Weather Delay #2

Today was another day of being “on delay.” In the morning, we were ready at 8 am to get ENDURANCE out the door and to follow ourselves shortly thereafter. However, there was some light snowfall at McMurdo which restricted visibility too much for us to go out. So we were put on weather hold for two hours, and then two hours more. We finished up getting our stuff packed and the final cargo arrangements made. Then, as it cleared up in town, the winds at Lake Bonney began to pick up. So, though the helos could fly out, they would not be able to safely place ENDURANCE on the small area of the wooden platform as it hung beneath them. HeloOps did send out some loads of our other cargo slung underneath the helicopters (loads that could just be set on the ice, not targeted to a platform), so that the pilots could get a feel for what the conditions were out at the lake. If it was reasonable, they’d come back for ENDURANCE, and we’d follow. So we waited to hear their report back.
They reported back that it was no good. ENDURANCE wouldn’t fly today, and there was really no reason for the rest of us to go out if there wasn’t a ‘bot to work on, except that it would free up room in town to help accommodate a planefull of Australians that just arrived. HeloOps was still trying to work out whether we’d be able to get some of the group out tonight. So we waited some more for the call back, just chewed the fat in the office.

Chris, Rachel and Shilpa sitting in the office in Crary passing time while on delay.

Finally at 5:30 pm, we got the call that none of us would be flying today. We were released from waiting at the phone, free to try again tomorrow. Here’s the helicopter flight schedule for tomorrow. ENDURANCE’s flight is hightlighted in red, team SAS in yellow, and the remaining cargo in green.

Flight #		31L						Pilot
161								Dimov
.				Weight (lbs.)				Duration (hrs)
Time	Event	Activity	PAX Name	PAX	SVB	Cargo	External	CS	GT
8:15	G-078-M	MCM PU 2 pax & cargo to MT Newall PI 2 pax & cargo	Boris, Leppo	390	60	80		0.50
9:25	G-078-M	MT Newall PU 2 pax & cargo to Bull Pass PI 2 pax & cargo	Boris, Leppo	390	60	80		0.50
10:05	G-078-M	Bull Pass PU 2 pax & cargo to MCM PI 2 pax & cargo	Boris, Leppo	390	60	80
11:50	B-211-M	MCM PU cargo (2 triwalls) to END-W Lobe LK Bonney PI cargo					1115
12:50	B-211-M	LK Bonney to MCM
14:00	G-078-M	MCM to MT Mewall PI cargo (conveyor)					620
15:00	G-078-M	MT Newall to MCM
Flight #		36H						Pilot
162								James
.				Weight (lbs.)				Duration (hrs)
Time	Event	Activity	PAX Name	PAX	SVB	Cargo	External	CS	GT
8:30	N-021-M	MCM PU 2 pax & cargo to AWS 109 (White Island South: S 78 06.82, E 168 19.54)	Dermody, Hochstedler	310	60	185			2.00
8:55	N-021-M	AWS 109 to MCM
9:40	B-211-M	MCM PU 2 pax & cargo to END-W. Lobe LK Bonney PI 2 pax & cargo	Hogan, Richmond	400	60	160
10:30	B-211-M	LK Bonney to AWS 109 (White Island South)
11:25	N-021-M	AWS 109 PU 2 pax & cargo to MCM PI 2 pax & cargo	Dermody, Hochstedler	310	60	185
12:40	B-211-M	MCM PU cargo (batteries) to END-W Lobe LK Bonney PI cargo				125	855
13:40	B-236-M	END-W Lobe LK Bonney to Blood Falls PI cargo				45
13:55	B-211-M	Blood Falls to MCM
Flight #		08H						Pilot
163								Murphy
.				Weight (lbs.)				Duration (hrs)
Time	Event	Activity	PAX Name	PAX	SVB	Cargo	External	CS	GT
9:15	B-211-M	MCM PU cargo (BOT) to ENDUR-W. Lobe LK Bonney PI cargo					2000
10:25	B-211-M	ENDUR-W Lobe LK Bonney to MCM
12:00	B-211-M	MCM PU 4 pax & cargo to END-W. Lobe LK Bonney PI 4 pax & cargo	Flesher, Price, Siegel, Gulati	800	120	720
12:50	R-811-M	END-W. Lobe LK Bonney to MCM
14:30	T-988-M	MCM to Tres Hermanes (Shear Zone area)
14:55	T-988-M	Tres Hermanes PU 5 pax & cargo to MCM PI 5 pax & cargo	Hallman, Armstrong, Bradley, Seifert, Koubek	1000	180	295
15:40	R-841-M	MCM to LK Fryxell PI cargo				30
16:20	R-841-M	LK Fryxell PU 5 pax & cargo to LK Hoare PI 5 pax & cargo	Fabre, Dell, Nichols, Klegstad, W. Murphy	950	180	300
16:35	R-841-M	LK Hoare to MCM

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