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About the NZ to Antarctica flights (I made 4 work trips to there in the mid 1990s):
The "heavy" cargo flights (C-117 & C-5A) from Christchurch New Zealand to McMurdo Station start up around the first of October and they try to get out one a day if conditions permit. This is the first of the "summer season" for the US Antarctic Program and USAF aircraft are "contracted" by National Science Foundation to get a lot of supplies and equipment to "the ice" before the majority of the 800 or so summer personnel arrive via LC-130 flights later in the month. Folks that they need sooner, like carpenters, communications techs, cooks, etc go in on the cargo flights, which is great -- the jet aircraft get there in around 5.5 hrs, the LC 130 takes more like 9 hrs, neither type of flights have ANY comfort, though. The LC-130 is just a ski equipped C-130, and a bit slower, as the skis don't fully retract.
There is a geographical point on any of the NZ to McMurdo flight plans that is called the PSR - point of safe return (which is nicknamed "point of no return") and for the LC130 it is about half way there. It is where there is enough fuel left on board to get back to Christchurch NZ if the weather deteriorates below minimums at McMurdo. If it doesn't look for sure by the PSR then you "boomerang" back to NZ and wait another day... or week. For the larger ships like the C-5A or 117 then the PSR is typically at McMurdo, which means thay have enough fuel to go there, check it out, and retrun (without landing) all the way back to NZ if needed. However, on a LC-130 you might board the plane at 0500 NZ time, fly for 4 hours, get "boomeranged" and flay another 4 hours home. By the time the day is over, you have maybe 12 hours in (a couple hours processing on each end of the flight) and then the next morning you are reporting to the airport at 0400 again! I had a full week of that one year. The beauty of it was that most of the flights were on the larger aircraft and we didn't go all the way when flights were cancelled. And we finally got there on a C-5A, which they can land on the sea ice if it is over about 7 feet thick. It has something akin to stadium seating, airline type seats, facing to the rear, up in the tail section above the rear cargo door/ramp.
Around the Antarctic continent the flghts are all LC-130 or contracted Twin Otters for small things. There a lot of LC-130 flights to the South Pole station, especially with the construction of the new SP station. Used to be that the twin otters were from Ken Borek air. Don't knoiw if they still have the contract... what amazing pilots! Flights local to McMurdo are helicopters, range about 80 miles down there. The LC-130s are flown by the NY Air Guard, some are their planes, some are the NSF's.
Happy listening. I could supply HF freqs if wanted.
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