By CPL Lisa Clapham
Operation Winter Fly-In (WINFLY) began with the arrival of the USAF C-17 on 18 August and ran until its departure on 30 August.
Ready to depart to Antarctica
The Christchurch Air Movement’s Engineer Support Squadron (ESS) staff was joined by nine other New Zealand Defence Force personnel to form the Harewood Terminal Team (HTT). These nine were made up of six ESS Air Movements personnel, one Army Move Op, a Royal New Zealand Air Force Motor Trade bus driver and a Royal New Zealand Navy Reserve bus driver, who both had previous experience working within
the HTT.
The purpose of WINFLY is to transport the necessary people, food, and equipment to Scott Base and McMurdo Station, Antarctica, in preparation for the main Antarctic polar season, which started in October. WINFLY also marks the first sunrise over Scott Base after four long months without sunlight.
With minimal daylight hours available, the aircraft had to work within a tight timeframe. The C-17 carried out four missions to Antarctica, offloading pallets built by the HTT. They also flew one other mission using night vision goggles as part of their own Squadron training and development.
During the two-week Operation the HTT were kept busy sorting cargo, building pallets, loading and unloading aircraft, and processing passengers.
In total, we checked-in:
- 363 passengers
- 27,730 lbs of baggage
- 137,687 lbs of freight
- 14,125 lbs of mail, and
- 11,539 lbs of fresh food.
Supply aircraft pallets
These flights were all dependent on the weather in Antarctica and, unfortunately, the flight was delayed for two days. We used this time to build pallets for the upcoming flights, which kept us well ahead throughout WINFLY and for the main season.
Overall, WINFLY was a successful and enjoyable operation, with positive comments from all involved.
WINFLY is just the beginning of the Antarctic Season for the Christchurch Air Movement’s ESS team. During September a new team of NZDF personnel arrived at Christchurch Air Movements ESS to become the HTT for the main season.
On arrival, they undertook two and a half weeks of pre-deployment training, which covered:
- safety training
- vehicle driving
- marshalling
- pallet building, and
- job roles specific for the Antarctic Season.