Antarctic Runways

Here is a partial list of airfields on Antarctica measured from the South Pole. Location codes 1-14 of 14 near location NZSP (90°00'00"S 0°00'00"E) NZSP Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station [Jack F. Paulus Skiway], AQ:

• Miles km To ICAO Name
  
• 672 mi 1081 km W SCPZ Antartica (Antarctica) [Patriot Hills], CL
  
• 835 mi 1344 km S NZPG McMurdo Station [Pegasus Field], Ross Island, AQ
  
• 842 mi 1355 km S NZWD McMurdo Station [Williams Field], AQ
  
• 843 mi 1356 km S NZIR McMurdo Station [Ice Runway], Ross Island, AQ
  
• 1051 mi 1692 km W GC0021 Sky-Blu [Sky Blu Logistics Facility], Eastern Ellsworth Land, AQ
  
• 1556 mi 2504 km W AAXX Rothera Point, Adelaide Island, AQ
  
• 1617 mi 2602 km E GC0020 Wilkins Runway (Casey), Upper Peterson Glacier, AQ
  
• 1747 mi 2811 km NW SCBG Base Antarctica [Presidente Gabriel Gonzalez Videla], CL
  
• 1750 mi 2817 km NW GC0012 Palmer Station, Anvers Island, AQ
  
• 1787 mi 2876 km NW SAWB Base Marambio, Seymour Island, AQ
  
• 1851 mi 2978 km NW SCBO Base Antarctica [Bernado O'Higgins], CL
  
• 1908 mi 3070 km NW SCBP Base Antarctica [Arturo Prat], Greenwich Island, CL
  
• 1929 mi 3104 km NW SCRM Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin, King George Island, AQ
  

There is a better list available about runways near the SP in this link. The above list excludes for example:

Troll Airfield AQ-0002, Troll Station, Antarctica, 1083 nm N (2006 km, 1246 miles)
Novolazarevskaya Station AQ-0001, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, 1150 nm NNE (2129 km, 1323 miles)

and several others.

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Trucking at the South Pole

I think here are the key words to success at the Antarctic. Have lot of money and fuel. Use pretested and redundant systems (4 trucks). Do not take any risks. Do it when the weather is mildests.

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Armand Denis

An interesting person Armand Denis was famous of his many films about Africa.

Armand and Michaela Denis

Here is one of them which can bee watched.

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Old Picture of a Man Fishing on the Ice

The person in this B/W picture is unknown. It is taken sometime in the beginning of the 20th century.

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Some Famous CAD Programmers

I was investigating the origins of the AutoCAD program and discovered some interesting persons and blogs which might entertain you.


John Walker (programmer, [not the terrorist **1])
- his blog
- Fourmilab


Michael Riddle (programmer)
- his blog
- COFES: Congress On the Future of Engineering Software
- Digibarn Computer Museum
- FastCAD  and EasyCAD



(**1) It is funny that there is a terrorist with the name John Walker [Lindh] also.

I will continue this list when I find some more interesting software figures in the Internet.

Here are some photos from John Walker's public domain collection.

 

 

 Some building in Lignieres 2009

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European Side of Antarctica

Here is a Google Map of the European Side of Antarctica. All shown stations are year-round stations except Aboa/Wasa (Finland/Sweden). Novo and Maitri are located near each other. Novo and Troll are the only runways that support wheel landings otherwise skis are needed. Troll accepts only scientific visitors but Novo makes also commercial deals.

Do not automatically expect support from research stations. They are not set up visitor hostels. Be self-sufficient in your plans and the equipment you carry. Be prepared to survive in the cold. Don't expect a rescue service. Check with the station managers in the area you are visiting before you visit Antarctica.

European Side of Antarctica

Year-round stations are:

Novo and Maitri (Russia and India) - 4200 km to Cape Town - wheel & ski
Troll Runway (Norway) - 350 km to Novo - wheel
Sanae (South Africa) -  200 km to Troll - ski
Neumayer (Germany) - 230 km to Sanae - ski
Halley (Great Britan) -  800 km to Neumayer - ski
Belgrano (Argentina) - 330 km to Halley - ?
Showa (Japan) - 1080 km to Novo - ski

Novo and Troll have the largest and best runways for large airplanes. ALCI is using these runways to connect the Antarctica to South Africa (Cape Town) using IL-76. The aircraft was first conceived by Ilyushin in 1967 to meet a requirement for a freighter able to carry a payload of 40 tons (88,000 lb) over a range of 5,000 km (2,700 nmi; 3,100 mi) in less than six hours, able to operate from short and unprepared airstrips, and capable of coping with the worst weather conditions likely to be experienced in Siberia and the Soviet Union's Arctic regions.

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