FIRST TRICONTINENTAL TRANSANTARCTIC FLIGHT
Operation TRANSANTAR
Carried out between December 4 and 10, 1973 with a Hercules C-130 aircraft, registration TC-66.
It was carried out on an experimental basis, since it was about connecting Buenos Aires with Australia and New Zealand passing through the South Pole, with a stopover at the Marambio Base.
Facing a very near future, which we are already experiencing, the first tricontinental transantarctic flight carried out with a Hercules C-130 aircraft, opened up a new possibility for the country, that the Argentine Republic, now a terminal for so many airlines, abandons its marginal situation. to become an important air communications center.
Our airfields became transit airfields, instead of terminal airfields, meaning that the world now "does not end down there"; Australia, New Zealand and Oceania are our neighbors via Antarctica.
PREPARATIONS AND DEPARTURE
The flight over the South Pole was achieved after careful planning in which all theexperience that the Air Force has on operations in Antarctica.
Long years of flights carried out by navy and aviation planes provided the necessary data so that nothing was left to chance, that terrible factor that the Antarctic eliminates from all its projects.
“Chance is the door through which so many tragedies entered Antarctica,” the brigadier Fautario was able to recall, while commenting on the completion of the transpolar flight.
As soon as the assault on the Pole had been decided, with extreme urgency the solution to three problems was proposed: that of the necessary autonomy to cover the projected route, strictly determining the possible weights with which the plane could operate and the feasibility of touching the different airfields available for the trip.
Initially, the need to increase the autonomy of the Hercules to twenty hours was recognized, which has the capacity to fly thirteen hours without the need to refuel.
The technical group of the I Air Brigade assumed the task of modifying the fuel systems of the device and equipping it with two extra fuel tanks, which was achieved in an extremely short period of time and at such a low cost that it justified the interruption of a initial contact with the aircraft construction company.
This firm considered that the modifications would require 45 days of work and, in addition, they spent a very high budget to carry it out.
The flight tests of the new equipment - including changes to the aircraft's electronic installations - confirmed the capacity and ingenuity of the civil and military personnel of the I Air Brigade.
Precisely, in the course of one of the verification flights - having already verified the goodness of the fuel and navigation systems - a radial link was established with the Marambio base, during which the personnel stationed on this small Antarctic island reported that the The condition of the track was excellent and the temperature in the area was -2ºC, that is, a “spring” mark for that base.
The prevailing weather at our main air station in Antarctica introduced a variant in the flight calculations since it had been estimated that takeoff from Marambio would take place at about five degrees below zero. With low temperatures, the takeoff operation of a turboprop airplane is simplified. The air is denser and ensures that the engines reach their maximum power in a few seconds, shortening the necessary distance for the plane to achieve the lift necessary to take off.
Given the 1,200 m runway at the Marambio base, a relatively low temperature was required for a plane to achieve lift of 75 tons.
For this reason, it was agreed to use auxiliary rockets, called “JATOS”, which in number of eight represent an additional power equivalent to two more engines for a few seconds.
In any case, that radio conversation with Marambio expedited the events and then the time of departure was set for the night of Tuesday, December 4, 1973.
AT THE MARAMBIO BASE
On a flight without special alternatives, the Hercules arrived in Marambio at 02:51 on December 5.Another Hercules was waiting on the runway, configured as a tanker plane that provided 17,000 liters of fuel in a minimum of time.
At that time, there was a total absence of wind on the island and the temperature reached 6ºC, unfavorable circumstances that made it necessary to use rockets to take off.
At 06:50 we were ready to head to the South Pole and face the most critical stage of the operation:
travel 1,200 m of the runway with the engines at maximum power and the rockets on to begin the great jump over the frozen continent. And the takeoff was done; Fourteen people aboard the Hercules breathed a sigh of relief when the plane jumped into the clouds to soar to 8,000 m, the optimal level for flight.
ON THE POLAR PLATEAU
The flight between Marambio and Canberra lasted 17:54 hours. A dense layer of clouds hid the Antarctic ice cap from the eyes of sailors. In the immensity of space, surrounded by the impressive silent calm of the heights, the plane maintained radial contact with Argentine territory. From El Palomar or Río Gallegos came voices from a familiar world; Behind each technical communication or meteorological report was hidden the word of encouragement from those who, although on the ground, made this 12,300 km flight that stretched between Australia and Argentina their own.With favorable winds and an extreme temperature of -50ºC, the Hercules reached 80º South latitude, where the dense layer of clouds opened to offer the aeronauts the grandiose vision of the polar plateau extending its dazzling whiteness across the entire horizon. .
Near the South Pole, when the radar received the echo of the constructions of the Amundsen-Scott base, everyone on board felt like they were protagonists of a special moment: they were truly launched towards distant Australia; They participated in the opening of a new path whose political and economic perspectives are still unpredictable.
UNFAVORABLE WINDS
Shortly after flying over the South Pole, the intensity of the wind began to grow and already near McMurdo, the US base on the Ross Sea, gusts reached 155 km/h.From that moment on, the wind began to be an obstacle to the plane's movement. Due to this, the Hercules made landfall in the capital of Australia almost two hours late, which involved dangerous fuel consumption.
For this last part of the trip, meteorological information was available from the World Meteorological Center in Melbourne, but it was not accurate enough. The actual high winds far exceeded the calculated winds.
After the passage of Hercules over Antarctica, we can affirm that in the future meteorological data will be of fundamental value to prevent commercial flights from suffering dangerous delays due to bow winds over the Drake Passage or over the Pacific.
On the circumpolar weather charts prepared daily by the National Meteorological Service, pilots must look for a “gap” between the cyclone trains that circumvent the Antarctic continent to have the help of tailwinds and reach their destination with an acceptable margin of security.
Furthermore, the insufficiency of weather data available in the Pacific Ocean west of Argentina, or in the Indian Ocean west of Australia, recommends the use of automatic buoys to close the meteorological network around the Sixth Continent.
THE RETURN
The Hercules took off on Saturday, December 8, from Canberra airport heading to Christchurch, in New Zealand, to depart from there on the 9th at 11:54 p.m. back to Argentina.Flying in a straight line, the Hercules headed towards Marambio, leaving aside the route to the South Pole. Given the unfavorable weather conditions in the Marambio base area, the device continued its direct flight to Río Gallegos, where it made landfall that same day at 11:43 p.m., apparently eleven minutes before leaving New Zealand.
Paradoxical deception of astronomy and time zones... When the Hercules descended in Buenos Aires, nothing in its structure indicated that it had put an end to a daring voyage that united three continents through a dangerous route like few others: South America, Antarctica and
Australia.
The magnitude of the flight organized by the Air Force appears hidden by the normality that surrounded the operation; but currently flights through Antarctica have become part of everyday life, the regular news of this century in which men lost their capacity for wonder.
Although the world of Antarctic ice is still full of dangers, although the cold and wind create almost insurmountable walls to human activity, the Hercules C-130 opened a new stage in a world where the geography is increasingly smaller.
General Commander of the FAA Brigadier General Héctor Luis FAUTARIO
Aircraft Commander Vicecommodore José Apolo GONZÁLEZ
First Pilot Captain Juan Daniel PAULIK
Second Pilot Captain Héctor CID
First Navigator Captain Adrián José SPERANZA
Second Navigator Captain Hugo César MEISNER
Navigator/Survival Specialist First Lieutenant Jorge VALDECANTOS
Senior Meteorologist Salvado ALAIMO
First Chief Non-Commissioned Officer Pedro BESSERO
Second Deputy Assistant Mechanic Juan Bautista MEDERO
Air Delivery System Operator Senior Warrant Officer Jorge R. LINDER
Photographer Non-Commissioned Officer Major Juan BUENO
Also participated in this flight:
Commodore Julio C. PORCILE
Major Manuel M. MIR