Antarctic Life
As of this writing, Captain Michel Gordillo has spent over 1 day enjoying the hospitality of the friendly scientists and staff of the Mario Zuchelli Station in Antarctica.
The few messages that Michel has been able to get through to Sky Polaris HQ (poor internet connection) indicate that the flight from Hobart was slow and he was not able to get too much faster than about 90 knots (the plane is easily capable of 150 knots) and he was not able to climb very well. His altitude was also limited by the low cloud ceiling As you can see from the Spidertracks Tracking system the speed and altitude improved with fuel burn and more favorable winds as he got nearer to the continent. After reaching the shores of Antarctica, the flight was extremely turbulent due to the winds and the high mountainous terrain.
Landing the tiny RV-8 was also difficult as the snow covered ice runway had deep ruts and grooves caused by the larger aircraft before him.
At this moment, Michel is planning his departure to cross the geographic South Pole, fly across the entire Antarctic continent, then land at King George Island, Antarctica depending on weather.
From there he will fly on to Ushuaia, Argentina (SAWH) in Tierra del Fuego.
Do you want to know what the planet Mars looks like? Kind of like Antarctica! Here is a photo provided by Sky Polaris Team Member Paula Bustamonte received from Michel just a few hours ago. If you look close, you can see the Sky Polaris RV-8 on its skis in the upper left of the photo!
View of Runway from Mario Station
Mario to Argentina
5 Comments
Hm, I wonder what Spidertrack mapping will show us when Michel is enroute to NZSP – SAWB. Other than Google Earth, the map ends somewhere at 85 South. When I followed Michels flight path, I viewed both maps and transferred the Spidertrack coordinates to Google Earth.
That will be interesting to see Peter. If you remember from the flight over the north pole, Michel’s GPS, compass, and other navigation could not tell him which way was south towards Madrid! He just had to guess and fly until he got more reliable direction information.
Will he land on South Pole Ceremonial? Or he just fly over it?
Any news what’s going on at the station?
I hope Michel can find a good weather window to do the Pole crossing.
Do you know how long next leg will be?
You must be logged in to post a comment.