From 'Because' NOEL GILLESPIE FREE LANCE AVIATION WRITER PO Box 10 268. 48 Hawford Road Christchurch2 , New Zealand Telephone/fax 64 03 3323 689 Mobile 025 401 484 AFTER 43 YEARS- THE UNITED STATES NAVY HANDS OVER 'OPERATION DEEP FREEZE IN THE ANTARCTIC TO THE AIR FORCE'S AIR NATIONAL GUARD. A HISTORY OF THE FAMOUS VX-6 SQUADRON'S AVIATORS. THE MEN WHO FLEW THE FROZEN CONTINENT AND THE POLAR ICE CAP. 1955-1999 BY NOEL GILLESPIE FREE LANCE AVIATION WRITER When the sun set at the American Antarctic base at McMurdo Station on April 13th 1998- the curtain came down on the United States Navy's role in Antarctic logistic support and exploration after 42 years. Thus terminating an era - a century and a half of exploration and science during which time, their influence on polar exploration and Antarctic development has been unprecedented "In the bottom of the planet lies an enchanted continent…. Like a pale sleeping princess. Sinister and beautiful. She lies in her frozen slumber, her billowy white robes of snow weirdly luminous with amethysts and emeralds of ice, her dreams iridescent ice halos around the sun and moon, her horizons painted with pastel shades of pink, gold, green and blue. Such is Antarctica, luring land of ever-lasting mystery". Rear Admiral Richard E Byrd, writing in the"National Geographic" The Navy can reflect back with pride to the US Navy Exploring Expedition led by Lt. Charles Wilkes from 1838-1842 aboard the US Ship "Vincennes." It was during this voyage that Wilkes and his navy explorers mapped more than 1500 kilometers of Antarctic coastline, sailing along the glaciers until they reached the area, now known as the Shackleton Ice Shelf. Twenty years after Antarctic explorers- Captain Robert Scott and Lt. Ernest Shackleton, Carl Eielson, a former US Army pilot with Alaskan experience took off in a Lockheed Vega monoplane [X3903]. On November 16 1928, with Sir Hubert Wilkins as a passenger, Eielson took off from an improvised landing field on Deception Island off the Antarctic Peninsula to make the first important reconnaissance flight over the frozen continent. However, Wilkins achievement was overshadowed by the first Antarctic expedition of Commander [later Rear Admiral] Richard E Bryd. Among the three aircraft brought to Antarctica in 1929,was a Ford Tri-motor [NX 4542], which Byrd had named "Floyd Bennett", after his long time aviator friend, he had chosen for the first flight to the North Pole a year earlier. It was constructed with the South Pole flight in mind, an all-metal structure mounted on skis with two 225hp Wright Whirlwind engines on its wings and a special 525 hp Wright Cyclone in its nose. While the crew were sleeping, a130 knots Antarctic blizzard, tore the airplane from its moorings carrying it a mile .The Fokker was a complete write-off, its skis smashed and propeller resembling a corkscrew. During Byrd's second expedition NC4453 was dug out its engines salvaged. Thirty-seven years later, the wreckage was clearly visible from the air, in fact, it caused a great deal of excitement during "Operation Deep Freeze 1". A search and rescue mission carried by the naval command, mistook the wreck for the overdue missing Otter BuNo 144260 .The first VX-6 helicopters on the site, discovered and identified it as the much-weathered wreckage of NC 4453. On Christmas Eve 1987 a New Zealand Scientific expedition party led by photographer Peter Cleary was in the Rockefeller and adjacent Alexandra Mountains when they came across the Fokker's buckled skeleton. The starboard tail and upper wing were embedded in the frozen snow; the rest of the Fokker NC4453 was clearly visible including the cockpit instrument panel, minus the instruments. Byrd's other aircraft-Fairchild monoplane with a 425hp Wasp engine, capable of 140 mph, had wide windows along both sides and a glass floor to the cockpit, primarily designed for high altitude photography. The third aircraft was a single 425 hp engine Fokker Supper Universal- the ill fated "The Virginia" [NC 4453]. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition, while best known for his historic South Pole flight on November 29, proved beyond doubt, even with their limited range, the aircraft would be the primary tool for the continents exploration. Byrd experienced with every aviation technique known at the time, including aerial photography, airdropped mail, material and delivering scientific field parties. During his 1933 expedition, Byrd carried four new aircraft- a Curtis Wright Cordore NR 12384, a Fairchild Pilgrim, a Fokker biplane and a Kellett K-4 single engine autogiro. Byrd's success in Antarctica was quickly taken up by other nations, including two Norwegian whaling expeditions, both of which carried airplanes to locate whales and to explore the icy continent. Byrd was not the only American aviator to make his indelible mark on in Antarctica, Lincoln Ellsworth, who, like Byrd also flew over the South Pole, arrived in Antarctica in 1933, with an ambition to fly across the continent. After failing twice, Ellsworth took off in his Northrop Gama 2B NR 2269, from Dundee Island at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, after several landings to determine his position, or to wait out the Antarctic storms, he landed 16 miles from his goal. Together with his pilot H. Hollock-Krnyonhe walked the remaining distance. However, while wintering over in 1934 from March 28 through to August 10, the Admiral almost died from carbon monoxide fumes, the result of a faulty stove and the engine which had powered his radio. Ellisworth surveyed an area called American Highlands from the air during his 1938/39 Antarctica expedition. The decisive point in Antarctic exploration occurred in 1939, when the US Congress authorized the establishment of the US Antarctic Services Expedition .The task force under Byrd's command was to set up a number of bases on the West and East Coasts of the continent. However, all explorations were halted, with the outbreak of war. After the end of the war, the US Navy embarked its first Antarctic Development Project-code named "Operation High Jump I" 1946-47. Again led by Admiral Byrd as Officer in Charge and Rear Admiral R H Cruzen commanding the 4,000 men of Task Force 68 they journeyed to Antarctica. . Aircraft were again high on the list of necessary aviation equipment for Antarctic exploration. Notwithstanding, the R4D's difficulties in respect of handling cargo in and out, refueling her by handpumps, and that extensive preheating was required to get her started. These difficulties were inconsequential when comparing them against the aircraft's all-round usefulness Subsequently it was decided that six be among the aircraft to operate during "Operation Highjump I". The aircraft would be taken to the Antarctic aboard the aircraft Carrier "Philippine Sea" [CVA-47] at the edge of the Ross Sea's pack ice, fitted with JATO [jet assisted take-off] 18 bottles, this was a comparatively new concept, enabling the R4D-5's to take off, thus minimizing fuel consumption. Taking off the carrier on wheels and landing on snow strip was a problem for the pilots. It had never been achieved before, with time not permitting any pilot training, It would be their first ever landing on a snow runway at Little America. During "Operation Deep " eight years later, retracted skis were attached. Chocks were pulled away and "Trigger" Hawkes, who always flew with an unlighted cigar in his mouth, well before General Curtis become noted for it, launched the first R4D-5's BuNu 17238 successfully from the "Philippine Sea" [CVA-47]. The Douglas airplane rolled along the deck and roared into the Antarctic sky with fifty feet of flight deck to spare Hawkes circled the carrier for half an hour, until Lcrd. Conrad "Gus" Shinn had the second R4D-4 airborne. Then after homing in on Mount Olympus's powerful radio beacon, the two pioneer aviators flew the 600 miles flight to Little America, where they landed on a specially marked strip five hours later. Soon all six R4D's were parked at "Little America's Municipal Airport", just in the 'nick of time' before the Antarctica weather whipping up strong winds across the improvised airfield, with the squadron now cowering from Antarctic blizzard in 'tent city".. Or inside the cold aircraft. Tragedy occurred with PBM Martin Marine Seaplane- Marine George One had crashed into the Walker Mountains on December 30 1946, the plane had disintegrated and burnt on impact. Of the crew, Captain Caldwell was thrown clear, the pilot Ralph Leblanc sat unconscious in his burning cockpit, with his clothing on fire, with Co-pilot Lt. Kearns, Radioman Jim Robbins and Crew Chief Bill Warr going back into the cockpit to pull him out. Wendell Henderson at the radio panel was killed instantly, Ensign Max Lopez was found dead at the navigator's table, Flight Engineer Fred Williams while thrown clear but died two hours later. With the flying season completed, what to do with the R4D's caused the command a problem. Not being able to land back on the carrier's deck, the aircraft were abandoned. Draining the oil, removing the classified instruments, facing the wind, the aircraft skis were lowered into the snow and tied down and left without dignity to the harsh Antarctic environment to await the next austral season. US Icebreakers' Edisto' and 'Burton Island' spotted the aircraft, while visiting the bays of Whales in early February 1948, the snow was cleared away from one R4D-5's, their twin engines started; no attempt was made to fly it. The abandoned R4D's at Little American cost the US Navy $US365.000 [1947 figures] It appeared that a gigantic section of the Ross Sea ice shelf had broken away, taking two thirds of Little America IV and the stored R4D's with it. After making aviation history, the six R4D's now along in the hostile environment, had an ignominious end as they drifted into the watery grave of the Ross Sea's icy waters. Twenty six aircraft were used by Byrd's 1946/47 Antarctic exploration- [6] R4D-'s BuNo 17238,17197,12415,39092 [1] Sikorsky HNS-1 BuNo 33585 [2] HOS-1's ,[4] H)3S-1's [1] Noordyn JA-1.BuNo 57992 [2] Grumman J2F-6's BuNo 39045, [2] Stinson Grasshopper OY-1's, [6] Martin PBM's and ]2] Curtiss SOC's The Lockheed Aircraft Company was testing two P2V-2N airplanes, developed for aerial photography and reconnaissance in Antarctica. Building on the experimentation of the Ski-equipped R4D-5's in 1947,Lockeed developed skis to enable operation on the snow-covered terrain of Antarctica. With a range of 4,790 miles, the P2V Neptune's were ideal for the task. Carrying photographic and special navigational equipment as well as a Magnetic Airborne Detector [MAD] installed, replacing the tail turret. By removing the aircraft normal armament, including the nose gun and the deck turret, giving the P2V-2N a fuel capacity of 4,647 gallons and a maximum gross weight of 72,000 pound. With preparations for "Highjump II" well advance., two Neptune [P2V-2N's] had been modified for polar photography and scientific investigation. Work on the five Martin Mariner flying boats [PBM-5's] and two Douglas Skytains [R4D's] were about 35 % complete. Around 20% of the modification to one Beechcraft [SNB-5] had been accomplished and ski installation for a second prototype had been developed. Three sets of skis had been fabricated for the Neptune's, while those on the R4D's had reached 70% completion. The most striking innovation of "Highjump II" planning, was to fly the Neptune from New Zealand to the Antarctic. This was practicably demonstrated during "Deep Freeze I'. On December 20 1955, the very same P2V-2N's BuNo 122466 and 122465 which had been equipped with skis for "Highjump I" made the flight from Christchurch to McMurdo. During the following weeks, exploratory and photo flights confirmed the soundness of their earlier concept for their use in Antarctic The latter BuNo 122465, under the command of Lt. David Carey, crashed while landing at McMurdo on October 18 the following year, after the fly-in from Christchurch,.NZ to commence "Deep Freeze II" In connection with overwater flights, it is somewhat curious that planners consistently assumed that the R4D's could not make the trip from New Zealand to the Antarctic- which they did in 1956. Had " Highjump II" not been cancelled, pending the outbreak of hostilities in Korea it was proposed to reactivate the R4D's, placing them back into service in order to establish stations for search and rescue. However, the scientists were already planning for the IGY and Admiral Dufek learnt valuable lessons, which he applied with great skill in "Operation Deep Freeze I" The Operation had its genesis in 1955 the establishment in of the US Naval Support Force Antarctica. The responsibility fell on Rear Admiral George Dufek, to carry out the air mission of the Task Force 43- air support of the South Pole Base and the subsequent flights of exploration; so an Experimental Squadron was formed. Established as an Air Development Squadron Six -[VX-6] with Commander G K Eebbe, USN, as commanding officer, was based at Air Naval Station, Patuxent River, and Maryland for organization and training, on January 12 1955. The idea of using aircraft carriers and seaplanes, as was suggested for "Operation Highjump II" abortive operations, did not appear in the planning for "Deep Freeze I". They would not have been appropriate for the type of operations contemplated for the support of the International Geophysical Year. Helicopters assigned to the Icebreakers, proved to be useful-through to the present day. The first few months flying in the harsh foreboding continent would surpass the expectations of the VX-6 crews, and in terms of human suffering and accidents, would establish the life of the aviators and test their endurance. In temperatures of 65 plus degrees below zero would make flying difficult, even for these specially trained polar aircrews. They would be expected to fly exploratory flights, often over uncharted harsh territory, plagued by sudden storms and mountain peaks, which would hide their presence in the clouds and whiteouts. Flying over this Antarctic myriad landscape of crevasses, the tremendous pressures that would be generated, causing the surface of the ice to fracture and then form into thousands of enormous crevasses. The thoughts on the mind of these aviators, if they had to ditch. A forbidding place it would be, if forced to land there. "Even if our R4D's skis hadn't penetrated one of these snow bridges as we landed, we would not have been able to safety leave the aircraft, for fear of an unseen crevasse swallowing us up" one R4D veteran" later recalled to this writer. This was among the fear on the minds of the young VX-6 aviators as they waited their departure many were reservist volunteering for the mission, reporting to Quonset Point Naval Air Station, in Rhode Island in June 1955 for Antarctic training. They were "new kids on the block" seeking adventure of going into the unknown. However, a number of VX-6's "Deep Freeze I", had previous Polar experiences .Dr G K Ebbe, the Squadron's Commander is a veteran of the North Polar expedition "Ski-Jump One" he also had made a number of Air Force Ptarmigan [Weather] flights over the North Pole. Cdr. Eddie Ward, VX-6's Operations officer flew "Ski-Jump" I & II. Administration officer LCrd. O Fuske had sailed to the privately funded Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition in 1946, where he engaged in extensive aerial mapping operation. Cdr. Wiegand while LCdr. "Gus' Shinn where both engaged together with Captain. William Hawke in "Operation Highjump I". The 1947 Ronne Expedition had three aircraft-a Beechcraft C-45, a Strinson L-5 and a Noordyn Norseman. To accomplish the mission ahead, the VX-6 was assigned specially equipped aircraft, painted bright colours assisting in identification in the event of accidents. It had been necessary in the 1955 expedition, to take aircraft designed for the specific mission in the temperate zone, aircraft that could be adopted with skis. VX-6 was made up of a variety of aircraft, including two P-2V-2N's Neptune's, four UC-1 De Havilland Otter's, Douglas ,two R4D-5's, two R5D-'s Douglas R5D's,two C-117 Skytrains, C-121 Lockheed Supper Constellations along with seven HO4S-1 Sikorsky helicopters.. One of the Otters was delivered from DeHaviland Canadian factory, while the other the other was borrowed [later purchased] from the Royal Canadian Air Force. Earlier Navy's Antarctic expeditions had determined the ability of ski-equipped aircraft to land and take-off from ice and snow, however, planners express serious reservations of deploying the R5D's and its ability to operate on the southern continent- they were the only squadrons aircraft not fitted with skis. The Squadron became known as ANTARCTICDEVRON-SIX. The R4D's, after only days of flight familiarization, and fitted with a 200 gallon auxiliary tanks in each aircraft, flew out of Naval Air Station, Patuxent River. Maryland for Christchurch, New Zealand. More preparation was taken before "Deep Freeze II" commenced- with R4D and UF-1 aircrews spending some time on the Greenland Ice Cap. The United States Support Force Antarctica-Task Force '43 sailed from Norfolk on November 14 en route for New Zealand under the command of Rear Admiral George Dukek aboard the flagship USS "Arneb" [AKA-56] arriving a few days after the Squadron had touched down at Wigram. Air Force Base in Christchurch. The VX-6 suffered their first loss in Christchurch before the squadron flew south, a Sikorsky HO4S-3 helicopter BuNo 138519 crashed in Port Lyttelton. It had just been unloaded from the USNS " Greenville Victory" [TAK 237], which had carried it from the US, when it crashed on take-off from the pier, when the tail rotor control failed. The helicopter destined for use in the Antarctic was destroyed. Two R4D-6's, two [DC-4's] R5D's, two Neptune's [P2V-7], two Albatrosses [UF-1L] waited at Christchurch for the historic flight south, while all the ships of the task force were at sea. The US Icebreakers "Glacier" [GB-4] and the "Edisto" [WPB-1313] were steaming towards McMurdo South. The US Naval cargo ships "Arneb" [AKA-56] "Wyandol", [AKA-92 her hull number changed in 1969 to AK 283] and "Greenville Victory" [AK 237] and the tanker "Nespelen" [AKA-55] to process to Ocean stations. The Coast Guard "Eastwind" [WAGB-279] towing the YOG 34 with her load of fuel to McMurdo. George Dufek, a doughty polar explorer, a veteran of four Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, the task force's commander led an armada of seven ships and 1850 men to establish an airfield and operational base at McMurdo Sound. With ship ocean stations starting from New Zealand, spaced every 250 miles apart along meridian 170-degree east. This was the path for the aircraft waiting at Christchurch for their historic flight south. As the Flagship "Arneb" approached her ocean station on December 19, Dufek received word from Captain Ketchum that the ice runway at McMurdo was "A OK" for receiving the aircraft. "The weather for the flight is right now Admiral and should remain so for several days" The helicopters And the Canadian UC-1 DeHavilland Otters were delivered to McMurdo, Little America, Little America V, and to Wilkes Station by ships via the Weddell Sea. The Admiral radioed Christchurch that the squadron take-off the following day, Instructing all crews "make last minutes adjustment and preparation and write that last letter home- get ready for your appointment with destiny, good luck chaps, see you at McMurdo". Dufek's issued a three-word command "Launch all aircraft" December 20th 1955 was a historical day in aviation At 4am the first to leave were the VX-6 Squadron's Neptune's P2V-2N BuNo 122465 [Lockheed Serial No 126-1096] and BuNo 122466 [126-1097]. Followed four hours later the four engine R5D's Skymasters BuNo 5650… truncated (100,694 more characters in archive)