Air Taxi to Rumdoodle Skiway

Working the drag bar on the snow.

Filling bags to mark the runway

The Rumdoodle Skiway, 20km from Mawson, was activated for summer flights from Davis to Mawson for expeditioners returning to Australia on Voyage 4 in late February.

Sighting a line for skiway marker bags.

Skiway is open!

Bags marking 1500m skiway.

The flight from Davis is in a chartered DC3 aircraft. Before passenger flights begin the Skiway has to be tested by a ‘Proving Flight’.  This was undertaken on Tuesday 31st January – Davis to Mawson and return.

BT67 approaching Rumdoodle.

Landing.

Taxi to parking area.

'Proving flight' Debrief .

The aircraft chartered for the delivery of passengers to Mawson is a BT67. A DC3 that has been seriously modified for polar use by Basler, a Canadian company. The Canadian charter company used by AAD fly’s the BT67as well as Twin Otter aircraft for intra continental flights between Australian Antarctic bases and field outposts.

Interior has no frills.

What is required to activate the Skiway? Rumdoodle Skiway is on the glacier that crawls past the Masson ranges, 20km from Mawson. The glacier has been used since the early 50’s as a landing ground but from year to year the surface of the glacier is subject to wind scouring, melt, snow accumulation

Ski and wheel for sno and ice landing

Pioneer with fuel if required.

and ablation. So before it can be used in the summer months its surface is checked, cleared of snow, a 1500m runway marked out and wind sock erected. The runway markers and wind sock are retrieved after each flight otherwise they would be blown away in the next blizzard.


Weather observations are provided for all incoming flights so that the incoming aircraft know the weather conditions on the ground.

The proving flight on the 31st brought some mail and light cargo and we back loaded some packages.

In less than half an hour it was on its way back to Davis.

Takeoff.

Two other flights followed in suitable weather in the next few weeks. For each flight a team would set off from Mawson 4 hours prior to departure from Davis to setup the runway and provide weather information. 5 passengers arrived on the first flight and another who was working in the Prince Charles Mountains at that time arrived on the second flight on the 10th.

With all personnel booked to travel on V4 safely at Mawson, the Skiway has been closed and aviation gear returned to storage.