Construction and maintenance of the ice runway
Construction of the runway took two years and was done with a laser cutter to smooth out the blue ice near the station. Blue ice occurs when snow falls on a glacier, shrinks and becomes part of the glacier. Entire areas of blue ice are highlighted in Antarctica. The constructed runway is 3,000 meters long and 60 meters wide.
Preparing the runway for flight is a two-week process that begins with the removal of snow from the runway. The rest of the time, research station personnel intentionally keep the snow off the runway to keep it as cold as possible until it is used.
After the snow is removed, the runway is inspected for cracks, potholes, or any other obstruction that would prevent a safe landing. These are removed with a mixture of cold water, ice chips and snow, which is poured, allowed to harden, and then flattened.
Finally, two converted snowplows crush a small top layer of ice to create the necessary friction on the runway. According to Lidstrom, the equipment used for the airstrip at Troll Station is not necessarily specialized. “It’s the same machines you see on the ski slopes, but with a grinder attached,” he says.
While every airport in the world deals with magnetic drift, the situation at Troll Station is even more acute – the runway itself moves a few meters every year. And it moves unevenly, says Lidstrom. That means employees will eventually need to level the runway periodically. The runway’s movement depends on the movement of the glacier on which it sits, making the seven-kilometer distance from the research station to the runway increase every year.
Safety first
Safety is of paramount importance in such a remote “airport”, because any incident would have to be dealt with locally. Therefore, station personnel are trained not only in the areas for which they are directly responsible at the station, but also in various aspects of airfield operations. The station electrician can monitor the air traffic control “tower” while the cook is on duty in the cockpit of the fire truck.
“Every person (who will have to work at the Troll station airfield – ed.) is first trained in Svalbard on the same equipment before coming to the station,” says Lidström. That way, personnel are ready to perform duties as soon as they arrive.
Flight safety begins with runway preparation and continues with weather observation. Weather forecasters at the German Antarctic Research Station are responsible for providing weather forecasts about a week before any scheduled flight and continue to provide updates based on readings from the Troll station’s own weather sensors and those at neighboring sites.
The Troll station has no radar, but flights are tracked by the Flightradar24 ADS-B receiver, and the airfield communicates with the aircraft using radios and a satellite phone if necessary.
There are usually no flights during the winter months, but the six-person crew that maintains the station still maintains the runway in case of an emergency. For any winter operations, the station deploys a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) and runway edge lighting. Usually during the summer season, natural light is too bright to use PAPI and artificial runway lighting.
The Antarctic runway is suitable for all types of aircraft that can land and take off from a 3,000 m runway. The Troll station airfield is equipped to serve most aircrafts, including a ground power unit, launch and refueling equipment.
How do they refuel planes in Antarctica?
In brief, very carefully. The A-1 jet fuel is sent to Troll Station only once a year in 200-liter barrels along with other supplies aboard a ship that is moored at the edge of the ice shelf around the middle of the summer season. All the supplies, including fuel, are then transported over a 250-kilometer distance using tracked vehicles and sleds. This helps explain why fuel at Troll Station is so expensive. One 200-liter barrel costs 1,200 euros, which is about four to six times the average cost of fuel at a major European airport.
For flights transporting personnel to and from the station, it is preferable to use large planes that can carry enough fuel to get back without refueling.
If refueling is still necessary, for larger aircraft, fuel is transferred from 200-liter drums into 16,000-liter pressurized refueling tanks housed inside a modified shipping container. Smaller planes commonly used in Antarctica, such as the Twin Otter, are refueled directly from barrels.
Before departure.
Planes flying supply and personnel flights for the research station usually stay on the ground exactly as long as necessary to do just the necessary pre-flight checks, maintenance, unloading, and loading of cargo. The flight from Cape Town usually takes about six hours, so the time is very valuable for planes that return the same day.
Interestingly, there is no need to treat the aircraft with de-icing fluid before departing the Antarctic airfield. The fact is that the air in Antarctica is so dry that usually the aircraft is not covered with ice “glaze”. If, for some reason, treatment from ice is still necessary, the station uses heaters and good old-fashioned brooms.