Jack F. Paulus Skiway | |||||||||||
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The South Pole cargo crew unloads passengers from an LC-130. In order to prevent lubricating oil, hydraulic fluids and fuel from freezing, the engines are kept running while the plane is on the ground.
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Summary | |||||||||||
Serves | Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station | ||||||||||
Location | South Pole, Antarctica | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 9,300 ft / 2,835 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 89°59′22″S 1°0′0″W / 89.98944°S 1.00000°W | ||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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The Jack F. Paulus Skiway is an airport located at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station at the South Pole.
The station has a runway for aircraft (ICAO: NZSP), 3658 m / 12000 ft long. Between October and February, there are several flights per day of ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft from McMurdo to supply the station. Resupply missions are collectively termed Operation Deep Freeze.
Dimensional cargo capacity of the Hercules aircraft must be considered for all of the station's logistical support. Large scientific experiments and structures such as the new station are broken down into modular pieces and reassembled on-site. Limitations of the Hercules aircraft have been cited by the National Science Foundation as one of the main reasons for the McMurdo-South Pole highway over-ice ground supply route.