First Known Reliance On Night Goggles, Reflective Cones

A C-17 Globemaster III crew from McChord Air Force Base, WA made aviation history Thursday, performing the first known after-dark landing on the Pegasus Ice Runway near McMurdo Station in Antarctica, using night vision goggles.

The aircrew, consisting of active-duty Airmen from the 62nd Airlift Wing and Reservists from the 446th Airlift Wing, was testing the concept of using night vision technology in combination with reflective cones and limited electrical lighting to land safely on the Pegasus Ice Runway after dark. The crew is part of Joint Task Force Support Forces Antarctica, headquartered at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and led by 13th Air Force. The joint task force is currently conducting Operation DEEP FREEZE in support of the National Science Foundation and US Antarctic Program.

There is no sunlight in Antarctica for several months of the year, from around late March to mid-August. Until now, during this time the runway was used only in emergency situations, and in such cases 55-gallon drums of kerosene were lighted to illuminate the runway -- a practice called "barrel burning" that doesn't provide a particularly safe navigation aide, and isn't exactly environmentally friendly.

The breakthrough makes it easier and safer for C-17 crews to get into Antarctica any time of the year. Maj. Corey Simmons, an evaluator pilot with McChord's 62nd Operations Support Squadron and one of the pilots on the mission, said there are several reasons the National Science Foundation may need strategic airlift during winter months.

"One off the top of my head could be a contingency operation where someone is sick or hurt down here during the winter-over months when they have complete darkness for four and a half months," Maj. Simmons said. "If they got sick enough or needed to get out for whatever reason, we have the capability now to get them out.

The use of high-tech night vision goggles and low-tech reflective cones on the ground is a perfect complement to the inherent strength of the C-17. The jet is built for night vision operations; its Heads-Up-Display, or HUD, displays all the aircraft's operating parameters directly in front of the pilot on a piece of glass. This allows pilots to use night vision goggles to survey the area while maintaining a close eye on the aircraft's performance.

Flying strategic missions into the coldest, windiest, and most inhospitable continent on the globe is a risky business. No one knows this better than Lt. Col. Jim McGann, commander of the 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron and the night vision goggles concept's chief architect. He has by far the most experience in flying strategic missions to Antarctica of any active pilot on earth. With 12 years and more than 60 missions to The Ice under his belt, he's just about seen it all.

"Previously we couldn't physically light the entire runway; it wasn't possible," Colonel McGann said. "Now, with the inherent NVG capability in the C-17, the increased technological advances of night vision goggles and 64 high-intensity retro-reflective cones placed on the runway edge, we can leverage the technologies and say, 'let's see if we can get in there and access McMurdo at night.' We found the cones to be very good at illuminating the runway and providing critical situational awareness. When the aircraft turns to final, the wingtip light reflects off the cones to the NVG's and we can see the entire runway," he said.

And those reflections look familiar to pilots -- even those who have never been to Antarctica.

"With the cones we can land just like we do all the time at night at home," Colonel McGann said. "So now this becomes something we do routinely, and if it's something we do routinely we're better at it, we're more skilled at it--more proficient at it. I've never landed on burn barrels, but I've landed on night vision goggles before."

"The beauty of these cones is they light up like Christmas trees even though they're not powered," Major Simmons said. "Even if you looked under the NVGs with the naked eye you could see these things from two, three miles out coming in to Pegasus. So the safety factor that we were able to give to this type of mission by adding something like this was exponential and probably the main safety reason that allowed us to do it."

The successful test was the culmination of 18 months of planning. The idea had to be solidified, and then the Air Force had to approve use of the cones. But to the pilots on this mission, it was well worth the effort.

"The National Science Foundation is going to be able to get in year-round and do specific science experiments that they've never been able to do before," Maj. Simmons said. "So the fact that 18 months of planning and tests and hard work finally put that C-17 on the ground is definitely worth all the effort we put into it."

And this successful test precedes a bittersweet exit for Colonel McGann; this will be his last season with the mission.

"It's time," Colonel McGann said. "I flew the first ever C-17 airdrop on the South Pole, now the first ever night vision goggle landing on Antarctica. We've also developed the idea to land the C-17 on South Pole with a wheeled aircraft and we've performed the taxi tests to do just that. But like everything, new blood is important. People seeing it with a new perspective and people with outside ideas who haven't been here as long as I have, hopefully those people will come into the program and bring it to the next level."

Some of the young pilots Colonel McGann was talking about flew on this mission. There were ten pilots on board; all got certified to land on the ice in the dark using night vision goggles and the cones as a reference.

"This is a revolution in Antarctic logistics because we can get in here safely -- we've proven the concept--year 'round and that capability will enable the amount of science to be increased 10 fold," Colonel McGann said.

"The opportunities for the NSF are unlimited, because now we can get there and they know that, and now they can plan for it, and if they can plan for it they can take advantage of the full capabilities of the C-17," he said.

(Aero-News salutes Master Sgt. Chris Vadnais, Air Force News Agency)

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