Flight to Antarctica

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Inside the C17 — big enough to hold a helicopter, plus 55 passengers, and supplies for McMurdo. I ended up in the front middle seat.  Most people sat along the walls.
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The flight tracker was a cardboard cutout of a plane that a crew member moved on a map from time to time.
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There aren’t many windows on a C17. As we neared Antarctica, I snapped a picture of the sea ice through the tiny window next to the door.
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The crew invited everyone for a brief visit to the flight deck. The view was dazzling — both in intensity and beauty.
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My first view of the glaciers and icefields of Antarctica from the flight deck.
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On the ground at Pegasus Field, an ice runway about 19 miles from McMurdo Station. Planes with wheels can land here until the surface softens too much in the summer sunlight.