Wilkins Runway

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Wilkins Runway
Wilkins Runway (Antarctica)
Red pog.svg
Characteristics
ICAO code YWKS
Coordinates

66 ° 41 '28 "  S , 111 ° 31' 36"  E Coordinates: 66 ° 41 '28 "  S , 111 ° 31' 36"  E
Height above MSL 777 m (2549  ft )
Basic data
opening 2008
operator Australian Antarctic Division
Employees 8th
Start-and runway
09/27 3200 m × 45 m ice with snow cover

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i6 i7

i12 i14

BW

The Wilkins Runway (German: Wilkins-Landebahn ), also called Wilkins Ice Runway and Wilkins Aerodrome , is a runway on the lower Peterson Glacier , which is operated by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). The 3,200 meter long and 45 meter wide runway in the hinterland of the Budd coast in Wilkesland on the Antarctic continent is approached with an Airbus A319 from Hobart International Airport in Tasmania, around 3,400 kilometers away .

The runway was made of ice and snow and is located in the Australian Antarctic Territory , about 40 miles from Casey Station .

The name of the runway goes back to the aviation pioneer and explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958).

construction

The construction of a runway in Antarctica has been under consideration since the 1950s, but construction did not begin until 2005 due to political, logistical and ecological objections.

The 3200 meter long runway was in more than 700  m altitude on a 500-meter-thick glaciers of blue ice created. The location was chosen not only because of its relatively flat terrain, but also because of its lower temperatures compared to the coast due to the altitude, which reduces the risk of ice melting during the Antarctic summer. The glacier moves and flows about 12 meters (40 ft) per year. The surface of the airfield area consists of about 70% bare ice; the remaining 30% have a layer of snow less than one meter thick.

The runway was milled out of the pending ice and precisely leveled with the help of lasers. During the work, the subsoil made of natural glacier ice was continuously checked for hardness, strength and load-bearing capacity using a test roller .

The heat absorption of the blue glacier ice causes it to partially melt when exposed to sunlight, even at temperatures below freezing, which would impair the stability of the substructure and lead to an uneven and slippery runway surface. For this reason, a layer of snow was applied to the ice, which almost completely reflects the incident radiation. In addition, the snow offers the wheels of the chassis greater friction, which increases safety, especially in cross winds. To produce the snow cover, compactors , snow plows and snow blowers were used, which, like all other construction machines used, had been specially prepared for the extreme climatic conditions in the Antarctic. The snow was applied in layers about 10 cm thick, which were compacted with increasing weight and tire pressure from layer to layer. Seven compaction passages were required for each section of the taxiway; Between the individual compaction passages, a 24-hour rest phase had to be inserted in order to ensure the bond of the snow crystals. This work can only be carried out within a narrow temperature window of −2 to +3 ° C.

Construction work only took place during the Antarctic summer from November to February. Nevertheless, the workers were exposed to extreme conditions such as lows of minus 36 ° C and wind speeds of up to 185 km / h (115 mph).

Ship containers converted for residential purposes were set up next to the runway. In addition to apartments and transit rooms for the staff and the scientists passing through, the infrastructure includes storage rooms, emergency facilities, a navigation and meteorological station, medical care, workshops, protective structures for communication facilities, parking facilities for vehicles and sleds, equipment for power generation and fire-fighting, fuel storage and refueling equipment . The airfield is equipped with runway markings and a windsock ; runway 09 has precision approach lights .

The runway cost AUD 46.3 million to build and took three Antarctic summers to complete.

Ongoing operation

The Airbus A319 used (here at Hobart Airport)

The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) approved the first flight for the airline Skytraders on January 11, 2008. On board were the then Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett , nine scientists and nine other passengers.

The runway operates exclusively in the Antarctic summer from October to March. The flights to Antarctica start at Hobart International Airport in Tasmania and are intended exclusively for scientists and employees of the AAD; Tourists are not transported. The four and a half hour flight saves a boat trip that would take around ten days. The return flight takes place two to three hours after landing.

The twin-engine Airbus used has a range of more than 9000 kilometers (5000 nautical miles ); return flights are possible with one tank of fuel. Up to 40 people and a load of 1.5 tons can be transported.

Inside Antarctica , aircraft of the types Basler BT-67 and DHC-6 Twin Otter equipped with turboprop engines and runners , which have replaced the CASA C-212 previously used since 2010 , and four helicopters connect the Australian research stations in Antarctica, next to the Casey station the Mawson station and Davis station .

A staff of eight is required to maintain the airfield. The ongoing maintenance of the slopes is carried out by graders , snow blowers and snow groomers . A tractor with rubber tracks is used to pull the aircraft . Because of the dynamic subsoil and the weather-dependent changes in the surface, tests and measurements must be carried out immediately before each use by an aircraft to ensure that the prescribed requirements for hardness, friction and density of the runway are met. The runway must also be groomed with a snowcat before each flight. The rubber abrasion that occurs when landing on the ice must be removed in order to prevent the surface from melting due to the higher heat absorption of the dark rubber tracks.

Since de-icing fluids are not available in Antarctica for environmental reasons , no landings will take place on the Wilkins Runway during periods for which precipitation is predicted.

The originally planned number of up to 20 flights a year from Hobart to the Wilkins Runway at one-week intervals has not yet been achieved. In addition to the weather-related obstructions, an unexpected melting of the surface from 2011 onwards made the airfield temporarily unusable due to excessively mild temperatures. This impact of climate change calls into question the long-term usability of ice rinks like the Wilkins Runway.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Aerodrome Chart: Wilkins Aerodrome, Antarctica (YWKS). (PDF; 249 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Aeronautical Information Package (AIP) - Departure and Approach Procedures (DAP) - Aerodrome & Procedure Charts. Airservices Australia, March 3, 2016, archived from the original on April 4, 2016 ; accessed on January 1, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.airservicesaustralia.com
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Wilkins Ice Runway. In: Airport Technology. Kable Intelligence Ltd., accessed January 1, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Sir George Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958). In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed January 1, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c Historic flight lands in Antarctica. In: The Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Media , January 11, 2008, accessed January 1, 2017.
  5. ↑ a b c d Wilkins Aerodrome. In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed January 1, 2017 .
  6. ↑ a b c d Dan Colborne: Antarctic express - Flying Australia's Antarctic airlink A319 to the ice . Description of a flight from Hobart to Wilkins Runway from the pilot's point of view. In: Australian Aviation . No. 269 . Phantom Media Pty. Ltd., March 2010, ISSN  0813-0876 , p. 50–54 (English, article online at skytrader.com.au, PDF; 3.56 MB, accessed on January 1, 2017).
  7. ↑ a b c Wilkins runway construction and maintenance: Runway construction techniques. In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed January 1, 2017 .
  8. ↑ a b Annie Rushton: How do you build an Antarctic runway? In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , February 8, 2006, accessed January 1, 2017 .
  9. ↑ a b c Blair Watson: Australia builds Antarctic ice runway. World's first commercial air service to fly weekly from Hobart, Tasmania. In: NBC News. National Broadcasting Company (NBC), February 20, 2008, accessed January 1, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Annie Rushton: Runway one step closer. In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , January 20, 2006, accessed January 1, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Kenneth T. Crumb et al. a .: Cold Runways - Safe Landings at the South Pole . In: The Stress Point . tape 19 , no. 4 . Engineering Design & Testing Corp., December 2006, p. 8–11 (English, online , PDF; 2.03 MB, accessed January 1, 2017).
  12. ^ A b Sarah Clarke: Antarctic plane heading home after maiden flight. In: ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), January 10, 2008, accessed January 1, 2017 .
  13. ↑ A319 background information. In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed January 1, 2017 .
  14. ^ Australia's Antarctic aviation. In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed January 1, 2017 .
  15. ↑ CASA 212-400 aircraft. (No longer available online.) In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , archived from the original on January 1, 2017 ; accessed on January 1, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.antarctica.gov.au
  16. ↑ Intra Continental operations. In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , accessed January 1, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Intercontinental A319 historical timeline. (No longer available online.) In: Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia's Antarctic Program. Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy - Australian Antarctic Division , archived from the original on January 1, 2017 ; accessed on January 1, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.antarctica.gov.au
  18. ^ Andrew Darby: Frozen $ 46m runway melting. In: The Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Media , October 24, 2012, accessed January 1, 2017.