Hot loading and combat offload
2013-12-20
It's never planned to stop LC-130 engines at the South Pole. The planes are scheduled to stay on the ground for less than an hour, and refuelling and loading/unloading of cargo and personnel all takes place around four spinning propellers. Heavy pallets are drifted out the aft cargo door by revving the engines and using inertia - a "combat offload". Low temperatures during winter make it difficult or impossible to land at all; emergency supplies can sometimes be air-dropped, but the winter-over crew will remain on station for almost eight months of the year.
