Many times when we have landed at Christchurch airport we have looked across the tarmac to see a huge US Air Force C17 plane parked off in a corner of the airport. The plane is stationed here as part of the United States Antarctic Program and it always seems odd to see the hangar surrounded by tropical looking plants.
The Antarctic Centre had an open day in early October to celebrate the start of the summer season in Antarctica. Although the C17 can actually make the trip to Antarctica from Christchurch year-round (they either do air-drops or land with night-vision goggles), the main season for visitors and scientific studies was just beginning. The C17 can make the trip to Antarctica in around five hours from Christchurch making it a popular choice for scientist and others trying to get to Antarctica.
We were able to head out onto the tarmac and look around the plane, we were also able to walk up into the cargo bay. The photos don’t really give a good indication of the size of the plane, but it dwarfed the commercial Air New Zealand turbo prop plane it was parked next to. It was a great day out and a good chance to take a closer look at the plane that we have seen so often when we land at Christchurch and find out more about what it does. Now we just need to figure out how to get a trip on the C17 to visit Antarctica!