Ten reasons not to fly

Fate is conspiring against us again, and after our busy day yesterday there was no flying today, due to a combination of poor weather, a broken tail on the twin otter, and the internet crashing at McMurdo.

The forecast is ok-ish for tomorrow; not great at Byrd, but good near the coast, so if we can get out of here then we could have a good day. I thought I'd compile a quick list of ten reasons not to fly (all true):

1. You have not arrived at Byrd camp.
2. Your plane has not arrived at Byrd camp (we fly here on big planes, but work using little planes, so this is not as silly as it sounds).
3. The weather is bad.
4. The weather forecast is bad (independent from the above statement, and just as limiting).
5. The internet crashes so you don't manage to send out your flight requests.
6. You have broken a bit of your plane.
7. Some of your equipment is still in a warehouse in McMurdo.
8. You are not a GPS/seismic specialist - these guys get priority over us manual slaves since a lot of the work is pretty technical.
9. You are too heavy - the planes have a cargo limit, so my power-to-weight ratio serves me well in this category.
10. It is Sunday.


Additional McMurdo issues:
11. The runway has melted.
12. The road to the runway has melted.
13. There are penguins on the runway.
14. Everyone else is trying to get out of there!

I think next time I will sail to Antarctica and walk to all the sites.