Arguably worthy of a post of its’ own — the journey to Alert is one for the books. It’s an 8.5hr flight from the base in Trenton (ON), which is longer than flying from Pearson (Toronto, CA) to Heathrow (London, UK). Flights typically stop for a night at the American Space Base in Thule (Greenland), where it’s turned into somewhat of a tradition to get a bit canned at their “Top of the World Club”. Preparation for the two-drink limit in Alert is how I rationalize it;)
We fly on either C-130J Hercules or C-17 Globemasters, both of which are military cargo planes, neither of which are known for comfort and certainly aren’t conducive to a hangover;) They are notoriously loud and pretty nippy!
Flights to Alert are scheduled once a week, but given the wild weather and lack of aircrafts, that’s rarely the case. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) only has a handful of these planes, so when higher priority missions come up, or if planes break (which is not uncommon), sustainment flights to Alert often fall to the wayside. Just as a wee comparison, the RCAF has a small fleet of five C-17s and seventeen C-130Js, whereas the United States Air Force (USAF) owns 223 C-17s and 436 Hercs. Maybe an unfair comparison given the size of both militaries, but a bit of perspective anyway.
All things considered, it feels like a bit of a miracle that we can make it up here at all — and tagging along for the ride has certainly been a treat!
Whoa. This post really hits home how far up you are. You are one tenacious woman Molly!!!
G
Nice photos!
I actually think the Globemaster is quite comfortable. It’s no Emirates flight, but probably the next best thing, lol.