up in the air ... but not for long

Apr. 5
Kangerlussuaq

Temperature:  -4 F
Auroras seen:  3
Flight hours:  2
BeardCon:  Delta

So the day of our first flight was finally here.  After a sobering safety lecture from a seasoned member of the flight crew, I took a rear seat next to one of the Airborne Topographic Mapper specialists, put in my earplugs, and strapped in to the safety harness.

Our takeoff was assertive and smooth and within minutes we were over the second-largest ice sheet in the world.  You can't see it here, but my favorite moment might have been when the snow-and-rocky terrain gave way to a creamy crusty tongue of slowly flowing ice cap.

But not long after, the ATM guy turned his head and over the drone of the aircraft said he didn't think things were going according to plan.  "Yeah," he said.  "Usually the pilots don't come back and check out the engines like that themselves.  I'll ask what's up in a little bit."  He was told through his headphones that we'd lost one of our four engines, probably due to the unusually cold night the plane had had to sit through on the runway.

But I really didn't need to be concerned, he said.  We would probably just lose some fuel and go back to land.  Which is what we did, and you can see our flight path varied a bit from the plan I posted yesterday.

We were eventually allowed to get up, walk around the cabin and take pictures.  It was a disappointing moment, because after just ferrying the plane back to Virginia for repairs the other day, the team was very excited to get back to the science mission.

So I guess the moral of the story is be careful what you complain about.  Maybe boring flights are not so bad after all.  Now, I have to say that I am actually going to be less nervous getting back on that aircraft than I was the first time when I had a few pre-flight jitters.  I have such respect for the flight crew, who unlike most commercial pilots, know this plane intimately.  They fly it and maintain it all year long.  And the same seasoned crew member who gave the safety lecture also said he'd rather fly in this model of aircraft, in this particular aircraft, and with this particular crew than any other on earth.  And that's the way I'm feeling too.

I'm also feeling scruffier than I have in a long time.  And loving it!