 I
knew I wasn't flying first class to Greenland, but I wasn't
prepared for the most uncomfortable airplane ride of my life.
I'm in an LC-130 "Hercules" aircraft, a four-engine prop plane
built specifically for carrying passengers and cargo into
polar regions.
The plane is part of a fleet of 10 LC-130s based at Stratton
Air National Guard Base in Scotia, New York. The pilots train
in Greenland. They also fly scientists to the frozen island.
The "Hercules" is the largest ski-equipped airplane in the
world. There is enough room in its cavernous hold to accomodate
a tractor-trailer. There are no real seats, overhead compartments,
or flight attendants.
The passengers sit along the sides on cot-like benches. Seven
of us are journalists on a week-long tour of eastern Greenland
and the Greenland ice sheet. We lean our backs against a mess
of nylon straps. Most of us are wearing earplugs because the
rumble of the turboprops is ear-splitting. Our luggage is
a mountain of bags and boxes piled 10-feet high on a wooden
pallet in the back of the compartment. Much of the vessel's
hydraulic lines, heating ducts and wiring are in plain view,
suspended from the ceiling and fastened to the walls in what
looks like a jumble (but which I hope is a masterpiece of
aeronautical engineering). As this is the first military plane
I've ever flown in, I was hoping to see one of those $20,000
toilet seats. But this plane has only a urinal. It's behind
a pale-green vinyl curtain. Under the lid covering the stainless
steel bowl is a decal with a picture of the deposed leader
of Iraq. It says "Sadam Hussein Target Urinal."
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The flight of the LC-130
See pictures of an LC-130 during a fueling stop at Raven Base. |
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