Flights into Antarctica for the U.S. Antarctic Program are conducted by the 13th Air Force’s Operation Deep Freeze, flying C-17 transport planes from Christchurch, NZ to ice landing fields near McMurdo Station.

They’re big.

C-17 offloading a helicopter at Pegasus Field. (Photo: Dominick Dirksen/NSF)

Lt. Col. Ed “Hertz” Vaughan blogs about Operation Deep Freeze and a season stationed at McMurdo in Dispatches from Antarctica. Flight to the Ice describes the flight from Christchurch to McMurdo.