Daher salutes the exceptional flights performed this month\nby owner-pilots on two TBM aircraft that traversed Antarctica and overflew the\nmagnetic South Pole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These achievements marked the first legs in earning the Polar\nDiamond Circumnavigator Diploma, recognized by the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration A\u00e9ronautique\nInternationale (the world\u2019s governing body for aeronautical and astronautical\nrecords and sports), which has only been awarded once before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the TBM owner-pilots \u2013 Sebastian Diaz from Santiago,\nChile \u2013 reunited three generations of pilots in flying his TBM 850 with Diaz\u2019\nfather, 88-year-old Patricio (one of the oldest still fully-licensed TBM\npilots); and Sebastian\u2019s son, Sebastian Jr., as copilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other TBM owner-pilot, Dierk Reuter from Chicago, USA,\nwas flying with son Alex on his TBM 930, carrying cameras and an inflight\ntracking system benefitting from an Iridium GO! satellite connectivity device\nand support of Iridium Communications. In-flight photos were posted to\nInstagram in quasi real-time using Iridium messaging and software created by\nthe Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2,700 nautical mile trip for both aircraft from\nSantiago, Chile, to 75\u00c2\u00b0 South \u2013 the latitude required for the polar\ncircumnavigator diploma \u2013 required three stopovers and much preparation, as\nAntarctica offers some of the most challenging environments for aviators. The\ntemperature averages -56\u00c2\u00b0F (-49\u00c2\u00b0C) with constant winds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both TBMs had to fly over the huge continent \u2013 nearly 5\nmillion square miles (12.9 million square kilometers) in size, largely\nuninhabited and mostly covered in ice. In addition, central Antarctica presents\nhigh ground that rises to more than 8,000 feet (2,500 meters), with peak\nmountains reaching 16,050 feet (4,892 meters) \u2013 where clear blue skies can\nquickly turn to overcast whiteout conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On January 1, the two TBM aircraft left Punta Arenas in\nChile: destination Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin Airport on King George Island\n(part of Chile’s Ant\u00c3\u00a1rctica commune in Antarctica, and the continent\u2019s\nnorthernmost airport). This airport serves the nearby village of Villa Las\nEstrellas and Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva \u2013 the most important\nAntarctic base of Chile \u2013 with a 4,232-foot (1,290-meter) gravel runway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On January 2, both TBMs continued to the British Antarctic\nSurvey Sky-Blu base, at 807 nautical miles southwest, and reached the 75\u00c2\u00b0 South\nlatitude turning point before returning to King George Island\u2019s airport. On the\nway, TBM 930 owner Jim Baum arranged a fly-by of the National Geographic Orion\n\u2013 an ice-class exploration ship, enabling exciting pictures and video to be\nrecorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are impressed by the airmanship of such TBM\nowner-pilots as the Diaz family and Dierk Reuter, who carefully prepared this\ndual polar expedition,\u201d commented Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice President of\nDaher Airplane Business Unit. \u201cWe salute the confidence they have in our TBM\nvery fast turboprop aircraft, as they had to face extreme weather conditions\nflying over one of the world\u2019s most hostile regions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dierk Reuter explained: \u201cThe journey from my hometown\nChicago to 75S 71W and back can be summarized in figures: 18,782 nautical\nmiles, 64 hours, 3,080 gallons of jet fuel, and 19 stopovers. But it doesn\u2019t\ntell the story about a pilot\u2019s feeling to fly over the South Pole. The TBM is\nan awesome aircraft to explore the globe!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Added Sebastian Diaz: \u201cWe also had the challenge of avoiding\nthe freezing of the fuel because of the extreme low temperatures, for which we\nused more Prist [fuel system icing inhibitor] than usual. We also like to thank\nthe Chilean Air Force for their generous hospitality at SCRM (Base Presidente\nEduardo Frei Montalva).\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Daher salutes the exceptional flights performed this month by owner-pilots on two TBM aircraft that traversed Antarctica and overflew the magnetic South Pole. These achievements marked the first legs in earning the Polar Diamond Circumnavigator Diploma, recognized by the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration A\u00e9ronautique Internationale (the world\u2019s governing body for aeronautical and astronautical records and sports), which has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/TBM-South-Pole-Flight.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11713,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711\/revisions\/11713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}