Eyes Skyward

Holding on to the Expedition Tiger

2012-02-14T01:03:00.000-08:00

The Expedition has taken over an I am a working spectator!

Update:

In a spooky parallel to Shackleton's 1914 expedition, we secured a sponsor willing to fund the entire expedition...Only to loose them 2 months later due to a downturn in their business fortunes...This kind of set back is a planning nightmare, but also emotionally draining...But nothing that can't be fixed.

We have now selected our team from Battle Back. Pictures of our 2 team recruiting days are currently on www.fly2pole.com / www.microlight-antarctica.com. They are also uploaded onto flickr.

The big news is that we have delayed the expedition by a year so will now be on the Ice in 2014. This helps with the Sponsorship problems, but was a decision not about funding. 2013 is the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and we took the decision to go after the pageantry, making it easy for a Royal Patron to fit the Expedition into their diary.

Sponsors landed

2011-10-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Armed with an updated presentation and a plan to split the expedition into phases we have started our quest for sponsorship:

Microlight southpole UPDATED

View more presentations from eyeskyward expeditions

A months worth of meetings and it looks like we have 3 confirmed sponsors, albeit that we must secure the level of support they are prepared to give.

To make the expedition money targets easier to achieve we have split it into three stages, each with a planned TV documentary, "success outcome" and ROI for sponsors:

Phase I: Recruiting and training pilots - Some of our pilots will hopefully be selected from the British Army Rehabilitation Group (what was Battle Back).

Phase II: Skills Training - Our trained pilots will perform in air shows and displays, raising awareness or the expedition.

Phase III: Expedition - The final push for Antarctica is the most expensive leg of our expeditions we have to transport personnel and equipment onto the ice.

Our next tasks are to finalise filming plans with Walker George Films and confirm our Patron.

Flying Expedition Leader Recruited

2011-08-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

Richard Meredith-Hardy has been flying microlights since 1984. Twice World Microlight Champion, Richard holds a variety of speed records and expedition credits. In recognition of his flying achievement he has been awarded the prestigous FAI Gold Medal and the RAeC Norton Griffiths Challenge Trophy.

Importantly for our expedition, Richard has flown expeditions in the most difficult of weather and altitude conditions - Mt. Everest, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Acongagua.

Richard has set himself the task of flying over the worlds 7 highest peaks, which luckily for us includes Mt. Vinson in Antarctica. Our plan will be to try and accommodate an attempt on Vinson as part of our expedition and flight to the Pole.

TV Producers will also be pleased to know that Richard has loads of experience filming. He flew chase for Thrust SSC obtaining footage that was screened around the world.

Richard has agreed to lead our flying team in Antarctica, providing the expedition a wealth of knowledge on preparing microlights for cold weather operation.

So it is all now GO !

Permits & Plans (The Easy Way)

2011-07-28T01:55:00.000-07:00

(Sorry for the blog gap)

Antarctica 2013 has taken on a life of it's own!

In short order:

James Harris has recruited fellow BAAE veteran Major Richard Pattison to the team.

This is real progress as Richard is "Mr Antarctica" - His expeditions include BAAE 2007-8, BAAE 2004 (Danco Coast) and BAAE 2001-2. He is experienced in field studies and geological sampling.

Most importantly for our Expedition, he is a Permit Veteran !

Richards involvement means the expedition is capable of hitting our targets of Ice Training in Norway in 2012, ready for the expedition in 2013.

More good news is on the TV documentary side. Several production companies, including the production team for "On thin ice" have expressed interest, which has allowed us to start planning for the numbers of people we will have to accommodate on the Expedition.

More good news is that we may have our Air Expedition Leader / lead pilot. We have a meeting scheduled for the 12th of August to recruit him and if successful, it will mean we have the strongest team possible for the Expedition. He has already said that he wants to do it, we just need to take him through our plan. (I will update with a blog entry).

With all the right people in place and the permit issues in hand with Richard, I can now turn my attentions to raising some more funds and sponsorship. We have some sponsors already, but will need loads more. We also have to start designing special equipment.

Now that things are underway, I need to pick up some full-time work (I am contracting at the moment to allow planning). This will enable me to fund some flex-wing hours building and essential bad weather flying training...

Worthy employers note, you will get a sponsorship slot as well as a hard working Expedition loon!

2013 Route & Plans

2011-04-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

2013 will be the 99th Anniversary of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–17), also known as the Endurance Expedition. This was the attempt by Sir Ernest Shackleton to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. After the successful attempts on the South Pole by Roald Amundsen and Scott, this crossing from sea to sea remained, in Shackleton's words, the "one great main object of Antarctic journeyings".

The expedition failed to accomplish this objective, but became recognised instead as an epic of endurance. The route was as follows:

Shackleton's plan was to land teams on opposite sides of the pole. Each team was then to march inwards to the pole to establish supply bases. Shackleton's expedition team was to set off from the Weddel Sea coast to make the continental crossing.

The expedition was due to finish at McMurdo Sound, but proved unsuccessful as Shackleton's boat become stuck in Ice and eventually was crushed. The team spent the remainder of the expedition effecting an escape, returning to England almost unnoticed in the middle of the first World War.

The continent was eventually crossed by British explorer Dr Vivian Fuchs, with New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary in 1958. Interestingly, the attempt was supported by a RNZAF DHC-2 Beaver.

The continent was crossed again in 1981 by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as part of the Transglobe Expedition, which circumnavigated the earth via both poles.

Shackleton's route can serve several purposes for our plan:

1. Establishing bases across the continent allows the expedition to support several research projects
2. Each camp can store fuel and importantly establish safe landing areas
3. As the wind blows outwards from the pole it makes little difference whether you fly in and out or straight over the continent
4. We can end any documentary at McMurdo Station, base of the NY National Guard Airwing
5. Being on the ice in 2013, means we can edit any footage for release in 2014, the Centenary of Shacklton's Expedition

With a route established, we can also change the dimension of what we can attempt. Our plan is now to make several expeditions out of one trip.

First we can accommodate a team of skiers who can establish a record for a speed crossing of the continent. The base camps will allow the fast team to carry reduced amounts of kit and the microlights can provide arial footage. Second, we will be first to attempt to get Microlights to the pole and first to fly them across the continent.

This allows the expedition to create some great deliverables, such as documentaries on the speed attempt and the history of antarctic flying. In turn coverages will create a great ROI for sponsors.

The real benefit however will be for researchers and scientists; the expedition support teams will be camped out across the continent from coast to coast, allowing for ground, air and sea based research.

Most importantly, having made the effort to get to Antarctica, having several goals ensures success...at something. The weather could stop flying or the achievement of any fast crossing, so accommodating researchers (and perhaps even some ice tourists) will make all the effort worth while. It will also mean our sponsors can fee comfortable that their investment is more than just a publicity stunt, it will deliver real advances in study and understanding.

Next Post - Permits and plans

Planning for 2013

2011-03-31T06:04:00.000-07:00

Planning and Planning and Planning again....

I knew that planning a trip to Antarctica would be difficult, but was a bit surprised at how often you have to change your plan.

To visit Antarctica you need several permits.

The Antarctic Treaty 1959 and the Antarctic Act 1994 lay down several requirements for British Nationals visiting the continent.

Each member of the expedition will need and Expedition Permit. We then need a “Ship” Permit for each aicraft.

As part of the application we need a contingency plan and insurance. This includes a risk assessment and Safety Strategy. It must also detail medical care and evacuation.

If all this sounds a lot to do, then consider also the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and specialist permits for crossing Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPA) and Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA).

If you have read my initial presentation on why nobody has flown a microlight to the pole (www.slideshare.net/johnlaity/microlight-southpole-updated) it is totally wrong. The reason nobody has done it is that you need a permit for everything!

Thankfully, James Harris has already successfully managed several expedition so seems not to be spooked by all this paper!

Changing the Plan

So our initial plan was to cross the pole using 2 small 4 X 4’s and a couple of micro-lights. This probably meant putting 4 flyers (all pilots) and two land teams of 9 people on the ice (total 22). We then need support not in Antarctica. The numbers reflect the need to have independent “stands” of skiers, drivers and pilots who could support each other in the event of an incident (Contingency Plan).

The first change came from considering a documentary. What if we include a celebrity (OK they could fit anywhere) but also we now need to carry filming equipment, spread across the stands. A query from Barron Productions (experienced on the ice) quickly raised this.

In itself this is an opportunity, a documentary means TV coverage, which is a huge benefit to sponsors. However, making a documentary means more permit work. Also it means accommodating a new contingency plan.

Changing the Plan (Again)

So having a rough plan (now with a possible film crew) we started to crunch numbers. As our plan is to take aircraft and vehicles, we also need to take enough fuel.

Believe it of not the aircraft are less of a problem than the vehicles. If we take a modern 2 seat flex wing (Pegasus Quick, Quantum, Mainair Blade or Airbourne Aviation XT) equipped with a Rotax 912 then we can get an hours flight for 9 – 12 litres of fuel. This may sound thursty, but for this expenditure we can cover 70 – 90 miles in an hour (even in a 12 mph head wind). In other words we get good endurance.

Conversely, a small 4 x 4 on tracks (Gator) is pretty good on MPG, however it has poor endurance achieving 20-30 mph at best. On average a lot less (not much better than a skier). This is further complicated by the distance it has to travel to avoid crevasse and sestrugi. None of which effect the Microlight.

A compromise could be to take a smaller, single seat flex-wing. Some, like the Dragonfly / Motor Floater can achieve as little as 2.5 lt r / per hour flown. However, a single seat means a single pilot (on his own) in the event of an incident. Which is bad for the contingency planning.

(The Dragonfly)

Learning from History

The best solution is actually to follow History. We use smaller land parties who set up fuel dumps along the route. We then fly from base to base.

This solution follows the same principles established by Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton.

Importantly, this approach works best from a Contingency planning point of view, as everyone is backed up by at least two other parties at any point of the expedition.

…My next post will be our Route and Theme …Which is now very very Cool !

Antarctica 2013 (1)

2011-03-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

So armed with my silly idea, I decided to research Antarctic Aviation. Then I started to think about how you could operate a microlight in Antarctica.

In true consultant fashion, I packaged up my findings in a powerpoint and pitched it at James Harris, who was on the 2002 British Army Antarctic Expedition. James had a look and said, "I like this, lets do it!".

Here is the presentation:

Microlight southpole UPDATED

View more presentations from John Laity

James is a great partner in crime, he has been to Antarctica and has experience in constructing a polar safety plan and Antarctic Permit Applications.

James was one of the joint leaders of the 2002 expedition with responsibility for the mountaineering aspects.

James joined the Army in 1981 and was originally commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals. However, in 1985 he transferred to the Royal Anglian Regiment. He learnt to ski and climb whilst still at school in Gloucestershire and continued to develop his interest in these pursuits after joining the Army. Since then he has lead numerous climbing and skiing expeditions in Europe and North America.

In 1989 he served on South Georgia as second in command of the Garrison and in 1991 he was the mountaineering leader of the Royal Anglian Expedition to the Island. These two tours, which gave him climbing and skiing experience in extreme conditions, led to his interest in Antarctica and will provided a solid foundation for leading the mountaineering team on the Antarctic Peninsular.

James was elected as a member of the Alpine Club in 1992. He left the Army in 2005 and is now the Founder and Managing Director of Wild & Remote , a company providing bespoke expeditions for civilian adventurers.

Antarctica 2002 / Mercury Challenge 2004

2011-03-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

In 2002 Worldview Marketing & Communications helped the British Army raise sponsorship for it's first Antarctic Expedition - BAAE. The expedition chartered the sail training vessel John Laing and set off for the Danco Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The challenge was supported by the British Army, FirstPerson Global, Worldcom, HP, Kyrocera Mita and Siemens Mobile amongst others.

The patron for the expedition was HRH Prince Charles and the expedition team worked closely with The British Antarctic Survey, Scott Polar Research Institute, the University of Brighton and other Polar bodies. The team conducted an incredible amount of research, field studies and also laid the foundations for subsequent expeditions.

I started working with Worldview in 2002 and handled it's rebranding into Onecall Entertainment, sister company to OnecallPC (the countries most successful Home Computing Initiative Supplier) at the tail end of 2003.

By 2004, Onecall was cash rich following several HCI implementations (which included Tesco - Onecall handled over 24,000 orders for Employees). So when asked to provide support again for a challenge activity, Onecall pitched in not only to secure sponsors, but also as a sponsor.

This second expedition "Mercury Challenge" was a circumnavigation of the world, culminating in participation in the infamous Sydney Hobart Race. Onecall provided computers and support and managed the branding of the yacht "Discoverer" with the lead sponsor EADS. The patron for this event was HRH Princess Anne.

The Mercury Challenge team offered places to sponsors as a "leggers"and this was an offer of much amusement to the team, who discovered how prone to sea sickness I was. I think I even went green whilst harboured in Portsmouth...I managed to duck most visits to the boat and graciously left all the sailing to the team.

The culmination of Mercury Challenge was a presentation event at HMS Victory. Thankfully, HMS Victory is landlocked...So I managed to avoid turning green.

It was during Mercury Challenge that I started to think about a Microlight Challenge. Initially, I thought about a race between a yacht and a Microlight. I outlined this and did some planning, pitching the idea at Virgin Blue in Australia in 2008.

Despite being really low cost, the idea didn't seem big enough. It had the element of danger, the Bass Sea has some of the worlds biggest sharks, but as microlights had flown around the world, sponsors weren't forth coming. I gave up on the idea, but started to hatch a bigger plan.

I came across the book "Disaster at the Pole" by Wilbur Cross. It tells the story of Umberto Nobile who flew an Airship to the North Pole in 1926 with Roald Amundson. (The same Amundson who beat Scott to the South Pole). It is a fantastic and tragic story and started me to think.

Modern Microlights perform at the same limits as those of the early aircraft used by Amundson and Richard Byrd...In fact all the pioneers in Polar Aviation achieved success with aircraft no faster than a modern microlight...Now there is an idea! :o)