Alert-120

Twice a year, the station undergoes a very chaotic operation called ‘Boxtop’ which is essentially 24/7 planes coming in and out, delivering fuel, supplies, scientific equipment, and literally everything else that may not be as easily supplied via the regular weekly flights that carry mostly passengers and food.

The first boxtop of 2024 is the ‘Wet Boxtop’ where a staggering estimated amount of 2.5 million litres of fuel will be slowly delivered over the next two weeks with 4 flights a day (8am, 2pm, 8pm, and 2am). Currently, there is an extra 30 military personnel to help including extra firefighters, high ranking officers, meteorological techs, that bring the population of Alert from a low 70 to 103.

There are two planes that will service Alert: The Hercules (C-130) and The Globemaster (C-17). I flew on up a Herc which to me was already pretty big, however, the Globemasters dwarf the Hercs and are the main plane coming in and out of Alert for Operation Boxtop. Globemasters will also carry passengers and from what I heard, are a much nicer ride than a Herc with a comfier interior, an actual bathroom with an actual door, and overall, slightly faster.

^A C-130 Hercules. Thank you FM for these awesome photos 😊

^A C-17 Globemaster.

^A size comparison of a USAF Globemaster and Hercules.

^A very tiny looking Globemaster flying back to Thule to refuel and come back later at 2pm. You can hear the roar of its engines from miles away and from the lab, I thought one of the machines was on the fritz before looking up.

There’s a Boxtop Lottery where people will bet how many of the 60 planned flights will actually make it to Alert. If one plane is cancelled, they will just move to the next plane however, it is the same aircraft just doing multiple back and forths. My scheduled flight out of here should be on the plane that will be switching out to head back home to Trenton, but I am not putting too much stock on it. Last Boxtop, out of 39 flights, only 5 made it due to severe fog in Alert. So far, there’s been 2 successful flights of 60 as the operation only began today but winds are looking pretty ghastly for the current week.

If there’s any bet I am hoping will come true it’s that I hope if any flight comes, it will be the one also taking me home 😀

Lenticular clouds over the mountains. Lenticular clouds on the horizon that predict high winds are on the way or are already present like they were today.