MOSCOW TO ANTARCTIC

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29714, 6 January 1962, Page 10

MOSCOW TO ANTARCTIC

Regular Flights Through N.Z.

Russia will make regular flights to its Antarctic bases through New Zealand, according to Mr Mark Shevelev. chief of the Polar Aviation Administration of the USSR. In an interview printed in the Russian English-language newspaper, "Moscow News.” Mr Shevelev said that two turbo-prop aircraft would be able to take 160 men to the Antarctic on a single flight. The two planes which recently passed through Christchurch on their way south, an Ilyushin 18 and an Antonov 10. could make the 14.880-mile flight from Sheremetyevo airport, near Moscow, to the Antarctic bases in about 45 hours’ flying time, he said. "We plan to use the turboprop planes for the delivery of food, fuel and equipment to all inland stations in the Antarctic,” said Mr Shevelev. “Regular flights of turboprop liners from Moscow will effect a complete reorganisation in all scientific and research and routine work. These will be conducted by seasonal crews of the expedition only during the Antarctic summer. “Our men will fly home when winter sets in, leaving behind only a small staff of specialists engaged in permanent research and observation.” Both aircraft used on the inaugural flight came from the Russian airline Aeroflot. They were piloted by Boris Osipov and Alexander Polyakov.