Plane salvage ahead

Press, 29 November 1976, Page 4

Plane salvage ahead

Forty-six men of the United States Navy Rework Facility, the Lockheed Corporation. and the Navy’s VXE6 Squadron are working at the Dome C salvage camp in East Antarctica in an attempt to repair a Hercules which has been there since an accident in January. 1975. Reports reaching McMurdo Station from the field indicate that the work is well ahead of schedule. November 24 was the fourteenth day of a planned 74-dav schedule to complete the salvage operation. On that day, 20 of the 66 planned salvage projects had been completed when it was expected that the number would be only nine. The Hercules has been de-

fuelled and the engines disconnected. The aircraft has been readied for towing the two miles to the Dome C field camp. Once at the camp, the aircraft will be stabilised, scaffolding will be placed over the centre fuselage, and the right wing and centre section will be replaced. The rest of the schedule calls for the engines to be remounted and skin damage to the fuselage to be repaired. Considerable time will be necessary to rewire the aircraft electrical system before the fight back to McMurdo Station. It is expected that the recovery operation will be completed by mid-January.