The White Falcon - 19.02.1971, Blaðsíða 10

Page 10
THE WHITE FALCON
February 19, 1971
Photos by
AN
Robin L.
Wagner
Jan Mayen -- VP units
supply lonely outpost
Once a month, the VP squadron assigned to the
NATO base heads northeast ona lonely, but extremely
Important mission. The operation is entirely a hit
or miss proposition. The White Falcon sent a re-
porter/photographer on the January mission which
ended with the mission being scrubbed due to poor
weather at the destination. But this month, things
went smoothly and this is the story.
The monthly destination is Jan Mayen, a volcanic
island located 250 miles northeast of Iceland. The
island is presently blanketed with about 15 feet of
snow making the target site a bright, white pearl.
The only inhabitants of the
island are a small band of hardy
Norwegians existing in the extreme
of isolated living. They man the
Long Range Aid to Navigation (LO-
RAN) station.
Hie all-male population resides
there fora year and does not leavg
the island. Supplies ceme by ship,
but mail and vital equipment must
be supplied otherwise — and this
is where the VP squadron comes in.
The flight on February 12 is
typical of the Jan Mayen "drop."
Fourteen mail packages,one wooden
box, and one cardboard box were
carefully loaded aboard the P-3C
and positioned near the main hatch.
Hie flight took about two and
one-half hours,and the pilot began
the operation by staking a low pass
over the snow-covered runway. On
the second pass over the field,
it took about four seconds for a
two-man crew, strapped in harnes-
ses, to push the cargo out.
The packages in
scncfcuoy containers
dropped into the
snow from a 150-
200 foot altitude,
and the mission was
completed. For the
men at Jan Mayen,
contact was once
again established
with the outside
world.
The return to
the NATO base is a
rather uneventful
journey.
The trip is o-
ver in 5Jj hours,
but thoughts of the
men at Jan Mayen
stay much longer.