Flying into Antarctica is an enormous challenge for both pilots and aircraft. A 60-year-old Canadian plane turns out to be perfect for the job.

Deputy chief pilot for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Auld is preparing for the organisation’s annual autumn ferry flight from Canada to Antarctica. Months in the planning, this will be an epic 55-hour journey over 12 days, covering some 13,700km (8,500 miles) as the crow flies. This year, Auld will be piloting BAS’ relatively luxurious and spacious four-engine de Havilland Dash-7, but most of her pilot colleagues will be heading south in 40-year-old twin-engine aircraft with unpressurised cabins.
Designed in the 1960s and still in production today, de Havilland Twin Otters have been described by some as the Land Rover of the skies. “They’re overengineered, adaptable and rugged, designed for bush flying,” says Auld. “Whether it’s on skis, floats or big tundra tyres, with their short take-off and landing you can get into places that you just couldn’t think about with other aircraft.”
In Antarctica, BAS uses Twin Otters for everything from airborne scientific research to delivering fuel, supplies and field parties to remote locations. “It’s unique,” Auld says. “I can land at places where no-one has ever landed before.”

FAZ and Basler Matt Hughes/ BAS The top of the Twin Otter’s wings and fuselage are painted black to help snow melt (Credit: FAZ and Basler Matt Hughes/ BAS)FAZ and Basler Matt Hughes/ BAS
The top of the Twin Otter’s wings and fuselage are painted black to help snow melt (Credit: FAZ and Basler Matt Hughes/ BAS)
Although they are fitted with modern turboprop engines, Twin Otters have certainly got a vintage look about them with clearly visible struts, wires and rivets. “You could say it is fly-by-wire, but the wires connect directly from the control column to the control surfaces on the wings and tail,” says Dan Beeden, BAS aircraft operations manager who is responsible for ferry flight logistics.
We are sitting in the cockpit of “Ice Cold Katy”, named after one of the UK’s original Antarctic research planes (a single-engine Auster). The gleaming red aircraft is parked on the apron at the Imperial War Museum Duxford and doesn’t look out of place in its position alongside a World War Two-era B-17 Flying Fortress. BAS uses the museum’s airfield as their summer base as it’s close to their Cambridge headquarters and has well-equipped maintenance facilities.
Although Antarctica is our focus, we also do a lot of work in other parts of the world – Dan Beeden
The cockpit is cramped and narrow, fitted with a mix of old and new technology. The control column is similar in appearance to those inside many of the museum pieces around us, and the main engine controls are hefty levers hanging from the ceiling. But most of the dials have been replaced by modern “glass cockpit” electronic screens, and the aircraft has also been upgraded with weather radar and an autopilot. And while that might make this Twin Otter easier to fly, it doesn’t make the flights any more comfortable.

“In terms of toilet facilities, we don’t really have any,” Beeden explains. “There is just a tube at the back of the aircraft.” Neither is there a galley, air conditioning or enough room to even stand up. “We do have cabin heaters that will keep the cockpit nice and warm, and the top of the aeroplane is painted black which allows snow to melt more easily, but that means it can get very hot here in summer.”
Richard Hollingham Dan Beeden is responsible for the logistics for the ferry flights (Credit: Richard Hollingham)Richard Hollingham
Dan Beeden is responsible for the logistics for the ferry flights (Credit: Richard Hollingham)
Several airlines use Twin Otters in remote parts of the world – in the UK, for instance, Loganair operate them to connect Scottish islands – and in a commercial configuration the main cabin can hold up to 20 passengers. In the case of Ice Cold Katy, half this space is currently taken up with a giant additional fuel tank for her forthcoming flight across the Atlantic. The aircraft will gain a further extra tank in Canada for the journey to Antarctica. But before we get onto the perils of the ferry flight itself, there is an obvious question to put to Beeden: why do they need to make these ferry flights at all?
“I think people are surprised because the aeroplane says British Antarctic Survey on the side,” says Beeden. “Although Antarctica is our focus, we also do a lot of work in other parts of the world.” In recent years the Twin Otters have supported research in Iceland, Greenland, Bolivia and Brazil.
Maintaining the aircraft in Antarctica during the winter is off the table because of the limited facilities at BAS’s Rothera research station – the main base of operations on the Antarctic Peninsula. “The hangar in Antarctica can only accommodate four aircraft and we’ve got a total of five,” Beeden explains. “Also, the hangar is not heated so, during the Antarctic winter if the aircraft were there, you would have people having to work in an unheated hangar in perpetual darkness.