Jon Johanson’s tiny plane
The runway has been the a-buzz with activity these days. First there was the big Penguin (who is still wandering about I might add) and then, a few days ago a very, very small plane arrived with a single passenger, Jon Johnson. Jon is a humble Australian chap with several world aeronautical records under his belt. He wound up at McMurdo after a botched attempt at another. He was attempting to fly from New Zealand to Argentina over the South Pole in his tiny plane. Apparently, he ran into bad weather over the pole and had to turn back. He doesn?t have enough fuel to make it back to NZ and has been negotiating for fuel. He has been hanging around the runway for the past couple of days, sleeping in the fuels shack and eating here at the Runway Diner and meeting with people about his plight. The NSF and the USAP take a pretty hard line against ?privateers? and they refuse to refuel his plane. They want him to load it in a C-130 and pay for his flight back to NZ. His fate is still yet to be determined but I will keep you all updated on it.
Luke