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Diabetic pilot's North Pole flight under wayImagine flying solo across the Arctic Ocean, with an aircraft full of fuel and making a wheel landing at a Russian research station with a touchdown speed of 82 knots. Such an adventure is about to unfold for pilot Douglas Cairns, who has dreamed of this flight for months. “I am quite looking forward to that landing on the ice,” said Cairns, who is making the flight for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation as a fundraiser. The North Pole flight shifted from Anchorage toward Barrow on Sunday, April 17 as a Cessna 185 and Cairns' twin engine Beechcraft lifted off from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. “Everything is set; it looks like Douglas will land at the Russian research station 'Barneo' at the North Pole and then return to Alaska as soon as Monday,” said Ron Sheardown, who is accompanying Cairns north in a separate plane. The 41-year-old Cairns is an internationally recognized pilot with Type-1 diabetes who has flown other record breaking trips around the world, and holds the time to fly record for landing in all 50 states as a diabetes fundraiser. Sheardown was originally going to leave Barrow in a Cessna 185 on wheel skis 12 hours before Cairns to prepare a suitable sheet of ice as a landing strip for the British pilot. Mechanical issues prevented Sheardown from performing the preparation flight, so the destination was changed to Barneo. “After checking with the Russian officials and getting their permission, we adjusted the landing spot to the ice runway at Barneo,” Sheardown said. In a conversation with Alaska Dispatch on April 16, Cairns said that while there is a low pressure system located right over the North Pole, he will likely try to launch his 1,100-mile flight from Barrow on Monday morning. Sheardown, who has previously flown to and landed at the North Pole, will monitor the flight of the Beechcraft B-58, a low-wing twin engine aircraft that will be equipped with Spidertracks satellite monitoring equipment. Once landed at the North Pole station, Cairns plans on making several phone calls to British radio stations that are following his flight. According to Cairns, the flight will take off full of fuel at about 20 percent over gross and should take 8 hours each way to the North Pole. The route to 90 degrees north -- the GPS position of the North Pole -- will be flown between 6,000 and 8,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) at a cruise speed of 145 knots and will burn and estimated 14.5 gallons of fuel per hour. “I am pinching myself every day that I can even make these flights after being washed out of the RAF over being diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes,” said Cairns. Preparation for the flight has been extensive and the necessary gear inlcudes arctic wear, boots, survival equipment, food, water and a firearm. “It would be crazy not to take a rifle in 1,000 miles of polar bear country at the top of the world,” said Cairns. “If I were forced to land over mechanical issues it sure would be comforting to at least have that.” Contact Rob Stapleton at robstapleton(at)alaska.net. [UPDATE: The original flight plan in the article was delayed one day due to poor conditions in Barrow. Cairns and Sheardown arrived in Barrow on Monday and were planning to complete the flight Tuesday.] |
