Daher TBMs make milestone flights over the South Pole

On January 1, the two TBM aircraft left Punta Arenas in Chile: destination Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin Airport on King George Island (part of Chile’s Antárctica commune in Antarctica, and the continent’s northernmost airport). This airport serves the nearby village of Villa Las Estrellas and Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva – the most important Antarctic base of Chile – with a 4,232-foot (1,290-meter) gravel runway.

On January 2, both TBMs continued to the British Antarctic Survey Sky-Blu base, at 807 nautical miles southwest, and reached the 75° South latitude turning point before returning to King George Island’s airport. On the way, TBM 930 owner Jim Baum arranged a fly-by of the National Geographic Orion – an ice-class exploration ship, enabling exciting pictures and video to be recorded.

Dierk Reuter explained: “The journey from my hometown Chicago to 75S 71W and back can be summarised in figures: 18,782 nautical miles, 64 hours, 3,080 gallons of jet fuel, and 19 stopovers. But it doesn’t tell the story about a pilot’s feeling to fly over the South Pole. The TBM is an awesome aircraft to explore the globe!”.

Added Sebastian Diaz: “We also had the challenge of avoiding the freezing of the fuel because of the extreme low temperatures, for which we used more Prist [fuel system icing inhibitor] than usual. We also like to thank the Chilean Air Force for their generous hospitality at SCRM (Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva).”