I arrived on the glacier strip at arround noon from Zurich to do a few practice glacier landings in the Dash-8. No one else was there but I did notice a few tire tracks from earlier, some going off the designated runway. So I went and sat in one of the tents for a while and saw a box there with a fondue contraption and a cooler full of wine. It looked like someone had plans for the evening. I then took a tour around the glacier in one of the hummers. Strange, there are three here now. I had arranged for two so I'm not sure how that other one got here.

Then I heard the sound of an approaching aircraft. The sound was getting louder but I couldn't see the aircraft until it suddenly rised above the horizon to make a surprise landing. It was Michel in his C-119. I had wanted to get a practice cargo drop in before dark so Michel helped me load a dummy cargo load into his plane and off I went.

The C-119 is a bit underpowered compared to the Dash-8 and it seemed to take a bit longer than I expected to get into the air. I did a long slow climbing turn to the left after taking off in a northerly direction. That cursed mountain seemed to be getting bigger as I turned above it. I finally cleared it and headed south for a couple of minutes before turning back towards the strip. I could see the beacon but the runway was really hard to spot with these dark clouds. I finally could make out the strip as I approached and made a hard turn to the right to line up and then drop the cargo. I circled back again and made a better approach for landing and then it was off to the tents for the fondue and wine!

- Darkwing

Cargo Drop Approach

The slow left climb again over that mountain.

Better Approach this time for landing

Michel Drives up to help me reload the proactice cargo... time for the fondue!