Hi to you all this month saw the first flight of the newly acquired Airbus call sign VHD fly from Hobart to Wilkins runway near Casey. With last minute preparations being made at the runway to ensure if the need to land arised the air field was up to the task.

Air buss VHD

Once a year at each of the stations it is common practice to shut down the main power house & run on the emergency power house, while carrying out scheduled servicing of the facility. This involves most if not all of the trades on station. The Diesos carried out the removal & replacement of the number engine that has served us well completing 40,000 running hours. This removed engine will return to Caterpillar in Hobart for rebuild & another life. The electricians carried out servicing & up grades to the powerhouse control. Ray the chippie did a great job on the control room door repair and said “it is now good for another 40,000 open & closings”. The Casey plumbers had a big part to play in the powerhouse with servicing to the boilers, Hy Fog system & the site services. Good work done by everyone involved, the switch back to the main powerhouse went quickly with no issues.

This year's SAR Training commenced in early February and will continue into March. The winter team have honed their technical rope skills, learnt the basics of searching for lost expeditioners and practiced caring for injured patients. The training was carried out over several evening sessions in the Green Store and over a couple of two day sessions out at the local rock and ice cliffs near Casey. The 2007 winter team learned to climb up and down ropes quickly, to set up simple hauling systems and to rig snow, ice and rock anchors. In addition, they practiced the art of roping up to travel across a glacier. These skills will be essential if a rescue should ever be needed during the season.

One Saturday afternoon, a Station Search was carried out. The main aim of the exercise was to familiarize people with the nooks and crannies in the various buildings on station. After several hours of thorough building-by-building searching, the patient was finally found tucked away in a ceiling space in the Main Power House. With great care, the rescuing group managed to provide the necessary first aid, negotiate a stretcher through a tight exit and down a small drop, and return to the Medical Centre successfully. In the final weeks of the summer season, the SAR team will take part in a day-long exercise, where a specialist team of First Responders will head out to locate a lost and injured expeditioner in the field. The key to SAR training is, of course, practice, practice, practice!

Giget & Gadget (CASA Aircraft)

Gidget & Gadget are the two CASA aircraft, which have finished their work at Davis Station, and have now returned safely back to Australia. Trevor and Steve, Casey’s (AGSO), have been busy catering for the CASA’s and also Wilkins crew.