Flight Deck Break Down

Today we took apart the flight deck, drained all the hoses and valves and put everything into the "Barn" for winter.

The flags on the ski way will also come down, the bamboo stays in the ground to mark where the skiway goes but the flags to come down to extend their life time and prevent drifting on the skiway.

Flight deck break down is a big team effort, the more people to lug the heavy hoses around and move fuel buckets/drums/tanks the better.

All the hoses are capped and plugged to stay clean over the winter. You need to put oil in the aviation hose connections to protect the O-rings.

The oil used for this at these temperatures has the consistency of honey(see below), making it necessary to spread it around with a finger (with your glove on still of course, it is cold enough that it’s possible to get contact frost nip/bite from touching metal).

 All the buildings and tanks were towed out to the end of the world for the winter. We do this so that the snow drifts the buildings make over winter are out where they don't matter and the buildings can be towed back to a flat, drift free area at the start of the summer season.

 The clouds were pretty awesome today.

We had a very warm day today, it was mid to low -40s F with a lighter breeze. Perfect for a sun bathing break to admire the clouds after walking out to SuperDARN.



 My shadow is getting noticeably longer! Winter is coming!

Green House Update:

The cucumbers are going crazy, the first cherry tomatoes are almost ready, the lettuce germination rate has not been very good lately, but I was able to get three cantaloupe seeds to sprout (the seeds are really old). I am also working on some mung bean sprouts.