| Submitted Stories Main Page |
|
By Maynard M. Miller A "weasel," to most of us a small furry animal and it does not fly. A "weasel,"to any JIRP*, is the affectionate name for the Army's over-snow vehicle, M29-C, and in Alaska in 1951 it did fly. This is how it happened. Two years ago a pair of over-snow vehicles was provided to the Juneau Icefield Research Project by the Army for test on sub-arctic ice surfaces. We hoped that their use would greatly facilitate our program by aiding us to reach outlaying camps, for the transport of heavy equipment, etc. In planning remote-area expeditions, one of the most serious problems always is the delivery of food and equipment for the scientific work anticipated and for reducing the many time-consuming house-keeping details of live on an "Icecap." We were extremely fortunate in that the U.S. Air Force's Tenth Rescue Squadron in Alaska was interested in extending its training and experimental program at the time that we started our scientific program on the Juneau Icefield. Thus we have been provided with the best of aerial support and upon this air lift the scope of our Project has been planned. The first attempt to fly the Weasels into the Icefield was made in the summer of 1950. One of the vehicles (each one weighted 5,000 pounds) was completely dismantled in an effort to fit it into the fuselage of our supporting ski-wheeled C-47. It was a heartbreaking discover, at the end of all this specialized labor, to find that it was impossible to get the largest piece into the plane. It was TWO INCHES too long, and could not be broken down into smaller components. And so in 1950 there were no Weasels flying to the "Icecap." The next winter much consideration was given to the possibility of barging them to the head of the Taku Fiord and then driving them to the Icefield via the Norris or the Taku glaciers from tide water. But a veritable moat of crevasses around the edge of the area made all routes unsafe even after the heaviest snow falls. Thus this plan too had to be abandoned. In the summer of 1951, we again attempted to fly the Weasels. Through the interest of General William Olds, Commanding General of the Alaskan Air Command, hope was revived. From the 54th Troop Carrier Squadron at Elmendorf Field came a C-82 flying boxcar. With the aid of a crew from the 925th Engineer detachment, also from Elmendorf Air Force Base, we were going to attempt to parachute these two and one-half ton vehicles to the main central camp near the center of the field. Only once before, to my knowledge, had such a drop been attempted. This was in February 1951, as an experiment at the Army Test Center at Big Delta, Alaska. Two G-11 parachutes were attached to each Weasel. Each chute was 100 feet in diameter and the two capable of carrying 6,000 pounds, The first Weasel was shoved on rollers out of the plane, the chutes opened beautifully and glided the vehicle successfully to the ground. Immediately some of the members of the Project unleashed it, put in the battery and drove it off. Any hour later the plane returned with the second Weasel. Again each parachute billowed out, and the huge load drifted gracefully through 1,500 feet of space to land right side up on the snow and in perfect condition. But a strong down-glacier wind had developed at the 3,700 foot level and suddenly the metal-lined pallet board with its attached mattresses all tied to the base of the Weasel to cushion its fall, became a sled. In the strong wind, neither of the chutes would collapse. The vehicle, pallet board and all, was dragged rapidly down slope toward a maze of crevasses. It began to look as if one of our Weasels was not going to be successfully flier after all. Members of the Expedition, who were on skis, raced after the wayward vehicle. But they were unable to catch up with it. Closer it rushed toward the crevassed area, one and one-half feet every second. Fortunately the first Weasel had been put in operation within half an hour of delivery. It was therefore quickly brought into use. Going at thirty miles and hour, it finally overtook the "sled," but not before it had been dragged more than a mile. In the meantime, the pilots, seeing the dangerous situation, had flown low over the machine, buzzing it, and succeeding in partially collapsing the chutes with the propeller-wash of the C-82. The first Weasel was then jammed in front and thus brought it to a halt. In the succeeding few weeks, these machines greatly aided the efficiency of our field party. Where before it had taken a party on skis a full day to reach an outlying camp, the same distance could now be covered in two to three hours by the flying Weasels. *A member of the Juneau Icefield Research Project, sponsored by the American Geographical Society and the Office of Navel Research, which in late summer of 1951 completed its fifth season of scientific investigations on the Juneau (Alaska) Icefield. Story Taken from APPALACHIA Vol. 29, No. 1 pp.120-123 |
