Skibirds

Written by Lt. Col. Joseph P. Hathaway USAF (Ret.), "Skibirds: Adventures of the Raven Gang" is the fascinating history and story of the 109th Airlift Wing, a unit of the New York Air National Guard, stationed at Stratton Air National Guard Base, Schenectady, New York.

The wing's mission is to provide airlift support to the National Science Foundation's Arctic Circle and South Pole research program. They fly LC-130H Hercules airlifters, equipped with wheel-ski landing gear, to their Arctic and Antarctica operations. The 109th Airlift Wing is the only unit in the world to fly these aircraft.

Using numerous anecdotal stories, the book tells of dangerous missions carrying civilian scientists, survival experts, and their equipment to some of the most remote locations in the Arctic and Antarctica. Frequently, unable to see the snowy "skiway" and landing on ski-equipped LC-130s, they fly inside what Lt. Col. Hathaway describes as the "ping-pong ball." It is a term he uses to describe the inability to tell the ground from the clouds when landing on the snowfield.