Polar pilot: I was prepared

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX

Battling blustery conditions to rival Wellington's, Australian adventurer Jon Johanson touched down in Invercargill yesterday a happy man, but annoyed at the negative publicity his historic flight had generated.

Mr Johanson had been attempting to fly his home-built, single-engine plane solo from Invercargill to Argentina across the South Pole.

But stronger headwinds than he had expected removed the safety margin of fuel he had calculated, forcing him to touch down in McMurdo Sound last week.

Yesterday, after his 12-hour trip back to Invercargill - shortened by two hours thanks to a strong southerly - Mr Johanson remained adamant that his preparation for the flight was not disorganised.

The US Antarctic base did not welcome his unscheduled landing, and initially refused to let him use its facilities. They later let him sleep in the fuel shed. But Mr Johanson said he had "no complaints at all with what happened down there".

Because of their policies on private expeditions to Antarctica, neither the Americans nor the New Zealanders at nearby Scott Base would sell him fuel, although both offered him alternative air travel back to New Zealand.

On Friday, British pilot Polly Vacher came to his rescue and gave him the fuel he needed. Her own transantarctic charity mission had been aborted due to bad weather.

It was not a random act of charity - two years ago Mr Johanson sat down with Ms Vacher to advise her how to plan her flight using knowledge learned on his previous solo adventures. "So I actually feel part of Polly's trip."

But he stressed that his own journey was also meticulously planned, right down to the medical stockings he wore and the anti-coagulant he injected himself with to prevent blood clots. He had built the plane specifically for this journey, and had offered to show authorities how it performed and the amount of fuel it held.

"Basically I got the impression that they didn't really want to know. People are making statements that they really can't back up, and that's their choice. I know that what I was doing was safe."

After getting to the South Pole and turning back to McMurdo - a five-hour flight - he still had a further seven hours of fuel left.

"If I'd kept going and if the winds had dropped I would have made it right through to the end of the Antarctic Peninsula and still have room to make it through to Argentina. But the margins were going to be minuscule. Like, I'm talking 15, maybe 20 minutes."

Yesterday he said it was still hard to believe he had made history. While flying over the pole he tried to call his wife, Sue, in Adelaide to share his excitement - but found the phone engaged.

Mr Johanson will head back home today, another marathon flight of 14 hours with strong head winds.

The aircraft

* The RV-4 is a kitset, two-seater.

* About 900 are flying, powered by engines from 112kw-134kw.

* Standard fuel tank is 145 litres, giving 5 hours' flying, but Jon Johanson's is modified to provide 35 hours.

* Mr Johanson's plane has been around the world three times and over the North Pole.