330-PSA-226-64 (USN 826529):  Fuel tanks of the ski-equipped C-130 “Hercules” are being topped off on the end of the runway before taking off from Avalon airstrip near Melbourne, Australia, en-route to McMurdo Station.  Photograph released October 15, 1964.   Master caption:  Operation Deep Freeze 1965 was officially opened September 30, 1964, when a C-130 Hercules left Avalon airstrip near Melbourne, Australia, for a non-stop flight to McMurdo Station.  The ski-equipped cargo plane, with Rear Admiral James R. Reedy, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Antarctica, onboard, was piloted by Commander F.S. Gallup, Commander Air Development Squadron Six.  It was the Navy’s first flight to the southernmost continent from Australia.  Last year’s Operation Deep Freeze opened with a similar flight from Cape Town, South Africa.  (2015/11/03).
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