08/24/2026
Coming on Thursday, Aug. 27! If you’re tired of the August doldrums, visit the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire to hear LC-130 Hercules pilot Daniel Marchegiani speak about Operation Deep Freeze, the U.S. military’s support flights to the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic program.
U.S.A.F. Lt. Col. Marchegiani will talk about his trips to Antarctica and more on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of N.H. The presentation is part of the museum’s ‘Exploring Aviation’ lecture series, which is open to the public. Admission is $10 per person; Aviation Museum members admitted free.
Marchegiani, whose education included attending schools in Londonderry, N.H., went on to become a highly experienced military aviator and command pilot with over 4,300 flight hours and nearly two decades of polar flying operations missions under his belt.
Marchegiani began his military career in April 1999 when he enlisted with the 104th Fighter Wing in Westfield, Mass., where he was responsible for maintaining the unit’s A-10A aircraft as a Hydraulic Systems Specialist.
In February 2005, he transferred to the 109th Airlift Wing to attend Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT), returning in October 2007 to serve with the unit as an LC-130 pilot. he is currently an instructor and evaluator pilot with the N.Y. Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing.
In 2026, the 109th Airlift Wing is marking 39 years of supporting American science research in Antarctica with four LC-130H 'Skibirds' departing each October from Stratton Air National Guard Base outside Schenectady, N.Y. The LC-130s flown by the 109th Airlift Wing are the only heavy airlift cargo planes in the world equipped with retractable skis to land on snow and ice.
Operation Deep Freeze began in the 1950s as a collaborative effort among 40 countries to advance global understanding of earth sciences via expeditions to the North and South Poles. Throughout the 2025-2026 season, over 200 military personnel transported 1,086 passengers, delivered 1 million pounds of fuel and moved 2.6 million pounds of cargo.
Missions to the South Pole typically take place in Antarctic summer, between October and February each year. Flights are staged from a base in New Zealand, from which it takes eight hours to reach McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
From there, it can take between three and four hours to fly the additional 845 miles over the trans-Antarctic mountains to reach Amundsen–Scott Station at the South Pole, which is about 9,000 feet above sea level. By comparison, traveling this same distance via the overland South Pole Traverse convoy takes about 40 days.
The 109th Airlift Wing typically completes between 60 to 80 distinct missions per season to the South Pole and deep-field camps, accumulating roughly 900 flight hours on the continent.
Crews operate on an ice sheet with no conventional runways. Landings are performed on groomed snow skyways using the C-130's massive retractable skis. Operating conditions are extreme: even during the Antarctic summer, thermometers at McMurdo often hover far below freezing, while temperatures at the South Pole routinely hover around -30°F to -40°F.
In addition, Antarctica is the windiest and driest continent on Earth. Weather is notoriously unpredictable and can shift from clear skies to a complete whiteout in under 30 minutes, occasionally forcing aircraft past their "point of no return" to rely entirely on blind instrument landings.
Lt. Col. Daniel Marchgiani will speak about Operation Deep Freeze on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of N.H., 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry. Admission is $10 per person; Aviation Museum members admitted free. For more information, visit our website (linked in the comments below), call (603) 669-4877, or email [email protected].
