Dave wasn't joking. An hour later we were boarding his aircraft which turned out to be that strange plane I first saw on the helipad -- but where the heck was the runway? The plane had 6 very comfy padded seats, 4 of them folded, plus a large cargo space in the rear, but the instrument panel was childishly simple, making me wonder if this whole thing was a prank. "Antarctica is like 8000 miles from here; do we get to sleep during the 15 hours?" I asked. "We'll be there within an hour," said Dave. "That's impossible. At that speed we'd fry like sausages in a hot pan." "Not if we fly above the atmosphere," he replied, then spoke to what appeared to be the plane's AI, "Lucy, take us to Antarctica-target D8." Not only did Lucy possess some sort of anti-gravity, but turned out to be a space plane as well. 50 minutes later the frigid snowy landscape came into view and we gently sat down behind an icy ridge. As we emerged from the warm plane the icy Antarctic air hit my face like a splash of cold water. --------------------- (AI input, PSP and manual postwork)