It was 4:30am and we were heading to the northern end of the runway of Hobart Airport to watch our daughter flying off in a RAAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft on route to the blue ice runway at Wilkins in Antarctica. She works for the Australian Antarctic Division and was taking the 4 hour flight to join the summer research crew at Casey Station. At 5am, on the dot, the mammoth C-17 began to taxi from the tarmac to the southern end of the runway to commence its flight ferrying personnel and heavy cargo south. The frequent flights of the c-17 mean that equipment can be taken in quickly and other equipment returned to Hobart for repair. The turn around time for repairs is usually a couple of weeks compared with the 6 or 12 months when equipment has to be transported in and out by the Auroa Australia. So it was with mixed emotions that we saw the plane take off. Our daughter was chuffed because the pilot and first officer was female and prize cargo included a Haggland snow vehicle painted pink in support of breast cancer awareness. The photos added to the Gallery is a sequence of three showing the start of the takeoff, leaving the runway, and flying directly overhead. Thanks for the cache dezzabills.