Operation
The skiway was typically in operation from December through the end of February. Other McMurdo Station airfields include the Ice Runway (October through December) and Pegasus Field used in August and December through February of each season.
The Williams Field snow runway is known locally as "Willy's Field." The airfield is a groomed snow surface that can support ski-equipped aircraft landings only. A cluster of facilities for flight operations, referred to as "Willy Town," includes several rows of containers for workers and a galley. Some of the buildings are relocated to support flight operations at the nearby Ice Runway and distant Pegasus Field. Willy Field Tavern, a bar at the airfield, closed in 1994.
Aviation fuel at Williams Field is pumped in a 16 km (10 mi) flexible pipe from McMurdo Station. Fuel is stored in up to 12 tanks. The fuel tanks, like other structures at the airfield, are mounted on skis or runners for portability. Generator and heating fuel is delivered to the station by fuel trucks from McMurdo Station, with fuels stored at the individual structures.
The extraordinary conditions encountered at Williams Field include the fact that the airfield is in a continuous slow slide towards the sea. Seaward movement of the floating McMurdo Ice Shelf upon which the airfield is constructed has forced Williams Field to be relocated three times since its original construction. Workers last moved the airfield during the 1984-85 season. Subsequently, personnel housed at Williams lived in buildings constructed on sleds to facilitate relocation. In the past, up to 450 people were housed at the airfield, according to the National Science Foundation. In 1994 the National Science Foundation constructed two dorm buildings at McMurdo Station and began transporting personnel to Williams Field using various vehicles including Foremost Delta II and Ford E-350 vans.
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