Elf News Reporter at North Pole News Network
Elf Meg graduated from Southern North Pole University with a degree in journalism. For several years she was a star reporter for the North Pole Gazette and then briefly served as a producer for North Pole Radio News. She brings her experience in media to North Pole Flight Command, serving as both an Elf News Reporter for North Pole Radio News and Managing Editor of North Pole Flight Command.com
Elf Meg Nogg
Latest posts by Elf Meg Nogg (see all)

With the repositioning of the North Pole Navy as announced earlier Santa’s sleigh has only seen a limited number of flights so far. That is soon to change. In fact, a full schedule of test flights will begin in a 24-hour-per-day operation as soon as next week.

We are not quite ready to announce the location of where these first test flights will take place.

Right now the entire fleet of new sleighs is aboard the Snowball in the North Atlantic. The North Pole Navy has deployed the Jingle Bell to the Pacific but it is not yet in position to support flight operations. Once it anchors at an undisclosed location the sleighs and reindeer will be split between both oceans on opposite sides of the world. How that will affect the scheduling of test flights we do not yet know.

Please stand by for those details.

Elf News Reporter at North Pole News Network
Elf Meg graduated from Southern North Pole University with a degree in journalism. For several years she was a star reporter for the North Pole Gazette and then briefly served as a producer for North Pole Radio News. She brings her experience in media to North Pole Flight Command, serving as both an Elf News Reporter for North Pole Radio News and Managing Editor of North Pole Flight Command.com
Elf Meg Nogg
Latest posts by Elf Meg Nogg (see all)

The test flights of Santa’s sleigh can be tracked at SantaTrackers.net.

SantaTrackers.net is home to elves who track Santa for Santa. This amazing North Pole program is Santa’s brain child. For five years now Santa has employed elves all over the world to help track him on Christmas Eve. Anyone can become an elf and openings are available for tracker elves. All the details are at SantaTrackers.net.

Flight Command is using the test flights of Santa’s new sleigh to extend training to Santa trackers all over the world. That’s why the map has been activated for tracker elves at SantaTrackers.net – to they can be trained. Using the map now in training will be helpful for new elves who have never done it before.

Flight Command is also working on a Tracker Elf Conference soon to be announced as part of Christmas in July. The Conference, the Map and other materials at SantaTrackers.net should be enough to train the millions of new elves Santa is hoping to hire for 2021.

We will be posting advanced schedules of the test flights in the days and weeks ahead.

Elf News Reporter at North Pole News Network
Elf Meg graduated from Southern North Pole University with a degree in journalism. For several years she was a star reporter for the North Pole Gazette and then briefly served as a producer for North Pole Radio News. She brings her experience in media to North Pole Flight Command, serving as both an Elf News Reporter for North Pole Radio News and Managing Editor of North Pole Flight Command.com
Elf Meg Nogg
Latest posts by Elf Meg Nogg (see all)

More than a dozen sleighs will be flight tested as elves in the North Pole Research and Development Department work to refine the design of Santa’s sleigh.

“Most people do not realize how much work the design and testing of Santa’s sleigh takes,” said flight director, Elf Buck Sanchez. “They just think Santa hops into the same old sleigh every year and just tells the reindeer to go. It does not work like that at all. Every year Santa is pressed to go faster than the year before and that’s because every year there are more and more believers in Santa. That means the sleigh has to get faster every year, if even by just a little bit. A lot of work goes into to accomplishing that.”

More than a dozen sleighs of the present design are produced and flown for weeks. During the flights notes are taken of what needs to be changed or improved. Each flight is sent on a particular mission. They fly under certain weather conditions, at specified times of the day and in unique locations. On any given day all of those sleighs could be in flight at the same time, testing situations and outcomes.

“We have reindeer and test pilots to feed, train, brief and de-brief,” Elf Sanchez says. “We comb over flight data, watch film of sleighs in flight and interview ground witnesses in the form of professional trackers that we position on the ground as each flight leaves. It is a very comprehensive effort that takes thousands of elves, hundreds of reindeer, and dozens of test pilots – as well as months of time.”

The sad part is that every two weeks a new set of sleighs are produced at the North Pole to replace the current sleighs, which are then destroyed.

“We have to move forward,” explain Elf Quinton Q. Quigley, head elf in Research and Development. “Never look back. The old sleighs are dismantled, never to be flown again. We recycle the material, so there is no loss. But the new design every two weeks is the way forward and we work with it, then start all over again.”

Elf News Reporter at North Pole News Network
Elf Meg graduated from Southern North Pole University with a degree in journalism. For several years she was a star reporter for the North Pole Gazette and then briefly served as a producer for North Pole Radio News. She brings her experience in media to North Pole Flight Command, serving as both an Elf News Reporter for North Pole Radio News and Managing Editor of North Pole Flight Command.com
Elf Meg Nogg
Latest posts by Elf Meg Nogg (see all)

More reindeer are needed to help power the test flights of Santa’s sleigh. Santa has reviewed this year’s applicants and all have been accepted into the program. He feels an additional 450 reindeer are needed to keep up with the heavy flight schedule set up for this year’s sleigh.

This is highly unusual news. Normally it is a difficult thing to be assigned to these special teams and yet this year Santa took every applicant into the program – even the young rookie reindeer with no flight experience.

“Test flights are flight experience,” explained Elf Victor, Santa’s head of reindeer operations. “These rookies this year are going to be something really special in the next few years because Santa is giving them very important work right now. I’m very excited for the class of 2021.”

Part of the challenge in finding additional reindeer is just reaching them. At this time of the year reindeer are back in their natural habitat in various places all over the world. Santa has reindeer ranches on every continent but the ranches serve only as a base for reindeer medical needs and as gathering spots for when they prepare to return to the North Pole.

“We have scouts that are out trying to reach the various herds,” said Elf Victor. “But they don’t usually expect to hear from us this early in the year, so finding them is something of a challenge.”

At this point there is not a big concern as there is still plenty of time remaining in the year to get the sleigh tested. We will keep you posted.