Retired Air Force pilot Douglas Johnston (pictured far right) with members of the First 76SQN Darwin Detachment.

Retired Royal Australian Air Force pilot Douglas Johnston has crammed more adventure into his life than most of us ever will.

In the 1950s, Mr Johnston spent a freezing 15 months at Mawson Bay, Antarctica, discovering a penguin rookery and having a mountain and fjord named after him.

A decade later, Mr Johnston made front-page news when the Mirage jet he was piloting crashed near Canberra, ACT, forcing him to eject to safety.

Those two memorable moments aside, Mr Johnston's 16-year career in the Air Force contains many more highlights, including stints in Korea, Japan, Malaya and New Zealand flying a broad range of aircraft.

But without doubt he cherishes his Antarctic experience most.

Mr Johnston was Second Pilot with the RAAF Antarctic Flight, which spent all of 1957 - the Geophysical research year - and part of 1958 south of latitude 60 degrees at Mawson.

During that time he logged more than 300 hours of Antarctic flying, completing ice reconnaissance missions in a De Havilland Beaver to Enderby Land, Davis Station and the Prince Charles Mountains.

In fact, Mr Johnston and his team were responsible for the discovery of the Prince Charles Mountain range. Mount Johnston, within the Prince Charles group, is named after Douglas, as is Johnston Fjord on Stornes Peninsula.

Mr Johnston was also responsible for the discovery of the Austere Emperor Penguin rookery, and he made the first aircraft landing on Antarctic sea-ice adjacent to the rookery.

His Antarctic experience, although rewarding, was not without its hardships. The combination of a large team of men confined to small huts for long periods of time in sub-zero conditions made for some testing times for all, according to Mr Johnston's wife, Liz.

'When the boat that dropped them off sailed away, all Doug could think of was "what have I done",' she said.

Blizzards were common, and sometimes the temperature dropped below the equivalent of minus 40 degrees Celsius. 'It was an experience Doug is proud to look back on, but something he would probably never do again,' Mrs Johnston said.

With relationships between the Air Force members sometimes strained, Mr Johnston spent a great deal of time with some of the huskies brought along by the team. He became great friends with one dog in particular, a husky named 'Igy' which he raised from a pup and eventually took flying on a regular basis.

'Igy used to sit with Doug in the front seat of his sea-plane,' Mrs Johnston said.

Igy eventually returned to Melbourne with Mr Johnston when the expedition was over.

Mr Johnston received a Polar Medal for his efforts in Antarctica, his feats were mentioned on record as part of the 1961 Queen's Birthday Honours List and he received letters of congratulations from the then Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal V.E. Hancock. 'I'm very proud of my achievements,' he said.

Last year, nine members of a United Kingdom expedition trekked to the Forbidden Plateau region of Antarctica, climbing the 1768 metre Mount Johnston on 8 December.

Mr Johnston's distinguished Air Force career began in 1952, and after graduating from No. 1 Initial Flying Training School in Archerfield, Queensland, he went on to fly a myriad of aircraft, including Tiger Moths, Wirraways, Vampires, Lincoln Bombers, Sabres and many more.

In August 1966, the Mirage jet Mr Johnston was flying experienced engine failure, and he was forced to ditch the plane over Queanbeyan, NSW, and eject to safety.

He suffered only minor injuries, but the plane narrowly missed homes in Queanbeyan, with the incident making headlines, especially in the nation's capital.

By Ben Caddaye