Ανήμερα την Πρωτοχρονιά, φέτος, οι εξερευνητές βρέθηκαν εμπρός στα συντρίμμια του μονοκινητήριου αεροσκάφους τύπου Vickers, κατασκευασμένου το 1911.
Στις αρχές του προηγούμενου αιώνα ο γεωλόγος και εξερευνητής Σερ Ντάγκλας Μόσον (Sir Douglas Mawson) ηγήθηκε δύο αποστολών στην Ανταρκτική μεταξύ 1911 και 1914. Στην πρώτη από αυτές χρησιμοποίησε το μονοκινητήριο Vickers.
Photo by Reuters: Pauline Askin
Το αεροπλάνο έχει άλλη μία ιδιαιτερότητα: Είναι το πρώτο της εταιρείας Vickers, ενός ονόματος θρύλου της βρετανικής μηχανολογίας, με πολυσχιδή δραστηριότητα από το 1828.
English version
A historic monoplane, the first Vickers aircraft ever made and a relic of Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 expedition, has been found in Antarctica, thanks to freakish luck.
English version
A historic monoplane, the first Vickers aircraft ever made and a relic of Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 expedition, has been found in Antarctica, thanks to freakish luck.
An Australian heritage carpenter stumbled on the remains of the craft on New Year's Day at Cape Denison, its cast iron framework revealed by an unusually low tide and reduced ice cover.
"It's a remarkable find in remarkable circumstances. We began the search three summers ago and thought we might have a reasonable chance of finding it with all the equipment provided to us by sponsors", chairman of the Mawson's Huts Foundation David Jensen said.
A century after it was abandoned by Mawson, the old Vickers was spotted in a few centimetres of water during one of the lowest tides recorded at Commonwealth Bay.
"They would not have been found had the tide not been so low and the ice cover at Cape Denison at its lowest for several years, it was a fluke find. The Vickers was a historic aircraft and part of Mawson's remarkable story of Antarctic exploration", Mr Jensen said.
The aircraft was the first to be taken to a polar region.
Sir Douglas Mawson, a geologist, who led the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911, landed a party of 18 at Cape Denison on Commonwealth Bay in January, 1912, and remained there until December 1913. The site was not visited again until Mawson returned in 1931 with the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition and then not again until the 1950’s.
Φιλοτελισμός & εξερευνητικές αποστολές του Ιδρύματος Mawson's Huts /
Philately & Mawson's Huts Foundation Expeditions
Το Ίδρυμα Mawson’s Huts κυκλοφόρησε αναμνηστική σειρά φακέλλων και ειδικά σχεδιασμένη σφραγίδα για την εξερευνητική αποστολή του 2008-09.
The Mawson’s Huts Foundation has issued a set of special commemorative covers and an Australia Post designed postmark to commemorate the 2008-9 Conservation Expedition.
Πηγές / Sources: In, Couriermail, Mawson's Huts Foundation
Φιλοτελισμός & εξερευνητικές αποστολές του Ιδρύματος Mawson's Huts /
Philately & Mawson's Huts Foundation Expeditions
Το Ίδρυμα Mawson’s Huts κυκλοφόρησε αναμνηστική σειρά φακέλλων και ειδικά σχεδιασμένη σφραγίδα για την εξερευνητική αποστολή του 2008-09.
The Mawson’s Huts Foundation has issued a set of special commemorative covers and an Australia Post designed postmark to commemorate the 2008-9 Conservation Expedition.
Πηγές / Sources: In, Couriermail, Mawson's Huts Foundation
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