Early in the days of
exploration of Antarctica, Australian geologist
Douglas Mawson turned down an invitation to join Robert Falcon Scott's
Terra Nova Expedition in 1910 (
Cool Antarctica previously). Instead, Mawson lead his own expedition, the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition (December 1911 to December 1913), an expedition to chart the 2000-mile coastline directly south of Australia, one of the least-visited parts of the continent throughout the early years of Antarctic exploration.
The group's efforts and activities are well documented, and many remnants of the expedition remain on Antarctica.
The conservation of Mawson's Huts is now an ongoing effort from
Association of Australasian Palaeontologists (AAP)
Mawson's Huts Foundation. While most efforts were focused on the recovery and treatment of artifacts inside the main hut, the group also searched for the
Vickers (
Aviation)
monoplane that was modified to become an "air tractor", or motorized sledge. The remains of the plane were last seen in 1975.
Now the plane has been found, thanks to an exceptionally low tide and a bit of luck.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Jan 5, 2010 -
11 comments
21st Century Jet: The Building of the 777 (part 1 of 5) In the early 90's, Boeing decided to build a new airplane, the 777. They also decided to allow KCTS Television and Channel Four London to film the design, construction, and testing of the new airliner. This 5-hour documentary, first aired in 1996, is no longer shown on TV, and out of print on VHS, but you can now watch it on Google Videos.
[more inside]
posted by FishBike
on Dec 18, 2009 -
20 comments
Known as
Black Box in the UK,
Survival in the Sky was a four-episode 1996 series about commercial aviation accidents and the investigation of their causes. (Two additional episodes were filmed in 1998.) Not currently available on DVD, five of the six episodes are available in their entirety on YouTube (links within).
[more inside]
posted by maxwelton
on Jan 17, 2009 -
12 comments
Remember when air travel was viewed as glamorous and exciting? Of course you don't. So check out this collection of vintage flight attendant photos:
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3
posted by brain_drain
on Nov 13, 2007 -
37 comments
I now know what to do in case I ever got stuck on an airplane that's not going anywhere- organize and stage a revolt, like the passengers of Continental flight 1669.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero
on Aug 16, 2007 -
82 comments
Flight simulator. As a hobby, this guy built his own Boeing 747 flight simulator. No, not just a PC simulation, but a full cabin with hydraulics motion simulation a correct control panel and the full works, just like the real thing.
(via Neatorama)
posted by caddis
on Sep 4, 2006 -
24 comments
Yesterday morning in Florida, the landing gear on a student-piloted Cessna failed to lock into place. After the plane circled for an hour, the airport president drove a Jeep underneath the plane at 80 mph while his passenger took a stick and knocked the wheels into place. And that, as they say in the business, was
caught on tape.
posted by Saucy Intruder
on Sep 17, 2005 -
48 comments
Holding Pattern is a screensaver for Mac OS X that generates photo-realistic simulations of the view from a flying airplane window.
posted by Mwongozi
on Apr 25, 2004 -
17 comments
Trains vs. Airplanes. Amtrak has reported record ridership levels for the Thanksgiving season. But the success of the rails is indebted to post 9/11 air-travel anxiety. Maybe, it would be better for travelers to stop fearing hijackings and resume flying planes instead of riding intercity trains out of fear. On the other hand, it could be a good thing that rail travel is getting a second look after years of decline.
posted by gregb1007
on Dec 3, 2003 -
51 comments
A Boeing 727
went missing from Angola on May 25. Some people made immediate,
predictable noises about "terrorists", despite the fact that things are a lot less settled in Africa (from a paperwork and regulatory point of view). It was
spotted with a new paint job on June 28 in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. But, now it's gone again and nobody knows where it is.
posted by Irontom
on Aug 6, 2003 -
8 comments
Buy a Flight Manual, Get a Grand Jury Subpoena? A guy qualified to fly and instruct on the Boeing 737 buys a CD on Ebay that contains the ground course for the same plane. Then the FBI gets involved, and, courtesy of section 501 (d) of the "USA Patriot Act", he can no longer even discuss the issue. [more inside]
posted by Irontom
on Dec 23, 2002 -
24 comments
Pilot parachutes plane to safety. Never before had a certified aircraft used a parachute to land. But that all changed Thursday afternoon when a pilot in distress used Cirrus' parachute system to successfully bring his disabled airplane to earth.
Plane malfunctioning?
Release the rip cord! More inside.
posted by hockeyman
on Oct 5, 2002 -
12 comments
