First Vickers airplane, found in Antarctica

A HISTORIC monoplane - a relic of Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 expedition - has been found in Antarctica thanks to freakish luck after a three-year search.

An Australian heritage carpenter stumbled on the remains of the craft - the first Vickers aircraft ever made - on New Year's Day at Cape Denison.

The cast iron framework of the plane was revealed by an unusually low tide and reduced ice cover.

Full article here. BBC article here includes photos and video clips, and makes clear that the remains are rather fragmentary. A bit more digging turned up the expedition blog entry describing the find in detail, with photos.

Posted by David on January 3, 2010 8:51 PM