Antarctic's First Plane, Found In Ice

Arvisp writes "In 1912 Australian explorer Douglas Mawson planned to fly over the southern pole. His lost plane has now been found. The plane – the first off the Vickers production line in Britain – was built in 1911, only eight years after the Wright brothers executed the first powered flight. For the past three years, a team of Australian explorers has been engaged in a fruitless search for the aircraft, last seen in 1975. Then on Friday, a carpenter with the team, Mark Farrell, struck gold: wandering along the icy shore near the team's camp, he noticed large fragments of metal sitting among the rocks, just a few inches beneath the water."

I claim the movie rights

[suso]

And inside they found a pipe in a keg of gun powder that had a pipe with clues that mean that there is a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence.

press release

[Nick Number]

A spokesman for the team discovering the aircraft issued a short statement, consisting solely of

"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

...in an Australian accent.

It was made of gold?

[drinkypoo]

Then on Friday, a carpenter with the team, Mark Farrell, struck gold: wandering along the icy shore near the team's camp, he noticed large fragments of metal sitting among the rocks, just a few inches beneath the water."

The plane was made of gold? I guess they don't build 'em like they used to, huh?

Re:I claim the movie rights

[MistrBlank]

I'll claim rights on a second story and write the one that has the pilot still sitting in the cockpit with his chest blown out. And several miles below the ice surface there's a temple that's a home to aliens that another alien race comes in to exterminate after the expedition team frees them.

The famous Miskatonic Antarctic Survey found

[minginqunt]

I hope you're all preparing to welcome our new Shuggoth overlords.

I suspect I, for one, will.

Re:Cue the pissing contest

[nschubach]

We get tired of the competition between Ohio and North Carolina for the origin vs. actually flying the first plane so we have to look elsewhere to pick fights.

just be careful...

[catbertscousin]

Take some dogs with you when you drill, and if they start going nuts about any large, plant-like objects you find, leave them alone!
Also listen for strange piping sounds in the wind.

Re:I claim the movie rights

[Arancaytar]

Actually, they found traces of an ancient race of tentacled aliens that were ultimately responsible for creating us. Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

Re:I claim the movie rights

[FatdogHaiku]

Actually, they found traces of an ancient race of tentacled aliens that were ultimately responsible for creating us. Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

So, you're saying I should not have fried up that batch of giant calamari?

Re:Cue the pissing contest

[Culture20]

Which is exactly why we should end this "first" bullshit in the first place.

First Post!

I guess we can thank global warming

[zorro-z]

It does seem as if the melting of Antarctic ice is what revealed the long-lost plane. Global warming, anyone?

Why did nobody find it, in all those years?

[Hurricane78]

Let me guess: It hid in plane site! ^^

Re:I claim the movie rights

[sayno2quat]

You would have been fine, except you didn't post anonymously.

Re:The Independent is a little dishonest here

[aqk]

A few paragraphs down in TFA:

Mawson had hoped to stage the first flight over the Antarctic ice cap, but the plane crashed on the Australian mainland before he set sail. No one was hurt, but with the wings damaged and no time to repair them, the explorer adapted the craft to haul his sledges, adding skis to the undercarriage and a special tail-rudder.

It was an airplane before being loaded on the boat, then it was just a cool looking tug.

Umm... before you go any deeper...

CANADA INVENTED THE SNOWMOBILE.
Take THAT, Mr. Big-Dick!