I wish!!

What a treat it would be to fly in an Auster, like this, in the Antarctic!


I went to a concert in the Wigram Air Force Museum of New Zealand last night, given by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and my eyes kept on drifting over to this little plane. It would have been 'real' flying and I'd love to have flown in it.


The 1955–58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole.  It was headed by British explorer Dr Vivian Fuchs, with New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary leading the New Zealand Ross Sea Support team.  New Zealand used Austers for army co-operation work in the immediate post-war period. They were fitted with floats and, in this case, skis. This aircraft accompanied the Hillary/Fuchs Trans-Antarctic Expedition.