15 replies to this topic

[Mike Riedner]

F1 Grand Prix in the Antarctica. Following the trails of Robert Falcon Scott in 1912?

 

Open Google Earth Pro, search for Portimão and then follow this recommended link:

 

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Sítio do Escampadinho, Mexilhoeira Grande, Portimão, Portugal

 

Surprise, surprise. Which tyres will Pirelli provide?

 

At least they will have plenty of run-off aereas.

Edited by Mike Riedner, 19 October 2020 - 15:28.

[Zoe]

The British teams will use ponies, the others dog sleds. 

 

Google maps shows the correct location though.

[Mike Riedner]

The British teams will use ponies, the others dog sleds. 

 

Google maps shows the correct location though.

So we at least know the difference between Google Earth Pro and Google Earth...

[Bloggsworth]

And no doubt Colmans will provide the requisite 1 ton of mustard powder again...

[Doug Nye]

Perhaps the same IT expertise as demonstrated by our British Covid tracing app designers...?

 

DCN

[2F-001]

We should maybe cut the Google folks some slack - they are perhaps not paid as highly as the consultants on the Covid app...

Edited by 2F-001, 20 October 2020 - 06:46.

[Michael Ferner]

... and probably no more interested in motor sport than in beauty parlors, dog saloons, or vegan shops!

[RS2000]

I can't claim to understand this but it's worth recalling that Scott had motorised vehicles on the ice and tested them there. Presumably fuel supplies (carrying enough fuel left no capacity to carry anything else?) and reliability meant he didn't take it any further.

[Odseybod]

I think, made by Wolseley, who did a lot of pioneering stuff in those days (Gyrocar, low-slung Edwardian racer).. Not sure they had a light in their radiator badge, though.

[Vitesse2]

Some tentative research in the Commercial Motor archive reveals that the 1908 French Antarctic expedition led by Charcot was apparently the first to take motor vehicles. These were three powered sleighs, fitted with air-cooled 40hp De Dion Bouton engines 'of the 1901 type'. His account of the expedition, Autour du pôle sud, was published in 1912.

 

Scott's motor sleds were indeed built by Wolseley:

 

"The most unusual feature in the Wolseley motor sleigh, one of which is, as we reported last week, on order for Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition, is the manner in which it is propelled. An axle is fixed at each end, and carries toothed wheels which, however, do not touch the ground. Endless chains run over these wheels, and these chains pass underneath the surface of the sleigh-runners; each chain is fitted with small platforms bearing cross strips or "spuds." The chains are driven by the toothed wheels on the rear axle, the effect being to propel the sleigh forward. The grip on the snow is a very powerful one, and, in addition to propelling itself, the sleigh will also draw a heavy trailer, even under the worst conditions of melting snow.

In order to economize fuel, the engine is a comparatively-small one of the air-cooled type; it is capable of developing sufficient power for all re quirements. A gearbox and clutch are provided, and the petrol tank is mounted above the motor. Two changes of gear ratio are provided, and an average speed of from 3 to 4 miles an hour is expected. The design of the sleigh is the outcome of careful experiments, every detail having received due consideration." (Commercial Motor, 20th January 1910)

 

There's a full-page feature here: http://archive.comme...h-april-1910/16

 

"Following the purchase of Wolseley motor sledges for Captain Scott's South-polar Expedition, which we reported and illustrated in our issue of the 7th April last, it will interest many readers of this journal to know that the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co., Ltd., of Adderley Park, Birmingham, has received an order for three motor sledges for the use of the German Antarctic Expedition. They will in principle be the same as those which were supplied for Captain Scott's expedition, and it is not inappropriate that we should reproduce photographs of the original sledges when undergoing their trials in Norway; these views are now published by the Wolseley Co. as picture postcards." http://archive.comme...ews-and-comment

[Odseybod]

Slight digresion but next time you're (allowed to be) in Cardiff, you may want to 'put up' at the Royal Hotel, where Captain Scott hosted a 13-course gala dinner on the night before he set sail. It's a bit seedy now but the dining room where it took place may hold some memories in its wooden panelling.

[Vitesse2]

Some tentative research in the Commercial Motor archive reveals that the 1908 French Antarctic expedition led by Charcot was apparently the first to take motor vehicles. These were three powered sleighs, fitted with air-cooled 40hp De Dion Bouton engines 'of the 1901 type'. His account of the expedition, Autour du pôle sud, was published in 1912.

It appears that in early 1908 Scott and Charcot conducted joint tests on three different designs on the Col du Lautaret. This French website has reports of the tests:

 

http://transpolair.f...ot/lautaret.htm

 

And there's a much more comprehensive account here:

 

https://www.jardinal...ot_extraits.pdf

[ensign14]

I can't claim to understand this but it's worth recalling that Scott had motorised vehicles on the ice and tested them there. Presumably fuel supplies (carrying enough fuel left no capacity to carry anything else?) and reliability meant he didn't take it any further.

 

One of them got sort of sunk when being unloaded...

 

Shackleton took an Arrol-Johnston in 1907.  Albeit he didn't get to the ice until the following year.  It was not a success as the Boss was perennially underfunded and he took it because it was offered gratis.  No testing.  It could only run on hard ice and there's not much of that in the Great White South that is not under several inches of powder.  But it did help with some depot laying.  Despite the cold, it suffered from overheating...

 

[Allan Lupton]

A suitable bit of TNF trivia is that Bernard Day, the man who went South to maintain and drive Shackleton's Arrol-Johnston, also went with Scott and the Wolseleys in the same role

.

[Pullman99]

Not sure whether on or off topic...but there was a Martin Shaw drama made by ITV in the mid-1980s called "The Last Place on Earth" on the Scott polar expedition.   The production company apparently made a small number (three?) reproduction Wolseley motor sleds for the production.      I think that filming took place in Canada.   Wonder if any of these vehicles were kept?

[Vitesse2]

Not sure whether on or off topic...but there was a Martin Shaw drama made by ITV in the mid-1980s called "The Last Place on Earth" on the Scott polar expedition.   The production company apparently made a small number (three?) reproduction Wolseley motor sleds for the production.      I think that filming took place in Canada.   Wonder if any of these vehicles were kept?

The BMIHT archive has five photos of the originals ...

 

http://www.motorgrap...tion-adventure/ - search Wolseley under Marques.

 

One interesting one, taken at the factory, shows a motor sled apparently climbing a hill with a gradient of about 1 in 5.