WesWorld

Antarctic Research Consortium (ARC News) - Summer of 1938-1939

Introduction
The Antarctic Research Consortium operates through the mutual cooperation of French, Atlantean, Russian, and Chilean Antarctic programs to work for the advancement of peaceful scientific knowledge of the Antarctic continent.

October 19
The Chilean port of Puntas Arenas has seen a large gathering of ships bound for the Antarctic. A Russian Arctica, the Atlantean Adventure, and the Chilean Vanguardia are all on hand, preparing to sail south with one of the largest expeditions ever to venture into the unexplored southern continent. Additionally, the runway at Puntas Arenas hosts two large, four-engined Valdivia Royal Condors, painted in the red and yellow colors of ARC; the transport aircraft will be operated by crews of the Chilean Navy.

October 20
All vessels depart Puntas Arenas for points south.

October 28
Vanguardia and Arctica steam into the shelter of Seymour Island, disgorging construction crews and supplies to build a runway at Atlantis's Janus Station, located on the island.

November 1
Adventure arrives at Alexander Island. Two different teams, one led by the French and one led by the Atlanteans, disembark and set off down the sound. They carry rudimentary equipment for clearing snow/ice runways and small bases.

November 3
The Chilean airship Capitan Prat lands eight men near 74°33'48"S by 99° 2'22"W, with twenty-eight tons of equipment to start a base, to be named the Volcanic Observatory. The base will be commanded by Chilean Lieutenant Salvador Allende, and includes six Chilean and one Brazilian scientist who will observe a sub-glacial volcano.

November 4
Vanguardia returns to Puntas Arenas and picks up cargo.

November 8
French airship Albert Santos-Dumont has contacted the French Antarctic team on Alexander Island, and was able to airdrop further supplies to construct Midway Station, which will be located at 71°19'57"S by 68°16'43"W. Midway Station will be manned throughout the summer by six Frenchmen, two Atlanteans, and one Chilean.

November 9
Atlantean airship Maeotis has landed supplies at Magnus Station. Workers begin clearing a short gravel airstrip at Magnus Station.

November 13
Vanguardia has discharged the ice cruiser Bold Cochrane and four men to travel overland to the Volcanic Observatory with a final load of supplies.

November 30
The Atlantean team arrives at 74°51'12"S by 71°33'27"W and begins establishing a base with a landing strip.

December 3
Vanguardia has loaded two heavily-winterized VA-3 Twin Condors in Puntas Arenas.

December 8
Janus Station has reported a completed blue-ice runway, suitable for the landing of wheeled aircraft.

December 9
Puntas Arenas is clouded in by bad weather.

December 12
ARC's Royal Condor has made the history books with the first intercontinental aircraft flight to Antarctica. Under the hands of French pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Chilean copilot Andres Gryf, and Atlantean navigator Agamemnon Dace, the Royal Condor lifted off from Puntas Arenas shortly before the local dawn, with a light cargo and no passengers. The plane then turned south and flew across the Drake Passage toward Janus Station. After a flight of five and a half hours, the Royal Condor touched down for a smooth landing at Janus.

Due to the cold, the pilots kept the engines running as they unloaded the plane and refueled from drums brought ashore from the Arctica. With cargo unloaded, the crew took aboard an ill expedition member, flared the engines, and flew back north to Puntas Arenas, with Gryf taking the controls to prevent Saint-Exupéry from becoming fatigued. Nevertheless Saint-Exupéry was back at the controls when the Condor returned to Puntas Arenas and a crowd of celebratory onlookers.

December 17
The runways at Midway Station and Magnus Station are announced to be complete. Vanguardia and Adventure have delivered ARC's fleet of four VA-3 Twin Condors to begin operations.

December 18
The French airship Dixmude has left the Chilean airship base at Puerto Varas for Antarctica.

December 19
Dixmude returns to Puerto Varas after encountering a heavy storm off the Chilean coast. Inspections show no damage to the ship.

December 20
One of the ARC Twin Condors flies from Magnus Station to Midway Station with a crew of two and supplies for building more permanent buildings.

December 21
Another Twin Condor flies to Midway Station, but returns without stopping due to weather.

December 22
The Dixmude departs Puerto Varas again. Aquiles, on her maiden voyage, scouts ahead for weather but finds clear skies.

December 25
Dixmude becomes the first aircraft to cross the South Pole. ARC expedition members at Janus and Magnus stations celebrate Christmas in triumph when two Royal Condors fly in a cargo of fresh turkey.

January 10
A significant fuel and supply base has been built up at Midway Station, and the expedition has assembled a prefabricated sheet-metal hanger large enough for a Twin Condor. One of the Twin Condors has therefore been moved south to be based at Midway Station, and has begun shuttling supplies to the base camp at Alpha Site.

January 13
A third expedition team has been flown by aircraft from Janus Station, to Magnus Station, to Midway Station, to the Alpha Site. Headed by Atlantean expedition members, the team has organized their dog sledges to head south.

February 2
A temporary setback occurs as a small fire consumes a temporary shelter at Midway Station. Due to the fire, four of the base's nine occupants were flown back to Magnus Station until another structure can be flown in.

February 8
The Atlantean expedition heading south from Alpha Site has set up a temporary camp at 80°18'3"S by 81°13'38"W, and radioed that they have prepared an ice runway for the Beta Site.

February 10
Alpha Site base-crewmen have built a new structure to house crewmen, thus replacing the previous structure burned on February 2nd.

February 16
The Twin Condor flying from Midway has landed at the Beta Site after being refueled at the Alpha Site. The plane will begin flying supplies to establish the new outpost.

February 23
Work continues on Midway Station, as well as the Alpha and Beta Sites.

March 24
All personnel from Alpha, Beta, and Midway stations are evacuated by air back to Janus or Magnus stations for the winter.

The Airship Voyages:
- Capitan Prat lands the Volcanic Observatory team in Western Antarctica.
- Albert Santos-Dumont lands supplies to establish Midway Station.
- Maeotis lands supplies at Magnus Station.
- Dixmunde overflies the South Pole on December 25th, making a there-and-back run from Puerto Varas.
- Aquiles makes a survey flight over Western Antarctica.
- La Estrella Solitaria circumnavigates the world via the poles (March 1939).

Quoted

December 12
A Royal Condor owned by the Antarctic Research Consortium has made the history books with the first intercontinental aircraft flight to Antarctica. Under the hands of French pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Chilean copilot Andres Gryf, and Atlantean navigator Agamemnon Dace, the Royal Condor lifted off from Puntas Arenas shortly before the local dawn, with a light cargo and no passengers. The plane then turned south and flew across the Drake Passage toward Atlantis's Janus Station. After a flight of five and a half hours, the Royal Condor touched down for a smooth landing on the blue-ice runway at Janus.

Due to the cold, the pilots kept the engines running as they unloaded the plane and refueled from drums brought ashore from the Arctica. With cargo unloaded, the crew took aboard an ill expedition member, flared the engines, and flew back north to Puntas Arenas, with Gryf taking the controls to prevent Saint-Exupéry from becoming fatigued. Nevertheless Saint-Exupéry was back at the controls when the Condor returned to Puntas Arenas and a crowd of celebratory onlookers.

I'd like to point out that of all those dates you have posted here, this quoted bit is the only bit that was re-post. I'm pretty sure that it will be the same with anything else ARC you got right up to the point where you p*ssed me off when you ruined my ideas in 1941 with your "Oh, you've built a South Pole base too?" and making a South Pole Base appear out of nowhere (and to be honest thinking about that now really makes my blood boil again...). A lot of wasted time and effort.

I'm sorry but I am not going to consider any of those bits that have not appeared in the news (97% of the dates you listed) as part of the Wesworld timeline. If it is something within French, Atlantean or Chilean territories then okay. They are your/Wes's lands, but Antarctica is claimed by numerous nations and none of those claimed zones are internationally recognized by all other nations through a treaty. If we are going to allow this then I might as well go back and re-write and re-date all the Japanese Antarctic stuff and add new things that were previously not in the news ('new' since I tossed the original stuff away out of frustration).

I have a post in my encyclopedia of the various sites that I've set up in Antartica under the Miscellaneous file.

Stuff that has appeared out of nowhere. None of which has appeared in the news as being planned, build or completed and due to the international status of Antarctica not to be considered as part of Wesworld history.

To be blunt, I don't believe you have the authority to determine that. To use an argument you like to revert to, there was no objection to that info when I posted it in my encyclopedia.....in 2012. The relevant sub file is rather empty with only a couple of entries so its not very hard to spot. Furthermore all bases are in areas where no overlapping claims exist and are non-militarized, so unless someone starts shooting at my researchers that's how things will remain.

Quoted

To be blunt, I don't believe you have the authority to determine that.

I don't. The international status of Antarctica does.

Quoted

To use an argument you like to revert to, there was no objection to that info when I posted it in my encyclopedia.....in 2012.

To be honest, I have never seen any of it in the encyclopedia before at that time. There were and still are many posts in the Atlantean encyclopedia with "Future project" so for all I know, it is extremely plausible that it was similarly empty as well in the beginning and edited in later which makes it hard to catch. If it had all been posted in the news, it would be a completely different matter. Had it been there, I would not have wasted my time and efforts on what I had worked out.

The sub folders that have many entries in them do indeed have "Future project" tags usually ear marked for a summary at the top page or future ship/plane/vehicle designs in an effort to keep the newest designs at the top of the page. The post regarding my Antarctic bases was posted the same day as the very next post in the same folder, the SS file for the polar exploration ship Adventure. It would seem odd that I would create a new folder for my Antarctic stuff, make a reply post and leave them both tagged as "future project" just so that I could one day insert 2 posts in a deliberate attempt to undermine someone's story.