Old Picture of a Man Fishing on the Ice

The person in this B/W picture is unknown. It is taken sometime in the beginning of the 20th century.

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Some Famous CAD Programmers

I was investigating the origins of the AutoCAD program and discovered some interesting persons and blogs which might entertain you.


John Walker (programmer, [not the terrorist **1])
- his blog
- Fourmilab


Michael Riddle (programmer)
- his blog
- COFES: Congress On the Future of Engineering Software
- Digibarn Computer Museum
- FastCAD  and EasyCAD



(**1) It is funny that there is a terrorist with the name John Walker [Lindh] also.

I will continue this list when I find some more interesting software figures in the Internet.

Here are some photos from John Walker's public domain collection.

 

 

 Some building in Lignieres 2009

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European Side of Antarctica

Here is a Google Map of the European Side of Antarctica. All shown stations are year-round stations except Aboa/Wasa (Finland/Sweden). Novo and Maitri are located near each other. Novo and Troll are the only runways that support wheel landings otherwise skis are needed. Troll accepts only scientific visitors but Novo makes also commercial deals.

Do not automatically expect support from research stations. They are not set up visitor hostels. Be self-sufficient in your plans and the equipment you carry. Be prepared to survive in the cold. Don't expect a rescue service. Check with the station managers in the area you are visiting before you visit Antarctica.

European Side of Antarctica

Year-round stations are:

Novo and Maitri (Russia and India) - 4200 km to Cape Town - wheel & ski
Troll Runway (Norway) - 350 km to Novo - wheel
Sanae (South Africa) -  200 km to Troll - ski
Neumayer (Germany) - 230 km to Sanae - ski
Halley (Great Britan) -  800 km to Neumayer - ski
Belgrano (Argentina) - 330 km to Halley - ?
Showa (Japan) - 1080 km to Novo - ski

Novo and Troll have the largest and best runways for large airplanes. ALCI is using these runways to connect the Antarctica to South Africa (Cape Town) using IL-76. The aircraft was first conceived by Ilyushin in 1967 to meet a requirement for a freighter able to carry a payload of 40 tons (88,000 lb) over a range of 5,000 km (2,700 nmi; 3,100 mi) in less than six hours, able to operate from short and unprepared airstrips, and capable of coping with the worst weather conditions likely to be experienced in Siberia and the Soviet Union's Arctic regions.

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Troll Airfield Antarctic

Near Novo Air Base there is a new (2005) runway. Troll Airfield is located near the Norwegian Station and it is 3 km long. Here is a video of IL 76 taking off at that runway.

Here is a map of Antarctic Stations (September 2009).

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Novo Air Base Antarctic (from Cape Town)

Cape Town in South Africa is the starting point for many Antarctic expeditions to the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica or Queen Maud Land (Novo Air Base), either by ship or by aircraft.

I put her couble of Antarctic maps for people that might be interested of the place. It seems to be so that one intense airport down there is Novo (Novolazarevskaya) Air Base (Russian) and Maitri (Indian). It has regular air traffic from Cape Town controlled by ALCI (Antarctic Logistics Centre International).

Cape Town to Russian Novo Airbase 4128 km

Google Earth Satellite Image of the Runway

Novo (ALCI) Air Base in Detail

Dronning Maud Land Air Network (DROMLAN)

It takes about 5 to 6 hours and 4200 km from Cape Town to Novo Air Base using IL-76 transport plane.

Cape Town

Inside IL-76

Novo Air Base

Landing at Novo Air Base (video)

 

 

 

More Pictures about Novo (ALCI) Air Base at Antarctic

  

Back to Cape Town (video)

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