24/3-15

Position: 85° 25.4' N, 37° 49' W, temperature - 31° C, air pressure 1028 hPa, wind 2 knots from the N. Ice drift 0.1 knot towards S. A beautiful day, no wind. We contacted Griffon Hoverworks, Southamton and got an immediate response from a team of engineers including expertise from Deutz, UK. We were able to monitor the hovercraft engine performance using the diagnosis software and e-mail screen shots to UK for scrutiny. From that Deutz, UK engineer J. Thompson concluded that condensation in the air-cooler was the likely problem caused by hundreds of hours of idling at very low temperature. The air-cooler was removed, taken inside and thawed. Five liters of water was drained out. With this, the engine speed was back to normal. We now started to get the hovercraft up the incline and out of the snow pit, but overloaded the winch and later recognized that the problem was fatal. A propeller air craft at low altitude was seen at 1300 GMT.