[Elecraft] RE: cw puzzle

Sun Jun 1 08:17:00 2003

Hi Jim

Yes, some other details too.. 

The aircraft was completing the last leg from Buenos Aires to Santiago
of a scheduled flight (C.S.59) from London to Santiago. The flight from
London to Buenos Aires was carried out in a York aircraft and at Buenos
Aires the customary transfer was made to a Lancastrian to facilitate the
crossing of the Andes Mountains.

The Radio Officer  Mr. D.B. Harmer was born on October 5th 1919 and
served in the R.A.F. for three years as wireless operator (Ground
Duties). He held a P.M.G. Aircraft Radio Operator's Licence No. 1011
issued on October 17th 1946. He joined B.S.A.A.C. in November 1946, and
has since flown a total of 615 hours 26 minutes by day and night
including six trans-Andean crossings.), 

At 17.41 August 2, 1947, Dennis Harmer sent a final message in Morse
code to the Chilean radio operator then on duty in Santiago. The full
message sent at 17.41 hrs was as follows: 

'ETA Santiago 17.45 hrs STENDEC'

The official 1947 report had this to say on the subject: 

The 17.41 signal was received by Santiago only 4 minutes before the ETA.
The Chilean radio operator at Santiago states that the reception of the
signal was loud and clear but that it was given out very fast. Not
understanding the word "STENDEC" he queried it and had the same word
repeated by the aircraft twice in succession. A solution to the word
"STENDEC" has not been found. From this time on nothing further was
heard from the aircraft and no contact was made with the control tower
at Santiago. All further calls were unanswered.

Before this message a series of entirely routine messages had been
transmitted by the plane, reporting its position and intended course. 

end quote

If the message was very fast, and what speed would very fast be to a 28
year old who had been using CW most days for at least the past  5 years!
Could it have been mistaken for..  

V   END  AR

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Jordan K4QPL [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 3:37 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: cw puzzle

Do you know where the plane crashed and what it's intended route was?

Jim
K4QPL

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