Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100Sat, 25 Jul 2026 05:27:02 +0200https://english.radio.cz/vintage-czech-aircraft-reaches-north-pole-8597375© 2026 Radio Prague International At the weekend two Czech pilots made history by flying a vintage Czech aircraft to the North Pole. The small twin-engine plane known as the Morava L-200 flew first took flight 50 years ago and the duo of Petr Bold and Richard Santus wanted to mark the anniversary by flying to the pole, stopping off for refuelling at the Russian base of Barneo. Preparing for the 11-hour journey meant preparing for the dangers of poor visibility, buffeting winds and even the possibility of an emergency landing among polar bears. Luckily, everything went off without a hitch. The duo reached the pole, successfully refuelled at Barneo, and are now in Norway before the last leg of their journey. Jan Velinger spoke to pilot Richard Santus by phone to Svalbard, asking him what it was like to reach the North Pole. encr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas)webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) https://english.radio.cz/sites/default/files/images/expedice_severni_pol2.jpg?timestamp=1591376931 https://english.radio.cz/vintage-czech-aircraft-reaches-north-pole-8597375 Radio Prague International Radio Prague International radio.prague.int@gmail.com clean 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9