| [00:01.080] |
--- Lesson 66 Sweet as honey! |
| [00:07.240] |
--- First listen and then answer the question. |
| [00:13.400] |
--- What was 'sweet as honey' and why? |
| [00:20.200] |
In 1963 a Lancaster bomber crashed on Wallis Island, a remote place in the South Pacific, a long way west of Samoa. |
| [00:33.680] |
The plane wasn't too badly damaged, but over the years, the crash was forgotten and the wreck remained undisturbed. |
| [00:43.680] |
Then in 1989, twenty-six years after the crash, the plane was accidentally rediscovered in an aerial survey of the island. |
| [00:56.960] |
By this time, a Lancaster bomber in reasonable condition was rare and worth rescuing. |
| [01:05.400] |
The French authorities had the plane packaged and moved in parts back to France. |
| [01:12.960] |
Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. |
| [01:18.480] |
It has four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, but the group will need to have only three of them rebuilt. |
| [01:27.040] |
Imagine their surprise and delight when they broke open the packing cases and found that the fourth engine was sweet as honey -- still in perfect condition. |
| [01:42.240] |
A colony of bees had turned the engine into a hive and it was totally preserved in beeswax! |
| [01:53.960] |
--- end |
