Halley 5 Model

The model was made for BAS by 3D Services, Peterborough, in June 1999 and was used at an exhibition at the Royal Society in London. After that it was in the BAS foyer for a while. Everything is to a 1:100 scale except the SHARE radar aerials which are at 1:200 and the dynasonde (AIS) 40 m aerials which are at 1:300 scale.

Photographed by Andy Smith at Fulchers of Cambridge warehouse, 28 April 2005

By May 2005 the model was surplus to BAS requirements would have been thrown on the tip, had it not been acquired by Dave Brown. who helped to build the real thing in 1993. He now has the model at his house near Budapest, Hungary, only 600m from the Danube, and would welcome fids who wish to call in and see it.

On moving the model from Cambridge to Budapest he comments:

All in all a bit of a breeze compared to some of the problems I had at Halley during the winter. The PACE aerials bring back a few memories of being drunk at the bar during mid-winter and having to go out and repair the antennae in -40, the best and worst for sure! [19 May 2005]

A later update:

The model here in Hungary is just fine and still creates much interest amongst the locals. Often a guy will turn up straight from the local drinking house worse for Palinka (vodka), and request to take a look! They all have the same question, " how did we get it from the UK " and furthermore " how did we get it into the room ". [15 January 2006]

Another later update:

Just a quick note to tell you the Halley 5 model is fine, still in the same place as you saw it in at my home in Hungary. I have 3 children now, 10, 8 & 5 they often invite their friends to take a look at the model. [26 January 2017]

Note added November 2022:

When Dave Brown relocated from Hungary back to the UK, he no longer had space for the model at home, so he arranged for it to be shipped back from Hungary and in 2022 donated it to the Science Museum where it will serve as a permanent indicator of how Antarctic research was carried out around the turn of the twentieth century. [Ed. 12 Nov 2022]

Note added March 2023:

The model was condition checked by conservators and accepted by the Science Museum in November 2022. Its catalogue entry may be found here. [Ed. 12 March 2023]