Lesson 66 Sweet ashoney!
In 1963 a Lancaster bomber crashed on WallisIsland, a remote place in the South Pacific, a long way west of Samoa.The plane wasn't too badly damaged, but over the years, the crash was forgottenand the wreckremainedundisturbed.Then in 1989, twenty-six years after the crash, theplane was accidentally rediscovered in an aerial survey of the island.By this time, a Lancasterbomber in reasonable condition was rare andworth rescuing. The French authorities had the plane packagedand moved in partsback to France. Now a group ofenthusiastsare going to have the plane restored. It has fourRolls-Royce Merlin engines, but the group will need to have only three of themrebuilt. Imagine their surprise and delight when they broke open the packingcases and found that the fourthengine was sweet as honey -- still in perfect condition. A colony of bees hadturned the engine into ahiveand it was totallypreservedin beeswax!
ɪn 1963 ə ˈlæŋkəstə ˈbɒmə kræʃt ɒn ˈwɒlɪs ˈaɪlənd, ə rɪˈməʊt pleɪs ɪn ðə saʊθ pəˈsɪfɪk, ə lɒŋ weɪ wɛst ɒv səˈməʊə. ðə pleɪn wɒznttuː ˈbædli ˈdæmɪʤd, bʌt ˈəʊvə ðə jɪəz, ðə kræʃ wɒz fəˈgɒtn ænd ðə rɛk rɪˈmeɪnd ˌʌndɪˈstɜːbd. ðɛn ɪn 1989, ˈtwɛnti-sɪks jɪəz ˈɑːftəðə kræʃ, ðə pleɪn wɒz ˌæksɪˈdɛntəli ˌriːdɪsˈkʌvəd ɪn ən ˈeərɪəl ˈsɜːveɪ ɒv ði ˈaɪlənd. baɪ ðɪs taɪm, ə ˈlæŋkəstə ˈbɒmər ɪn ˈriːznəbl kənˈdɪʃən wɒz reər ænd wɜːθ ˈrɛskjuːɪŋ. ðə frɛnʧ ɔːˈθɒrɪtiz hæd ðə pleɪn ˈpækɪʤd ænd muːvd ɪn pɑːts bæk tuː ˈfrɑːns. naʊ əgruːp ɒv ɪnˈθjuːzɪæsts ɑː ˈgəʊɪŋ tuː hæv ðə pleɪn rɪsˈtɔːd. ɪt hæz fɔː rəʊlz-rɔɪs ˈmɜːlɪn ˈɛnʤɪnz, bʌt ðə gruːp wɪl niːd tuː hævˈəʊnli θriː ɒv ðɛm ˌriːˈbɪlt. ɪˈmæʤɪn ðeə səˈpraɪz ænd dɪˈlaɪt wɛn ðeɪ brəʊk ˈəʊpən ðə ˈpækɪŋ ˈkeɪsɪz ænd faʊnd ðæt ðə fɔːθˈɛnʤɪn wɒz swiːt æz ˈhʌni -- stɪl ɪn ˈpɜːfɪkt kənˈdɪʃən. ə ˈkɒləni ɒv biːz hæd tɜːnd ði ˈɛnʤɪn ˈɪntuː ə haɪv ænd ɪt wɒz ˈtəʊtliprɪˈzɜːvd ɪn ˈbiːzwæks!
