​One of the reasons I took this vacuum cleaner to the Antarctic with me was that it had runners on it like a sledge. The design was to enable it to slide across thick pile carpet.

The box in the foreground is an "Airfix" model of an "Auster Antarctic" , an early aircraft used in Antarctica. In the distance is a "Twin Otter" , the contemporary transport plane used by British Antarctic survey.

​Airfix model aeroplane in flight.

​The vacuum cleaner had to pass an electrical safety test in the Antarctic and the pass sticker even has "Antarctic " written on it which kind of authenticates it. The hose passes through a 35mil camera fixed to a tripod. This enabled the hose to be directed accurately at the model aeroplane.

Photo: Jason Lee

(film 1 min.)

Vacuum cleaner being loaded onto the transport plane

Genuine been to the Antarctic vacuum cleaner, P.A.T. tested by the British Antarctic Survey