Aircraft join in Chinese Antarctic venture

China's annual expedition to Antarctica will feature an upgraded Douglas DC-3 fixed-wing aircraft and several unmanned aerial vehicles for the first time this year.

The reliable and versatile DC-3 - which revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s - was upgraded by US-based aircraft remanufacturer Basler and is worth more than 90 million yuan ($13 million). It left Canada, where it was undergoing maintenance, on Oct 23, said Sun Tijun, director of the Polar Research Institute of China and a member of the expedition's leadership team, said at a news briefing on Friday in Shanghai.

It will join the Chinese icebreaker Xuelong in Antarctica. The vessel is set to leave Shanghai on Nov 2.