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The desert gives up one of the RAF's finest.. vandals have found it.
Fascinating thread been running over on Flypast originating from photos that have appeared on a Polish modelling site following the discovery of a downed RAF P-40 in remarkable condition, shades of Lady Be Good...
Photos here WWW.KONRADUS.COM - LOTNICTWO - Znalezisko And also films of the wreck.. I just hope it is rescued before being stripped.. It deserves a place in a museum. |
Been runnin; here too: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...ra-desert.html
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Looks in remarkable condition given the time it has been out there. Lets hope it can be preserved for all to see without any treasure hunters getting their hands on it or is that too late?
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I really hope that the aircraft and the integrity of the site is preserved - there appears to be an absolute wealth of information about the aircraft, the pilot and its mission...and from teh photos, it shows how effective camoflague is after 70 years!
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- there appears to be an absolute wealth of information about the aircraft, the pilot and its mission... |
Fareastdriver,
The data plate appears to be missing from the P-40, but it is a possibility that it is serial ET574. See following from page 14 onwards. P-40 from Sahara - Page 14 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums On 28/6/42 ET574 Piloted by F/Sgt DCH Copping 785025 left 260 for a ferry flight to an RSU . The A/C flew with u/c locked down due to damage . An incorrect course was set and the A/C was thought to have crashed in the Desert due to fuel exhaustion. F/Sgt Copping is listed as missing on that date. |
Thank you for that.
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No problem, Fareastdriver.
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Does it look possible that this P40 landed with its gear down?
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tail wheel is down...
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Does it look possible that this P40 landed with its gear down? |
Right up until it hit that batch of rocks at the end of its run... then the main gear broke backwards, landing it on its belly.
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One of the suggestions are that the aircraft was being ferried with the wheels down. However, if the aircraft was force landing with either battle damage or otherwise unservicable would he not have put the gear down to absorb the first shock. The scenery, if, as it was sixty years ago, might have looked more inviting for wheels than the belly.
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Except that the wheels are about 150m behind the aircraft at the beginning of the debris field....
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P40 Kittyhawk found in the desert
Here is a good link to a Canadian Warbird site that flies a preserved P40 in the exact markings of the lost aircraft. They have enhanced one of the pictures toshow the markings HS-B and picture of a later HS-B in a 260 Sqn line up in1942. The RAF used Tomahawks, Warhawks and Kittyhawks all variations of the P40 (most US aircraft names were given bythe British)
Original Kittyhawk HS-B Discovered > Vintage Wings of Canada |
The first video showed people trying very hard to open the canopy.
Surely, if the pilot survived, he wouldn't have returned to close the canopy. Pilot listed as missing which is strange, so his body not in the cockpit. The sceptic in me is saying is this an elaborate hoax? |
If you read the thread on Flypast you will find some interesting points, Pilots chute found opened by the nose of the aircraft , chute D ring on aft side of wing as if rigged up as sun shelter possibly, flares are outside the cockpit, the Radio is out of the aircraft and the cover has been bent back, the damaged battery is also outside the aircraft near the radio, so one surmises he may have been taking shelter whilst trying to get the radio working to send out an SOS.. also clock is missing, for navigation? you can see all of these on the high res picture link.
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I wander as to the state of the ammunition that you see been carried off? What are the chances of that working correctly after a 70 year baking and cooling cycle?
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Would it have been armed, for a gear down ferry flight?
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One would have thought in a war zone one would want the best chance you could to defend yourself, gear down or not.
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Update
Bruce, The P40 was on a rocky escarpment. No sand dunes anywhere and literally in the middle of nowhere as you would expect. Have also been given the OK to confirm that the Royal Air Force Museum are actively pursuing this P40 (which is probably not surprising for most of us) with the intention to recover and conserve. This is being discussed and dealt with at the highest levels. Paul, have also been told it left LG09 and probably in the morning to take two damaged P40's to 53RFU and return with two replacements. As for it being recovered, it was still there yesterday :-) regards Mark Bruce It is a two pronged approach. The RAFM are very interested in the P40 due to its obvious historic significance to the RAF. Due to its location, the MOD are looking at the information available as there is a high probability that there that there is a missing Commonwealth pilot, WHOEVER he is. (Just due to its very remote location). The ID is critical and should be confirmed this week. Would love it to be sooner but will have to wait. Mark Looks like it may be coming home, hope they locate the missing pilot ( if he is ) and allow a family some closure. |
Latest view, the vandals have found her :sad:
70 years it has sat there undisturbed.... YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. :( |
You tube link doesn't seem to work for me.
What have the bxxxxxd's done to her ? You have to wonder about the mentality of some people that they can't leave something like this alone and in one piece. |
Try
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So after sitting undisturbed in the desert for 70 years, it gets smashed up and robbed by arseholes in 7 weeks. :ugh:
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With the added publicity of this in the DM and on the BBC today, lets hope this aircraft is recovered is soon as possible. Before it gets even more vandalised.
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Yup, was in the Telegraph too, the hope is that the publicity pushes it, and also that the pilot is located and given a final resting place. So sad to see it getting vandalised, it is at its most precarious point in its 70 year life.
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P40 in the desert.
Yep what a bunch of dick's to smash it up like that, I saw some early photos of her & she looked great, and now it had been wrecked. Even an arsehole should have thought---[ wait a min this thing could be special,] but no what do they do, throw something through the cockpit canopy & tear open every hatch they can find. once the strong desert winds get into her now she will be torn apart!!. It happens all to often all over the world. by the time it gets to being rescued it will be totaly ******. A huge shame to the Aero world.
Also it was clear to me it was the real deal right from the start & should have been to anyone who knows anything about anything! |
Getting worse, latest news..
Thieves are already at work With sadness and anger we get the news from our friends living in the oasis of Baharya, that in the only weekend 18/19 May 2012, arrived at the oasis three cars (not SUVs) with four persons each and that they have asked around to be taken to the P40. Moreover they have paid an amount equal to three times the cost of a standard 4x4 excursions in the desert. It seems that these "looters" have already taken steps to remove pieces and parts of the wreck. We have been told that these "looters" had with them, the geographic coordinates of P40 bought from...... "someone". We are convinced that Mr. ………. (self declared the discoverer of the wreck of the P40 who irresponsibly prematurely published the news of the find, who has sold photos, movies and aircraft position, to the press agency is the one of the responsibles for the carnage that will be made of the wreck of the P40. P-40 from Sahara - Page 33 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums |
Its a crying shame! Right from the begining you can see they had no intention of trying to keep it as it were discovered. In the very first moments of its discovery one of the idiot's throw a piece of the engine through the side of the cockpit. Makes you mad for sure. but what can we do? I have the coordinates !
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Relatively intact Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk found in Sahara
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Blimey, not another one :rolleyes:
S-D |
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KITTYHAWK FOUND IN EGYPTIAN DESERT
WWII fighter plane hailed the 'aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb' found preserved in the Sahara - Telegraph#
Hi, The plane was apparently found in the southern part of Egypt,close to Sudan border. Is there anyone (maybe ex-RAF 260th sqdr)who has info on the exact planned route of the plane ,from which airbase to which airbase and timings of the flight? Any update on the recovery of the plane? Thks Grtz:D |
This aircraft has already been the subject of 4 other threads here on PPRuNe:
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...ra-desert.html http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...fs-finest.html http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...nd-desert.html http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/485110-sands-time.html Talk about pointless duplication. :rolleyes: |
Does anyone know if it was rescued or ripped apart by locals for scrap???
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The damage has apparently stopped and the RAF museum is working on bringing it home, see
P-40 from Sahara - Page 36 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums |
Any news on this event? The last I heard was that they had found some human remains about 8 k from the aircraft.
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It's been recovered dismantled by the RAFM and is sitting in a container at a Egyptian museum, however it has gone a bit quiet because of soe embarrassment I believe... You can see it being disMantled here
As for the pilot, well the UK appears to have no stomach to see him buried if the remains are identified, haven't even bothered to visit them and that sickens me, seems he gave is life for this country and the country cannot do the right thing by him...... Qattara - Documenti e Testimonianze - Home Page Search for his remains http://www.qattara.it/Kittyhawk_files/caption%201.pdf |
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