discussion P-40 discovered in the Sahara

[Guest]

I'm sure most of us have seen this by now:

WWII fighter plane hailed the 'aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb' found preserved in the Sahara - Telegraph

There was specualtion that it was faked, and that this was a well-photographed diorama; if so, it's waaaaay outside of my modelling skills!

 

[Guest]

Im pretty sure it is real. Their are loads of different pics of this all over the net.

 

[stona]

It's definitely for real. There are some more pictures here.

Original Kittyhawk HS-B Discovered > Vintage Wings of Canada

Terry McGrady has made a tentative identification of the aircraft and pilot,somewhat reinforced by the forced landing appearing to have been made with wheels down.

He wrote.

"On 28th June 1942 ET574 piloted by Flt Sgt D.C.H. Copping 785025 left 260 to fly to an RSU. The A/C flew with the U/C locked down owing to damage.

Flt Sgt Copping set the wrong course and was thought to have crashed in the Desert owing to fuel exhaustion . FLt Sgt Copping listed as missing on this day .

I'm not saying that this was the A/C concerned , but it MIGHT have been"

Cheers

Steve

 

[Ian M]

I have often wondered what treasures are hidden in the sands of the desert after seeing a program on't tele where a camp was in danger of being overrun of a sand dune. They said some thing about it could of been upto a hundred years before it could reappear. I was not expecting any one to just fine one laying around on the sruface..

Thanks for sharing.

Ian M

 

[stona]

The P-40 has probably been covered and uncovered by shifting sands during the last seventy years.

When found originally the canopy was closed,as left by the unfortunate pilot when he abandoned it. You can see that some areas of the airframe have been scoured back to bare metal and the plexiglass has been abraded.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Guest]

More about it here, Crashed plane of Second World War pilot Dennis Copping discovered in the Sahara desert | Mail Online would be great if it could be restored back to flying status - no doubt someone will do it up to flying condition.

cheers,

Ivor

 

[stona]

I don't think that this aircraft has definitely been identified as Copping's. You'll notice that McGrady was careful to suggest that Copping's loss MIGHT fit the facts.

Hopefully a positive identification will be made eventually.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Guest]

If Hendon do get it, it's highly unlikely to fly again; that would only happen if it went into private hands.

 

[Guest]

i find the whole story fascinating and the p-40 is one of my fave aircraft

 

[Guest]

I found the idiotic speculation about the fakery totally hilarious. So may armchair photo analysts came out of the woodwork claiming it was fake because of this fault in the shadow or that bit of pixelation... as someone who has worked with digital imagery for some considerable time (and been employed at times to fake up photos) I found all the speculation ridiculous but hilarious. Then video arrived and the "experts" suddenly went very very quiet

 

[stona]

Would it be worth restoring to flying condition? A life size diorama,something along the lines of the Bf109E at Duxford might be more appropriate. There are several P-40s already in flying condition.

Laurie I saw someone suggesting fakery quite recently on a forum which will remain nameless to protect the guilty,or gormless.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Guest]

Does Hendon have a P-40? If not, IMHO, this one would be ideal for full restoration and static display, given that it's not a wreck like their Halifax. I'd rather see her on her own 2 legs, rather than on a sandy diorama! If it were in private hands, then yes, I think it should be restored to flyable; there may well be several P-40s flying, but not in this country. Again, given the relative lack of decay, it could easily be done (given the money, of course!)

 

[Guest]

it could easily be done (given the money, of course!)

What we need is a mega rich person (or persons, or companies, or organisations) that has an interest in historical restoration to invest the money in such things ...instead of creating seemingly pointless feats of engineering (giving terrorists another vantage point for the olympics) costing 20 odd million quid like the ArcelorMittal Orbit ..

Stepping off soapbox now....

 

[Guest]

Oh you mean the biggest Meccano construction in history?

 

[Guest]

Thats the one Andrew ... i could think of better ways of spending that much ... hospitals, schools, colleges, libraries, childrens homes .. ooooh the list goes on

 

[Guest]

Thread creep! (But I agree with you)

 

[Guest]

Thread creep! (But I agree with you)

sorry (and thankyou)

 

[stona]

To bring this up to date the aircraft has been confirmed as Terry McGrady's original suspect. It is a Kittyhawk IA,serial number ET574, flown by Flt Sgt Dennis Copping.

Copping was flying the aircraft to 53 RSU,the undercarriage would not retract,accompanied by a Sgt Shepherd in another Kittyhawk. Copping set the wrong course and Shepherd was unable to gain his attention either by radio or other means. Copping flew off to his fate in the desert.

Someone will probably stump up the cash to retrieve the aeroplane. If they ever do find Copping I hope that his family's wishes will be respected.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Guest]

I missed this last week, what an amazing find and sad story.

Do hope that Hendon get hold of this before it gets stripped by the locals. Would love to see it on display.

Cheers Colin.

 

[stona]

There is a possibility that Copping's remains have been found. Absolutely not confirmed at this time.

http://www.qattara.it/versione%20in%20arabo/TESTO%20_1_.pdf

Cheers

Steve