Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: ozrocker on May 11, 2012, 10:01:41 AM
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Pilot believed to have survived setting down in desert, possibly
walked till he died in Desert.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/11/world-war-ii-airplane-kittyhawk-p-40-sahara-crash-photos-video_n_1507828.html
:cheers: Oz
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Should be an excellent restoration candidate. They store planes out here in the AZ desert for the lack of destructive humidity.
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Better and additional photos here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142300/Crashed-plane-Second-World-War-pilot-Dennis-Copping-discovered-Sahara-desert.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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Amazing discovery! Im forwarding to my brother-in-law who works in Cario who is a former military pilot.
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Hope they find the remains of the pilot but that's pretty doubtful.
ack-ack
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Wonder what they are planing to do with the ammo? Great find and bet there are more out there undiscovered. :salute
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LOL you guys gotta keep up! This is about a month old now. The major news outlets are just picking it up.
Be sure and take much of the reporting with a grain of salt. It's all speculation on the pilot as at this point no serial number etc has been found.
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LOL you guys gotta keep up! This is about a month old now. The major news outlets are just picking it up.
nm
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It's awesome either way. An amazing find. I probably would have gotten weak in the knees if I had found it.
"A fighter plane from World War II that crashed in the Sahara 70 years ago has been unearthed, and holds clues to a missing pilot.
The Telegraph reports that the intact American-made Curtiss Kittyhawk P-40, which had remained untouched since its crash landing in 1942, was discovered by a Polish oil company worker, Jakub Perka, who was exploring a remote region of the Western Desert in Egypt, about 200 miles from the nearest town.
It is believed that the airman, Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, 24, initially survived the crash, because a parachute found at the scene looks to have been used as a makeshift shelter. But no trace of the body was found, leaving experts to believe the pilot walked away from the flight, then walked to his death in a hopeless attempt to find civilization.
A military historian, noting that there would be no reason on earth to have found the plane in the middle of the desert, hailed the find as " a quite incredible time capsule, the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb."
The Canadian website Vintage Wings of Canada said the plane was in "incredible condition," but worried about looters to the site, which happens to be on a dangerous smuggling route between Sudan and Libya.
Vintage Wings also notes that the serial number appears to be ET574, a plane previously flown by Canadian pilot Stocky Edwards. The website adds, "To say we, at Vintage Wings, are excited by this find in an understatement."
A search is planned to locate the missing pilot's body, but officials don't believe that any remains will be found. Eventually, the aircraft will be moved to London's Royal Air Force Museum."
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Poor guy. That's a horrible way to die. :salute
They shouldn't restore it, put it on display with the battle damage intact.
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It's awesome either way. An amazing find. I probably would have gotten weak in the knees if I had found it.
"A fighter plane from World War II that crashed in the Sahara 70 years ago has been unearthed, and holds clues to a missing pilot.
The Telegraph reports that the intact American-made Curtiss Kittyhawk P-40, which had remained untouched since its crash landing in 1942, was discovered by a Polish oil company worker, Jakub Perka, who was exploring a remote region of the Western Desert in Egypt, about 200 miles from the nearest town.
It is believed that the airman, Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, 24, initially survived the crash, because a parachute found at the scene looks to have been used as a makeshift shelter. But no trace of the body was found, leaving experts to believe the pilot walked away from the flight, then walked to his death in a hopeless attempt to find civilization.
A military historian, noting that there would be no reason on earth to have found the plane in the middle of the desert, hailed the find as " a quite incredible time capsule, the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb."
The Canadian website Vintage Wings of Canada said the plane was in "incredible condition," but worried about looters to the site, which happens to be on a dangerous smuggling route between Sudan and Libya.
Vintage Wings also notes that the serial number appears to be ET574, a plane previously flown by Canadian pilot Stocky Edwards. The website adds, "To say we, at Vintage Wings, are excited by this find in an understatement."
A search is planned to locate the missing pilot's body, but officials don't believe that any remains will be found. Eventually, the aircraft will be moved to London's Royal Air Force Museum."
The comment about the serial is inaccurate. Vintage Wings jumped the gun. There is no confirmation on a serial and the ID of the pilot is also speculation. Hopefully they'll recover both the plane and pilot in time.
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Not saying the serial number is correct but Copping is listed MIA.
http://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1
"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
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Imagine if we had to "navigate" in AH. (No Map) All the hordes would be hopelessly lost. :eek:
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Poor guy. That's a horrible way to die. :salute
They shouldn't restore it, put it on display with the battle damage intact.
Agreed
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The RAF museum is interested. If they get it they will probably preserve it as found. No need to restore it to fly. This one is historic. Some of the photos show actual flak damage on the fuselage.
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LOL you guys gotta keep up! This is about a month old now. The major news outlets are just picking it up.
Be sure and take much of the reporting with a grain of salt. It's all speculation on the pilot as at this point no serial number etc has been found.
Where's this scoop about the serial number being jumped and all that?