Posted on 05/15/2012 4:39:47 PM PDT by SJackson
(CNN) -- As German Gen. Erwin Rommel chased British forces across the North African desert, a stray Royal Air Force fighter crashed in the blistering sands of the Egyptian Sahara on June 28, 1942. The pilot was never heard from again. The damaged Kittyhawk P-40 -- a couple of hundred miles from civilization -- was presumed lost forever.
Until now.
In what experts consider nothing short of a miracle, a Polish oil company worker recently discovered the plane believed to have been flown by missing Flight Sgt. Dennis Copping. And almost 70 years after the accident, it's extraordinarily well-preserved.
The fighter's "state of preservation is incredible," British military historian Andy Saunders told CNN. "The thing just landed there in the desert and the pilot clearly got out. ... It is a complete time capsule really (and) an exceptionally rare find. These things just don't happen."
Most of the plane's fuselage, wings, tail and cockpit instruments remain intact. For safety reasons, Egyptian officials have removed its ammunition and guns.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
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| Frozen in the sands of time: Eerie Second World War RAF fighter plane discovered in the Sahara. |
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05/12/2012 1:01:58 PM PDT · by Doogle · 39 replies Dail Mail ^ | 05/10/12 | Paul HarrisHe was hundreds of miles from civilisation, lost in the burning heat of the desert. Second World War Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping took what little he could from the RAF Kittyhawk he had just crash-landed, then wandered into the emptiness. From that day in June 1942 the mystery of what happened to the dentist’s son from Southend was lost, in every sense, in the sands of time. |
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| WWII fighter plane hailed the 'aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb' found preserved in the Sah |
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05/11/2012 10:29:11 AM PDT · by Neil E. Wright · 25 replies Telegraph UK ^ | May 10, 2012 | Richard AlleyneWWII fighter plane hailed the 'aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb' found preserved in the Sahara The Kittyhawk P-40 has remained unseen and untouched since it came down on the sand in June 1942 and has been hailed the "aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb". It is thought the pilot survived the crash and initially used his parachute for shelter before making a desperate and futile attempt to reach civilisation by walking out of the desert. The RAF airman, believed to have been Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, 24, was never seen again. The single-seater fighter plane was discovered by chance by Polish... |
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| Almost Perfectly Preserved’ WWII Fighter Discovered in Sahara Desert — 70 Years After Disappearing |
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05/11/2012 9:07:30 AM PDT · by AngelesCrestHighway · 100 replies The Blaze ^ | 05/10/12 | Becket AdamsIt’s not quite the same as the opening sequence to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” but it’s awfully close. The Daily Mail reports that a Polish oil company worker, Jakub Perka, has discovered an “almost perfectly preserved” Kittyhawk P-40 that crash-landed in the Sahara Desert in 1942. “Despite the crash impact, most of the aircraft’s cockpit instruments are intact,” according to the report. |
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| WWII Fighter Plane Hailed the 'Aviation Equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb' Found Preserved (Sahara) |
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05/10/2012 3:33:48 PM PDT · by DogByte6RER · 38 replies The Telegraph ^ | Richard AlleyneWWII fighter plane hailed the 'aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb' found preserved in the Sahara A Second World War aeroplane that crash landed in the Sahara Desert before the British pilot walked to his death has been found almost perfectly preserved 70 years later. Most of its cockpit instruments are intact and it still had it guns and ammunition before they were seized by the Egyptian military. There are also signs of the makeshift camp the pilot made alongside the fuselage. No human remains have been found but it is thought the pilot may lie within a 20 mile radius... |
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Copping’s body? Will they ever find it? Or did he settle down in the desert to become a Berber?
Surprisingly, this is not in breaking NEWS. /sarcasm
ping
He's lost to all but God.
Many years ago - 1976 to be exact, I found a completely intact P-47D that skidded under some trees in 1944 and was never found before. It was a dry wreck, i.e.,it was located on an island that almost never received rainfall, so there wasn't any real corrosion. All eight .50 caliber wing guns were still loaded with 1942 lot ammo.
Unfortunately, I told my regimental CO about it and he led a party to tear the thing apart for souvenirs. The guns are on display at the Kaneohe Bay EOD Museum today.
You need to track that CO down and kick his rear end. Even as far back as 1976, a P47 would be a rare find.
Thanks CB. I added one of the topics about this to GGG, of course, without looking for others, or realizing there’d be so many. :’)
That can’t be real, I saw “The Mummy” and it was a biplane.
“As German Gen. Erwin Rommel chased British forces across the North African desert ...”
Um, who chased who? Monty must be spinning in his grave.
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