P-40 Warhawk Forums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFe8CsOdoG8&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9LsK74J_W0

Apparently a Polish oil exploration party in Egypt has stumbled across the crash site of a P-40.  It appears to be a Kittyhawk Mk1a of 260 squadron.  The airplane is in remarkable condition for being in the desert for 70 years.  Hopefully it will be recovered and restored.

Mark

It is in great shape but those morons are tearing it up.
Hopefully it can be recovered, studied, and restored befor they strip it completely....

A full set of photos.  I so much hope that this can be saved and restored.
It already looks like the ring sight got stolen since the video....

https://picasaweb.google.com/114682566226043469349/Zdj_samolot?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKjxkt6rkNTFKg&feat=directlink# (https://picasaweb.google.com/114682566226043469349/Zdj_samolot?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKjxkt6rkNTFKg&feat=directlink#)

What an unbelievable set of photographs :).   So much can be learned from that airframe; it's almost like a time machine.  It probably won't be long before we learn the identity of its pilot.  Unfortunately, it's likely he survived the landing but perished in the desert. Hopefully I'm mistaken about that last part.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1335282042/Sahara+P-40.+Loads+More+Photos

This news just makes me drool, some one please step in and rescue the little gem.

Hopefully this plane can be rescued at some point soon.  Wouldn't think there would be too much deterioration of the metal being in the desert.

This is a new video.
It's sad but you can see souvenir hunters are already getting into it
Now all the canopy glass has been broken out.
Ring sight has been torn off.  Also, the top left cowling is now loose and could blow away now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzkevVbZL0s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzkevVbZL0s)

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/357/language/en-CA/Original-Kittyhawk-HS-B-Discovered.aspx

I've read that the Egyptian military sent in some of their people to take out the live ammunition, don't know if they also removed the guns or not, but I don't think so.  Don't know if they broke the glass or if that could've happened during some sandstorms?  Doesn't look like too much sand in the cockpit.  If the cockpit would fill up with sand, it might actually help preserve the items in the cockpit instead of being open to the elements.

The first photos and videos show that the front windscreen and sliding canopy had no broken glass, only scored due to the sand.  The rear quarter windows were broken, pehaps from the original crash?

The glass can be replaced by restoration experts but it's sad that the ring sight will have to be remade along with a few items that may have been taken.  We just need to get it in a protected environment....soon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/9256879/WWII-fighter-plane-hailed-the-aviation-equivalent-of-Tutankhamuns-Tomb-found-preserved-in-the-Sahara.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/9256879/WWII-fighter-plane-hailed-the-aviation-equivalent-of-Tutankhamuns-Tomb-found-preserved-in-the-Sahara.html)

I've been so preoccupied with the preservation of the aircraft that I have lost touch with the fact that the pilot (if he is D. Copping) most likely died out there.
Sad and horrible way to die.  Hope this may give his family some closure...

Here's an interesting article about Denis Copping, believed to be the pilot:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143592/My-Uncle-Denis-pilot-plane-time-forgot-First-pictures-man-crash-landed-plane-Sahara-walked-sands-death.html

Mark

The A/C is indeed ET574  Flown by Flt Sgt Copping . I first mentioned this as a possibility on Hyperscale on 24th April
The A/C has been positively ID now

Cheers
     Terry McGrady

I suppose the turmoil in Egypt right now is only complicating matters.
I just hope they find him and return him home and that the wreck can be studied and moved before it gets stripped down by scavengers....

It looks as though they found him.
If it is true, after 70 years he can go home...
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=116221&page=36 (http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=116221&page=36)


It s simply unbelievable that they found him in that huge desert
http://www.qattara.it/60-173%20Kittyhawk.htm (http://www.qattara.it/60-173%20Kittyhawk.htm)

While I am happy that Sgt. Copping may have himself been found, I am also angered about what is happening to his Kittyhawk.  If you look at the second link above, you can see that almost all of the instrument faces are now broken and some of the indicator needles have been plundered.  The ring sight was removed or torn off and even the front armor glass looks like it's been hit with a hammer!  This a rare thing that will never been seen again.  It should have been protected against people that just don't understand how significant it is.

BTW, today is the 70th anniversary of the day he went missing....

I have heard that the pilots remains have been found not far from the plane, I have not been able to confirm this news but it seems to be correct.

One more tragedy of war.