Missing In Action....1942

[varmint]

Frozen in the sands of time: Eerie Second World War RAF fighter plane discovered in the Sahara... 70 years after it crashed in the desert

Read more: Crashed plane of Second World War pilot Dennis Copping discovered in the Sahara desert | Mail Online

[KNS]

Pretty amazing! I hope it's restored. Very cool looking photo all by itself.

[kach22i]

It looks like things came out of the engine to me.

Great images in that link, thanks for posting varmit.

[flatbutt]

Now that's a picture that tells a story without needing words.

[Joe Bob]

Too bad every Tom, Dick and Abdul are stripping it and selling the parts for scrap.....

[slodave]

Originally Posted by kach22i

It looks like things came out of the engine to me.

Great images in that link, thanks for posting varmit.

Those holes are behind the cockpit. Pretty hard for the engine to do that.

[imcarthur]

In a quick search, it looks like the plane will be salvaged. The plane had previous damage & the pilot was just ferrying it for repair.

One of the landing grounds involved was LG09 - south of El Alamein. My father flew out of there on bombing runs with the RAF 37 Sqdn around the time of the crash.

Ian

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by slodave

Those holes are behind the cockpit. Pretty hard for the engine to do that.

Right, I see it now - got turned around.



Gotta wonder if that was part of the previous damage or not.

Could have been pretty serious ground fire which went right through the craft. Could have been air to air fire too, it will be interesting to find out what the experts determine as the cause.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Too bad every Tom, Dick and Abdul are stripping it and selling the parts for scrap.....

Its being picked up and returned to England where it will be in the Imperial War Museum... its the ONLY Africa based Kittyhawk left in the world.

[rsNINESOOPER]

Hopefully they will display it as is in a setting that represents its current "as found" condition and surroundings. Arrested decay. 70 years sitting undiscovered in the desert is amazing. Losing your bearings, crashing in the world true middle of nowhere and trying to walk out goes down on the list of suck.

[Joe Bob]

The P-40 was an all metal fighter. I wonder why the ailerons and rudder just have the interior supports left?

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

The P-40 was an all metal fighter. I wonder why the ailerons and rudder just have the interior supports left?

I think they were fabric covered control surfaces, not metal.

A Curtiss thing, but other's did it too.

[Joe Bob]

That was my first guess but every P-40 searchI did, says 'all metal'....

[imcarthur]

See the 4th post (#723) here: P-40 from Sahara - Page 25 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums It is the memoir of the pilot of the other plane.

Ian

[imcarthur]

For a taste of what is was like . . . here is an article my father wrote about LG 09. I just discovered it tonight.





Ian

[futuresoptions]

Looks like the desert has preserved it fairly well, you can still make out some of the markings...

[KNS]

Ian,

Thanks for posting - any pictures..?

[imcarthur]

No, unfortunately. He didn't take any. I guess 21 year old farm boys couldn't afford the luxury of a camera. But here are his log entries for the end of June - the same time-frame as the P40 crash. The bad guys were advancing.



Ian

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

The P-40 was an all metal fighter. I wonder why the ailerons and rudder just have the interior supports left?

All the control surfaces on the P-40 were fabric covered (as were several other fighters and bombers at the time).

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

The P-40 was an all metal fighter. I wonder why the ailerons and rudder just have the interior supports left?

control surfaces were fabric covered