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Jakub Perka
The discovery of the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk in the Sahara Desert was described by one military historian as "the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb."
A remarkably well-preserved fighter plane that crashed in the Sahara Desert during World War II has been found 70 years later, shedding new light on the pilot's struggle to survive.
The American-made Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk was discovered by a Polish oil worker, Jakub Perka, who was exploring the desert in Egypt, The Telegraph newspaper reported. It was about 200 miles from the nearest town.
It is believed that the pilot, Dennis Copping, 24, ran into trouble while flying in 1942 but still managed to land the plane on the sands, the paper said.
Military historian Andy Saunders said that the British flight sergeant "must have survived the crash" because a photograph of the plane showed a parachute had been put up on the side of the plane, apparently as a form of shelter, The Telegraph reported.
"The radio and batteries were out of the plane, and it looks like he tried to get it working. If he died at the side of the plane, his remains would have been found," Saunders added. "Once he had crashed there, nobody was going to come and get him. It is more likely he tried to walk out of the desert but ended up walking to his death. It is too hideous to contemplate."
He said the discovery was "the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's tomb."
Air enthusiasts excited
The Vintage Wings of Canada website speculated that the plane had a mechanical problem, ran out of fuel or that the pilot simply got lost.
The website said there seemed to be a growing consensus that the plane's serial number was ET 574, based on what could be made out from photographs. If this is confirmed, the website said it was possible that Canadian flying ace James "Stocky" Edwards had previously flown the fighter.
Jakub Perka
The plane's cockpit is in remarkable though dusty condition.
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"To say we, at Vintage Wings, are excited by this find is an understatement," the website said.
It expressed concern the plane had been "seriously vandalized -- a travesty the whole aviation world seems unable to stop."
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Michael Creane of the Royal Air Force Museum in London, U.K., told NBC News that it was "incredible" the plane had not been submerged by the shifting sands of the desert.
He said the museum was "hell-bent" on bringing the aircraft to the facility, although he said there were "lots of hoops to jump through."
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Leave a Comment:
Pics or it didn't happen.
Click on the vintage wings link. Lots of pics.
There are no pictures of the Revolutionary War. Does that mean it didn't happen?
Why is C-/D+ the new A in journalism. Is it the schools, the parents, the kids, or society in general? Nobody cares to proof an article. In grad school I got destroyed on papers as a business major. They had to be perfect. I saw a professor write on KISS in giant red letters across a paper to make a point once. I guess today that would be abusive and destroying someone's self-esteem. This article deserved better.
Because in today's liberal society, even losers get trophies...So in today's society, a C-/D is good enough.
"You know what they call those that come in 2nd place? First Loser."
-BUDS/UDT trainer
boy, they got that headline changed in a hurry once pretty much everyone on the board jumped all over the "jet" fighter part of it, didn't they?
50Pascals brought up a good point! He said if the plane was vandalized, then it WASN'T recently discovered!
Mike,
"Spell check" is just that, it is not a grammatical check.
The plane, like the Lady Be Good, was very likely covered by drifting sand and then exposed when the sand was blown off of it.
@ model railroad man:
Per the article, the plane was vandalized after it was discovered.
Hey BubbaGump, be careful of being too dependent on that spell check. I through the ball threw the window. try that out on the spell check.
While I am not a fan of video stories, as they take too long to view, inflict a sponsor's message upon us, instead of in print as this one was, I do think a photo or two of the plane itself would have been a great addition to this story. As it is, the reader is left hanging.
Was this the same one that Captain America was found on frozen??? LOL! Cool artifact...
Only the British could rename a WARHAWK a 'kitty'.....not cool Brits, not cool.
The plane was also called the Tomahawk. Depends on the variant being discussed. The Brits named it after the site of the Wright bros 1st flight... Kittyhawk, N.C. The tended to rename the U.S. equipment provided to them via the LendLease program. The F3F Wildcat became the Martlet, the A-20 became the Boston, and so on.
@ southernpride:
It was the Douglas F6F Wildcat.
C-47 Skytrain = Dakota, AT-6 Texan = Harvard
Grumman F6F Wildcat.
I thought the f4f was the Wildcat and the f6f was the Hellcat.
xvet
Close encounters of the third kind.
Gotta love well educated journalist. "The Vintage Wings of Canada website speculated that the plane had a mechanical problem, ran out of fuel or that the pilot simply got lost." Duh! Wait, no, he landed there because he just was tired of flying... LOL. I hope where ever he is, he couldn't read the article.
May you rest in peace my dear aviator. Thank you for your service.
Yeah ......Looks like a great place to land and take in the view ....
Ahhhh, to find George 'W' 60+ years from now, a dryed up mummy (Dummy?) in the desert, still hugging his Menorah and his 9-blade (autographed) boy scout knife, given to him by none other than Ariel Sharon still in his flight boot - What pleasure!
Anyone ever read The English Patient? Maybe we've got an Almasy on our hands...
Someone else mentioned "The Lady Be Good", however it was NOT a B-17. It was a B-24. Nicknamed "The Ghost Plane". If you really want a mind boggling true story, look up that ships saga. It went down in southern Libya. The story of the P-40 wouldn't make a pimple on the ghost ship.
Sergeant Lane
SSG Donald E. Lane,
Did you spend time in Libya?
Once again we are reminded just how big our little world really is, Remaining unfound for 70 years in the desert. A great find providing a glimpse back into time and possibly a piece of evidence that may someday lead to the discovery of the brave sould that piloted this aircraft so that he may be given a proper burial.
Cool discovery. Must be a fun place, that old Sahara, for that plane to sit there for 70 years and just now be "discovered."
Man what a crappy death .......dehydration no doubt. He had to realize he would not live long just sitting there...... RIP Dennis Copping .
I find it amusing that, conservatively, 6 out of 10 of the posters on here complaining about the error in the original headline, themselves have grammatical, punctuation, and/or spelling errors in their own posts! So much for their perfection!
Just goes to show, that when people make a comment they do not know how to read the comment box. They fail to read the ABC checkmark and proof read their statements.
The difference being that the people making comments about the article did not get paid to make those comments while the person who wrote the article did get paid, Further most likely the majority of people making comments are not journalists and in fact have some other type of employment where spelling/grammar/punctuation is not quite as critical.
@ LostInThePineBarrens:
The need for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation is present in every walk of life. Have you ever written a resume' ? Or filled out a job application?
But, more importantly, it is the lack of effort to do the research combined with a lack of pride in doing something correctly.
@ LostInThePineBarrens:
Paid or not, if one is going to critique someone else then he or she should strive to be absolutely correct in their criticism !
@ hdrider
Spot on, Sir, although correct English and grammar seem to be a lost art in this country these days!
Hmmm, Close Encounters material.
I spent a lot of time in the Libyan Desert
with the U.S. Army. I was always amazed at how well preserved and active the armaments
from WWII were. The Lady B Good has some Twilight Zone stories to go with it.
Guppy
well there should not be a spot of rust on that plane , the poor pilot probably will never be found .
The institute was saddened because the plane had been vandalized. Well let's see, 70 years in the desert where bedouins scaveged whatever they could for their survival makes sense to me. Why would they leave it sitting there untouched? That is not their nature, but just finding it and hopefully bringing it back to a museum is exciting regardless of its condition.
As far as msnbc making more journalistic boo-boos, well that is their calling card, which is why so few people watch their news.
wow what a bunch of knuckle heads!!!!! not once was this plane or the headline even mention JET you all need to learn how really read before making dumb comments on a story
AAaand unknowntoyou comes to the table AFTER they cleaned up the article...There is a reason why these posts early in the AM talk about the 'jet' nomenclature...
Cool...
BTW, I just reread this post as well as the by line, andi didn't see one single comment about this being a jet fighter. Where is everyone getting that from?
The original headline - the one in place for much of the morning - said something like "WWII fighter jet found in Sahara." MSNBC finally fixed it sometime around 10 a.m. Eastern time. I'm guessing the headline was written by a young person with no particular interest in or knowledge of aircraft who thought "jet" was simply a synonym for "plane."
It so sad that they weren't able to find his body. Even after 70 years his remaining family must have some small hope that he may have walked out or was found by someone. Maybe he lost his memory...so many things go through your head.
My Great Uncle, Reber Courson, went down over the North Sea on a classified mission. His plane was never found, his body never found, his crew's never found and for decades there was always that small hope for my Great Grandmother, my Grandmother and even my mom that he somehow survived and just couldn't let them know.
My sisters and I grew up on stories of Uncle Reber; how he flew for 3 countries in their air forces, how fun loving and dedicated he was to helping as many as he could during the war, how he almost mistook a whale for a submarine on one of his first missions and so much more. We got to read his letters and see his photos so we got to know him and, even after 70 years, we're still proud of him.
My heart goes out to any family he has left and I hope that one day they are able to recover his body. The lack of closure lingers even to those who didn't get to meet them personally.
He's at peace with his maker and you will be reunited with his spirit that's all that matters.