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UnknownGuest12
May 17th, 2012, 08:56
This is about an e-mail I just received...
Hope you enjoy it....

Regards

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










Pilot of the
Kittyhawk P-40 was thought to have survived crash, but died trying to walk out
of the desert
Aircraft was
found almost perfectly preserved, unseen and untouched, after it came down in
1942
Historian
describes find as 'an incredible time capsule' and 'the aviation equivalent of
Tutankhamun's Tomb'



A Second World War plane crashed by a British
pilot in the Sahara, before he walked off to his death, has been found frozen in
time 70 years later.
Unseen and untouched, the Kittyhawk P-40 has
been described as an aviation 'time capsule' after it was found almost perfectly
preserved in the sands of the western desert in Egypt.
After
coming down in June 1942, the pilot is thought to have 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.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/10/article-2142300-1304CD36000005DC-260_964x716.jpg
Shifting sands: The final resting place of the Kittyhawk P-40 has been
discovered in the Sahara 70 years after it crashed
there



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/10/article-2142300-1304CFD6000005DC-141_964x717.jpg
Time
capsule: Aside from the damage it sustained during impact, the aircraft appears
to have been almost perfectly preserved in the sands of the
Sahara



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/10/article-2142300-1304D0E6000005DC-443_964x715.jpg
Chance
discovery: The single-seater aircraft was found by a Polish oil company worker
exploring a remote region of the western desert in
Egypt

The
RAF airman - believed to have been Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, 24 - was
never seen again. The crash site is about 200 miles from the nearest
town.
The single-seater fighter plane was discovered
by chance by Polish oil company worker Jakub Perka, who was exploring a remote
region.
Despite the crash impact, most of the
aircraft's cockpit instruments are intact. Its guns and ammunition were also
still intact before being seized by the Egyptian military for safety
reasons.
There are also signs of the makeshift camp
made by the pilot alongside the fuselage.




No human remains have been found but it is
thought the pilot's decomposed body may lay anywhere in a 20-mile radius of the
plane.
The RAF Museum at Hendon, north London, has
been made aware of the discovery and plans are underway to recover the aircraft
and display it in the future.
A search will also be launched in the slim
hope of finding the lost airman.
The
defence attache at the British embassy in Cairo is due to visit the scene in
order to officially confirm its discovery and serial number.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/10/article-2142300-1304CF21000005DC-288_964x719.jpg
At the
controls: The plane's cockpit, but there are fears over what will be left of it
after locals began stripping parts and instruments for souvenirs and
scrap




http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/10/article-2142300-1304D0BE000005DC-660_470x423.jpg



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/10/article-2142300-1304D101000005DC-735_470x423.jpg

Unseen and untouched: Equipment and controls from the plane were found
scattered around the craft at the crash site. The plane is still in very good
condition