Real or Fake? P-40 found in the Sahara

[kilo delta]

This one is causing a stir on the www ..some "pics" have appeared on a Polish modellers forum of a downed P-40 that has been discovered in the Sahara. Have a look at the pics and decide for yourself...

http://www.konradus.com/forum/read.p...filtr=0&page=1


Incidentally, the OP of the thread has promised more photos of the aircraft in the coming days.

[Wittpilot]

I'm still so very skeptical about this story. The first shots taken from afar I could be easily convinced they were fake. Something about the colors and the placement.... but the close up shots are without a doubt real. So this is very interesting.... It would be somewat nice if we knew roughly where this was so we could search the ole Google Earth.

[kilo delta]

.... It would be somewat nice if we knew roughly where this was so we could search the ole Google Earth.

Google Earth images would prove inconclusive as the sands are constantly moving. It'd be great if it were real though, with 19 more buried in crates below it!

[mrogers]

Yep, to me it is real. Too real to be fake and almost too good to be true but it is. So amazingly intact all those years after WWII, I can understand the skeptical reaction of people. I would not be surprised if there are more aircraft, tanks, trucks and whatnot still there, buried in the sand.
It appears that the sand has blasted off the paint from the plane exposing the metal. It's a dry environment in the desert, so it's no wonder it has survived so remarkably intact The sahara is so vast, I would think that people would stick to estabilished routes and rarely stray off them so I would not be surprised if there are vast areas that haven't been touched since WWII.

[Bomber_12th]

There's no reason for it not to be real, and what is in the photos is an actual P-40 airframe, as no modeler or CGI artist can make anything that looks like that. If fake, you'd be talking about old wreck photos that might have been colorized, but these photos are clearly not colorized, and look to have been taken recently.

As mentioned in that original forum page, the aircraft was found while a group was searching for oil (this seems how most of these types of finds occur in the Sahara). All of the deterioration and fading of the paint matches up with what would be expected. Also, a few individuals who would be considered some of the foremost experts on the P-40, through restoring them, haven't been able to spot anything out of the ordinary, only able to confirm things. The orientation of the aircraft and surroundings in the photos also seem to be what I'd expect I would have in my images that I would take if I was walking up to/stumbling upon this for the first time - you'd instinctly want to document what it looked like to see this aircraft mysteriously residing out in the middle of nowhere, as you approached for a closer look.

I look forward to seeing what further news comes from this.

[SSI01]

Check out anything you can find on the "Lady Be Good," lost in the N. African desert in 1943 (I think) and not found until 1959 by some British oil exploration personnel. Weapons all worked, coffee in thermoses was still potable. Crew tried to hike out over the desert and were found mummified where they fell, dehydrated and eventually dead. This apparently happened because they were in a formation attacking a target in Italy, I believe, and the navigator was said to be relying on guidance from the lead bomber for navigation. When they got separated from the main formation they rapidly became lost. Headed south but misjudged their distance to home plate. Thought they were over the sea and bailed out of the aircraft thinking they were going to land in the water. The rest is history.

If you can visit the NMUSAF at WPAFB, there is a very nice exhibit indeed on LBG. Information I have seen on the internet indicates the basic aircraft still resides in Tripoli, in pieces as property of the Libyan government. With the recent change in regime it would be nice if our govt would negotiate for its return.:salute:

[Bomber_12th]

Speaking of the "Lady Be Good", these photos of it, taken in 2007, were posted on another board, to show the similar condition of the paint after spending so many years under the sun.