Thread: RAF Kittyhawk fighter frozen in time

Found this to be an amazing find!



An RAF fighter plane thought lost in the sands of time after its pilot crash landed in the desert during World War Two has been discovered in what has been described as the "aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb". The almost perfectly preserved Kittyhawk P-40 is an aviation time capsule that has remained unseen and untouched since it came down in the Sahara in June 1942.



The single-seater fighter plane was discovered by chance by Polish oil company worker Jakub Perka exploring a remote region of the Western Desert in Egypt. The location is about 200 miles from the nearest town.



Most of its cockpit instruments are intact and it still had it guns and ammunition before they were seized by the Egyptian military for safety reasons.



It is thought the pilot 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. The RAF airman, believed to have been Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, 24, was never seen again.



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. A search will be launched in the slim hope of finding the remains of the lost airman.



The defence attache at the British embassy in Cairo is due to visit the scene in the near future in order to officially confirm its discovery and serial number. But there are fears over what will be left of it after locals began stripping parts and instruments from the cockpit for souvenirs and scrap.



Historians are urging the British government to step in sooner rather than later and have the scene declared as a war grave so it can be protected before the plane is recovered.