WW2 RAF fighter found in Sahara Desert

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Amazing story and photos.
 
Sad about the pilot ... no chance of his remains being found I suspect.

The airframe seems to be in great condition after so many years in the open.
 
One comment suggests it's a hoax. No RAF decals, no engine crank, cooler hoses etc..

What isn't clear to me is was the plane only recently uncovered by the shifting sands? Otherwise it is hard to understand how it wasn't spotted before. I'm sure the desert must have been surveyed from the air many times?
 
Could be a hoax. But it's a small single-seat aircraft that would have been painted in camouflage colours, so pretty easy to miss I think.

There have been a couple of other big desert discoveries ... a large four-engined bomber that was there for 15 years (the B-24 "Lady Be Good"), and a single-engined biplane that came down in 1933 and and was found in 1962 (Bill Lancaster's Avro Avian).
 
The thing about military intelligence and aerial photography is that you can't really find something unless you are actually looking for it. A causal glance over an aerial (or satellite) image will not reveal it, unless you are specifically looking for the remains of a camouflaged aeroplane.

And as someone who flew over the Sahara on several occasions - or 'Sea of Sand' as the ancient Egyptians called it - it is really really vast, I can easily believe that it was resting there undiscovered. I am also quite certain that there are others. If it is out of the caravan routes, no one will ever see it other than by pure chance (oil company workers, in this case).
 
whitenemesis said:
One comment suggests it's a hoax. No RAF decals, no engine crank, cooler hoses etc..

What isn't clear to me is was the plane only recently uncovered by the shifting sands? Otherwise it is hard to understand how it wasn't spotted before. I'm sure the desert must have been surveyed from the air many times?
Click to expand...


With regards to decals, you may be underestimating the abrasive nature of wind and sand over 70 years...
 
markjay said:
With regards to decals, you may be underestimating the abrasive nature of wind and sand over 70 years...
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a hoax, merely relaying one of the comments. But unless the plane was recently uncovered by shifting sands I'm surprised there's any paint left on it at all!!
 
I saw the news report about this i think on friday and was amazed that all the amunition and weapons were still on it you saw the experts removing them from the wings. Was odd though that the propeller appeared to be only 10 or so feet behind the airframe in the sand, but the aircraft appeared to be in quite good condition. Arrangements are being made to return the aircraft to the uk for restoration..
 
Propelleors often comes off in crash landings - the nose digs into the ground. Especially if the landing gear was not lowered, which is reasonable when landing on sand.
 
Yeah true but the nose did not appear as damaged as i would expect if belly flopping on sand which is like hitting a brick wall. And spinning probs when they come off and still rotating i would have expected it to be off to one side by cartwheeling not lying behind the aircraft..George.
 
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