Luftwaffe Dornier 17 at Goodwin Sands 'still intact'

Luftwaffe Dornier 17 at Goodwin Sands 'still intact'

More details here of the rare Second World War German bomber that was discovered in remarkably complete condition beneath the shifting sands off the south coast of England back in September.

I posted about that initial find at the time and since then things seemed to have moved forward somewhat; a clearer picture of the state of the wreck is emerging and appears to confirm the original impression that it is by and large intact, missing only the parts that one might expect from an aircraft that has been on the seabed for the past 70 years after a forced water landing.

I'm pleased to see a place has already been earmarked for it in a new Battle of Britain display, less so that it has already become an attraction for unscrupulous souvenir hunters - let us hope that the monies required to raise the aircraft are quickly accrued and the thoughtless vandals found and prosecuted before too much damage, either natural or man-made, is done.  I also understand the thinking, now that it has been fully explained, behind keeping it very much as it is rather than fully restoring it.  By leaving it absolutely original it will save a lot of money, stop it from becoming little more than a reproduction and certainly add to its story!

All in all a one-of-a-kind, historically valuable aeroplane is on the verge of seeing the light of day for the first time in seven decades and will hopefully take its place alongside the remaining extant players of the Battle of Britain for us all to appreciate.

It suddenly occurred to me that, stored away somewhere, I had an old Airfix model of the aeroplane in question.  So having temporarily liberated it from its sadly currently moth-balled box, I present my own example of the Dornier Do-17Z.