WWII Dornier bomber raised from English Channel

WWII Dornier bomber raised from English Channel

I expect many of my readers who are based in the U.K. will have been following this story as I have (and I'm sure overseas readers will be interested to hear about this project too), but only now do I feel justified in posting about it since it has (finally!) ended in practically complete success.

I can hardly believe that it has been nearly 3 years since I featured on this blog the news that the only known intact example of a Second World War German Dornier 17 bomber had been discovered resting in shallow water off the Kent coast.  In that time numerous dives had been made to study the wreck and devise a way to raise it from the Goodwin Sands - a plan that was put into action (as originally envisaged) last month.

Dornier 17: Salvaging a rare WWII plane from the seabed

source

Alas the English Channel was not keen to relinquish its grasp of this aeroplane and it has taken until now - over a month from the anticipated salvage date - for it to finally see daylight for the first time in 70 years.  It has been a remarkable feat of engineering - not to mention patience! - to bring this aircraft out of the sea in as near as dammit one piece and one that very nearly looked like not coming off at all.  Thankfully all the time and money invested in this endeavour looks to have been worth it as the world's only extant Do17 airframe begins its new journey to the RAF Museum at Cosford, where it will undergo extensive restoration over the next two years and then eventually form a suitable counterpoint in the Battle of Britain exhibit at the Hendon museum.  Quite what form this will take I'm not sure, as I had thought the original plan was to keep it pretty much as it was found and the museum website talks about "conserving" it, but maybe they feel a full restoration is possible and desirable.  No doubt we shall see come 2015!  I shall look forward to continuing to follow Dornier 17 5K+AR's story over the next two years and hope to see it, in whatever form, at the RAF Museum in the future.