'Flyboys' soar with vintage P-40 Warhawk

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'Flyboys' soar with vintage P-40 Warhawk 

From the isles of Kent to the hills and plains of San Diego, California now, where a fighter 'plane from a different war has also recently undergone restoration.  In this case it is a 1943 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk that has been rebuilt practically from scratch by the skilled workers and enthusiasts at the San Diego-based restoration company Flyboys Aeroworks.

There's more than just one facet to this story, however.  Not only has an important piece of historical machinery (and a dashed good fighter aircraft to boot) been restored to prime condition, an airframe previously given up to the icy conditions of the Alaskan Aleutian Islands has managed to be salvaged and used as a starting point to bring this particular example back to life.

The team at Flyboys Aeroworks are not your usual retired volunteers, either.  Many of them are apprentice engineering students from the nearby San Diego Mirimar College, putting their knowledge and skills to good use on this project and others like it.  All seem to have an interest in this era, however, and it is splendid to see this manifested in their work. 

Although this particular P-40 is destined for static display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans the skills needed to restore it are essential for the maintenance and future reconstruction of airworthy examples.  It's also great to read that original 1940s blueprints and equipment were used in the restoration of this P-40.

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Flyboys Aeroworks to Unveil Newly Restored P-40 Curtiss Warhawk Commissioned by The National WWII Museum in New Orleans

I'm preaching to the converted here but I can't say enough how important it is, for the continued remembrance of our favourite eras, that new and young generations learn the skills needed to keep all aspects of the past alive (and that includes the very skills themselves).  It is people like those at Flyboys, or - as also recently reported - at the Severn Valley Railway's forthcoming Heritage Skills Training Academy, who help to maintain these ageing machines and ensure that they can continue performing at the events we all enjoy (rather than just becoming museum relics, or words and pictures on a page).  I'm sure you'll all agree with me when I say we owe them (and those training them) a debt of gratitude and I hope we shall see many more similar setups in the future (and here's wishing Flyboys the best of luck with their next project). 

I would go so far as to say it is almost a duty for those of us with an interest in fast-receding eras to involve ourselves as best we can in helping to ensure those times aren't forgotten, and where possible pass on our enthusiasm to those young minds interested in and receptive to finding out more about the past.  I'm not usually one for New Year resolutions (and with the first month gone already, I'm a little late!) but these two articles have inspired me to try to get to more museums and events this year - maybe even volunteer where I can - and hopefully do a bit more to keep the spirit of bygone ages alive.

WWII fighter plane found preserved in the Sahara

WWII fighter plane found preserved in the Sahara

Hot on the heels of the twenty Spitfires discovered in Burma comes this equally remarkable, albeit far more bittersweet, story of a lone Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk that has been found in the Sahara desert.

Despite having crash-landed on the sand 70 years ago the aircraft is apparently in very good condition overall, the result of laying undisturbed in the dry and rarefied atmosphere of the Sahara for the last seven decades.

An important machine to many air forces, particularly with the famous "Flying Tigers" of the Chinese Air Force in 1941-42 and the USAAF in the first months of the Pacific campaign (as well as with the RAAF & RNZAF later in the same theatre), the Kittyhawk (and earlier Tomahawk) was also used in large numbers by the RAF in North Africa as part of the Desert Air Force.  Considered superior to the Hurricane and early marks of Spitfire in the dusty, arid conditions of the desert the Kittyhawk was the main Allied fighter aircraft in the North African theatre for several months of 1941-42.

World War II RAF Kittyhawk fighter plane found in the Sahara Desert in Egypt

It was in one of these RAF Kittyhawks that Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping (a native of my nearby town of Southend) was flying on the 24th June 1942 when he got in to trouble - probably lost - and was forced to belly-land many miles from civilisation.  Now, 70 years after he and his aircraft were last seen, the discovery of his crashed aircraft, discarded parachute and wireless equipment tell the sad story of what happened to him.  It seems fairly certain that having failed to summon help by radio he made a futile attempt to reach the nearest settlement but succumbed to the harshness of the desert.

Now this chance discovery has set the historic aviation world a-twitter and work is already underway to return the Kittyhawk to the UK for it to be put on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon.  A search is also being carried out for the remains of Flt. Sgt. Copping and it is to be hoped that, if he is found, he will be repatriated along with his aircraft or at the very least given a proper military burial.  It would also be nice if his aeroplane - restored or not - were kept as a permanent memorial to the man.  Although I can understand the feelings of some who think it should be left where it is (particularly if F/S Copping isn't found) as a sort of war grave, the ever-present threat of trophy-hunters and scrap merchants makes such a course of action undesirable.

World War II fighter found in Egyptian desert

Whether or not the pilot is found the momentous discovery of this aircraft has at least answered the question of what became of him and his memory can be forever honoured by the display of his Kittyhawk, an important historical find on its own and a fine tribute to the man.