Dornier 17 found in near perfect condition

[jimmy olsen]

Cool 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42501023/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Nazi war plane lying off UK coast is intact
Dornier 17, known as 'the flying pencil,' may be raised by British museum

By Stefano Ambrogi
updated 4/8/2011 6:11:30 PM ET

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LONDON — A rare World War II German bomber, shot down over the English Channel in 1940 and hidden for years by shifting sands at the bottom of the sea, is so well preserved a British museum wants to raise it.

The Dornier 17 — thought to be world's last known example — was hit as it took part in the Battle of Britain.

It ditched in the sea just off the Kent coast, southeast England, in an area known as the Goodwin Sands.

The plane came to rest upside-down in 50 feet of water and has become partially visible from time to time as the sands retreated before being buried again.

Now a high-tech sonar survey undertaken by the Port of London Authority has revealed the aircraft to be in a startling state of preservation.

Ian Thirsk, from the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in London, told the BBC he was "incredulous" when he first heard of its existence and potential preservation.

"This aircraft is a unique aeroplane and it's linked to an iconic event in British history, so its importance cannot be over-emphasized, nationally and internationally," he said.

"It's one of the most significant aeronautical finds of the century."

Known as "the flying pencil," the Dornier 17 was designed as a passenger plane in 1934 and was later converted for military use as a fast bomber, difficult to hit and theoretically able to outpace enemy fighter aircraft.

In all, some 1,700 were produced but they struggled in the war with a limited range and bomb load capability and many were scrapped afterwards.

Striking high-resolution images appear to show that the Goodwin Sands plane suffered only minor damage, to its forward cockpit and observation windows, on impact.

"The bomb bay doors were open, suggesting the crew jettisoned their cargo," said Port of London Authority spokesman Martin Garside.

Two of the crew members died on impact, while two others, including the pilot, were taken prisoner and survived the war.

"The fact that it was almost entirely made of aluminum and produced in one piece may have contributed to its preservation," Garside told Reuters.

The plane is still vulnerable to the area's notorious shifting sands and has become the target of recreational divers hoping to salvage souvenirs.

The RAF museum has launched an appeal to raise funds for the lifting operation.

[Slargos]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

You fucking ghouls.

[jimmy olsen]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

You fucking ghouls.

They'll get proper burial this way.

[garbon]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

You fucking ghouls.

The notions of final resting places is so ridiculous.

[Slargos]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

You fucking ghouls.

They'll get proper burial this way.

There is no more proper burial than a flaming wreck at sea. 

[jimmy olsen]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

You fucking ghouls.

They'll get proper burial this way.

There is no more proper burial than a flaming wreck at sea. 

I'll make sure to schedule one for you then.

[Slargos]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

You fucking ghouls.

The notions of final resting places is so ridiculous.

Yeah. Everyone should just be cremated and the ash fired into space.

[garbon]

There is no more proper burial than a flaming wreck at sea. 

Apparently it isn't much of a wreck.

[Slargos]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

You fucking ghouls.

They'll get proper burial this way.

There is no more proper burial than a flaming wreck at sea. 

I'll make sure to schedule one for you then.

If you can secure a proper long ship that's great, but I will make do with a row boat as long as it's loaded with enough accelerants. 

[Habbaku]

Yeah. Awesome. Let's dig up the final resting place of a couple of dead airmen.

  It's only their final resting place until we move them.

[CountDeMoney]

Slargos should have a Viking funeral.  In his bathtub.

[Slargos]

Slargos should have a Viking funeral.  In his bathtub.

I should have a viking funeral in your ass. 

[syk]

Sweet, the 1st husband of my late grandma was shot down in a Do-217. MIA.

[DontSayBanana]

I should have a viking funeral in your ass. 

You might overestimate the necessary amount of chili and cause nuclear clouds to drift across the Atlantic.

[The Brain]

Sweet, the 1st husband of my late grandma was shot down in a Do-217. MIA.

In a blaze of glory?