Flt Sgt Copping's P-40 From The Egyptian Desert

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14 years 8 months

Posts: 562

The condition of this p-40 is beautifull just think of all those other military vehicles scattered about left there, lets have a few panzar tanks brought back, all they will need is some fuel and a oil change and there up and running.

Any pictures of these other vehicles left in the desert?

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17 years 5 months

Posts: 8,980

just think of all those other military vehicles scattered about left there, lets have a few panzar tanks brought back, all they will need is some fuel and a oil change and there up and running.

That will be Afghanistan, the majority of our 12000 vehicles in the field will simply be left there.

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13 years 2 months

Posts: 274

In response to TonyT's post above and I don't want to go off thread but this story also featured in the press last week , The Times possibly ? , so perhaps more equipment will come back to the UK than is left ;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066718/The-new-Dunkirk--British-forces-use-Tsars-railway-travel-3-500-miles-home-train-Afghanistan.html

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24 years 2 months

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Piston Power -in all fairness it would be great to bring a few Panzers back ! However my 'back' means a trip for them that terminates back home in Germany!

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24 years 2 months

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Can we try and stick to the topic of the thread and not repeatedly drift off onto other topics??

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19 years 7 months

Posts: 41

CBC Interview

I would think that a TV interview from a former 260 Sqn pilot who flew with Copping and was an eye witness to the events that lead up to Sgt Coppings last flight would be on topic. I'm pleased that link was posted.

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11 years 11 months

Posts: 10

I would think that a TV interview from a former 260 Sqn pilot who flew with Copping and was an eye witness to the events that lead up to Sgt Coppings last flight would be on topic. I'm pleased that link was posted.

But We don't know for certain it WAS Copping . I'm starting to regret I ever mentioned him in the first place.

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12 years 1 month

Posts: 442

IF they are serious about looking for human remains and IF they find any then the pilot will be confirmed that way, instead of identifying the airframe. If it was definitely Copping then surely someone will have confirmed it by now?

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13 years 9 months

Posts: 27

This just aired on the CBC today. Sadly haven't watched it yet as my workstation will not run the flash player needed. No IP filtering on this CBC so everyone should be able to watch this.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/World/1239665833/ID=2234239198

Thanks for the link. Great to see a vet speak about the incident. Those news readers are so dumb though.....fighter jet from WWII! LOL

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20 years 5 months

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Apparently some Canadian aviation forum has tagged this P40 as the steed of a former RAF pilot now living in Canada.

I commented on a video of this P40 on Liveleak and was told so.

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18 years 5 months

Posts: 2,318

Apparently some Canadian aviation forum has tagged this P40 as the steed of a former RAF pilot now living in Canada.

I commented on a video of this P40 on Liveleak and was told so.

It comes from the following link. The webpage has been continually updated. Remember it is all speculation until the true identity of the aircraft is determined.

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/357/language/en-CA/Original-Kittyhawk-HS-B-Discovered.aspx

... If this is HS-B Serial Number ET574, then it seems possible that Stocky Edwards did fly it.

... Richard Allnutt and I have played with a couple of the photos to try to bring out the serial number on the back of the aircraft. On the right side, we were able to distinguish a letter “T”, a numeral “4” and part of the numeral “7”. On the left side, we can barely see the remains of a letter “E”. With these clues, we are quite certain that this will finally be identified as ET 574.

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20 years 5 months

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Of course its only speculation. I was neither for or against the story told on that website, I was just mentioning it here.

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19 years 10 months

Posts: 22

Doesn't ET-574 has the US Military Number of 41-35928?

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11 years 11 months

Posts: 10

Doesn't ET-574 has the US Military Number of 41-35928?

Yes John thats the A/C

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,566

Reading the Times while having my Costa Flat White I note a letter from the nephew of the suggested pilot of this aircraft. I just hope his wish to repatriate the remains of his uncle, if found, are not dashed when it turns out not to be his aircraft....

Until such time as the ID of the a/c can be confirmed by "data plates", the identity of the pilot should be left 'open'?...

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17 years 5 months

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Would they do that? I thought the norm was to inter them in a Commonweath war graveyard in the country. Only reason I could see for that to differ would be to bring them home identify the remains before intering them.

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24 years 2 months

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Maybe they meant "repatriate" in a the sense of giving him CWGC marked grave?...

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24 years 2 months

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Bob - 100% spot on -if the aircraft was flown by one of our own relatives and possibly we had been waiting seventy plus years for closure -the thought of speculation without having a little bit more patience to confirm 100% the aircraft identity would be a touch insensitive.

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14 years 5 months

Posts: 282

P40

The family are aware it is not 100% confirmed but all of the circumstantial evidence supports it. The identity is the top priority following by finding out the possible whereabouts/outcome of the pilot. (Additionally the pilot photo in Daily Mail in the doorway is not of Copping, it is of Sgt Walter ? - of 260Sqn, a friend of Copping).

So Butch Edwards has been interviewed in Canada. I am sure Ron Cundy will be interviewed in Australia. Whether the BBC will interview Suraman - Lord of the rings (Sir Christopher Lee) I don't know. He is frail I believe and interestingly was the Intelligence Officer with 260Sqn at the same time.

Interestingly in Hanbury's book, Sir Christopher Lee does a forward and he recalls S/Ldr 'Pedro' Hanbury telling him, "one mistake and you are out; now lets go and get pi33ed". Cundy states he insisted on strict discipline both in the air and on the ground but was eminently fair. Edwards says we respected and liked him and most of all would follow him anyway.

Final footnote, ~Hanbury claimed a Bf109 on 6th July in P40 Kittyhawk ET575.

regards

Mark