Photo: Shifting Sands Reveal P38 Lightning Airplane from WW-II
Posted by Matthew Justice on Nov 15, 2007
For 65 years, a Second World War fighter had lain hidden under the surface of a beach where it crash-landed. Just a short distance from it, families built sandcastles, strolled and swum, all unaware of its existence. But now the P-38 Lightning has re-emerged after freak weather conditions caused the sands to shift.
The aircraft was spotted by a family in July on the North Wales coast, but the location is being kept secret in case it is targeted by looters. The Lightning has been identified using its serial number and according to the records it was built in 1941 and reached Britain in 1942 before flying combat missions along the Dutch-Belgian coast. The plane was flown by Second Lieutenant Robert F. "Fred" Elliott, 24, from North Carolina. During a gunnery practice mission on September 27, 1942, a fuel supply problem forced him to make an emergency landing on the nearest suitable place, in this case a Welsh beach.
Source Non-Mobile: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/...
Tags: Airplanes, Crashes, Military, Photos
Technorati Tags: Airplanes, Crashes, Military, Photos
