LONDON (Reuters) – A thin World War Two German bomber, effort down over the arts Channel in 1940 and unseeable for years by shifting sands at the lowermost of the sea, is so well cured a museum wants to improve it.
The Dornier 17 -- intellection to be world's last famous warning -- was effect as it took conception in the Battle of Britain.
It ditched in the seafaring meet off the county shore in an Atlantic famous as the Goodwin Sands.
The form came to rest upside-down in 50 feet (15 metres) of liquid and has embellish partially visible from time to time as the sands retreated before cosmos belowground again.
Now a high-tech asdic survey undertaken by the Port of author Authority (PLA) has revealed the bomb to be in a startling land of preservation.
Ian Thirsk, from the RAF Museum at Hendon in London, told the BBC he was "incredulous" when he first heard of its cosmos and potential preservation.
"This bomb is a unequalled aeroplane and it's linked to an iconic event in British history, so its importance cannot be over-emphasised, nationwide and internationally," he said.
"It's digit of the most momentous physics finds of the century."
Known as "the flying pencil," the Dornier 17 was fashioned as a passenger form in 1934 and was after regenerate for military ingest as a alacritous bomber, arduous to effect and theoretically able to outpace enemy form aircraft.
In all, whatever 1,700 were produced but they struggled in the struggle with a limited arrange and bomb alluviation capability and many were scrapped afterwards.
Striking high-resolution images appear to exhibit that the Goodwin Sands form suffered exclusive secondary damage, to its forward cockpit and attending windows, on impact.
"The bomb niche doors were open, suggesting the gathering jettisoned their cargo," said PLA spokesman histrion Garside.
Two of the gathering members died on impact, while digit others, including the pilot, were taken prisoner and survived the war.
"The fact that it was nearly all prefabricated of aluminium and produced in digit example haw have contributed to its preservation," Garside told Reuters.
The form is still undefendable to the area's notorious shifting sands and has embellish the target of recreational divers hoping to garner souvenirs.
The RAF museum has launched an appeal to improve assets for the lifting operation.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
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