I have been looking through the Luftwaffe claims list for September 1943 and did not find any Lancaster claims for the Lorraine region. This does not mean much, as there are unidentified aircraft among the claims (and unidentified locations too). Furthermore, the aircraft could have been downed by flak, or have been trying to make it home with damage.

However, I noted that Luftwaffe have a number of Lancaster claims for France in August 1943. Maybe we should go through the lost bomber list for august.

ED883 was lost on the same operation, that saw the loss of JA977 in the Lorraine region. Its therefore its very possible that ED883 also crossed the same area.

However, ED883 was on its first operation with 100 Sqdn and its 9 operations where with No156 Sqdn. Would the aircraft keep the mission markings after changing sqdn?

Is it not the crew history, rather than the AC history, that is marked?

If so, its still possible that the crew transfered with the AC.

Even if its possible to rebuild the aircraft to “standard” and have it classified as a genuine Wright Brothers Type D, its not an aircraft that would have any significant interest (in economic terms) from the historic aviation operators circuit.

These early birds were not great flyers and anyone paying $1.5 million for a name plate, would expect something usefull in the end. Like a WWII warbird, for which he/she would always be able to find a buyer, should the finances run out.

A Wright type D (or any other Wright type) would remain a static asset. Great for a museum, but not practical as an operational historic aircraft. As for static display, it would be of little concern it the name plate was actually authentic, or even if it had a name plate. Such a plate would be displayed next to the drawings in a proper display glass case (for geeks like us to glare at, but of little interest to any other museum visitor).

I would not disregard its historical significance (its a Wright Brothers name plate – perhaps), so I could see the price reach somewhere between 10.000 and 20.000, but we all know how collectors can start bidding wars. One thing is for sure, it will not shift as long as the starting price is $1.5 million.

On the other hand, you would most likely be able to build the actual aircraft for less than $50.000, providing you can find an authentic powerplant (which is unlikely).

I showed the data plate to a friend who has done extensive Wright research, and works for the Wright Experience ( http://www.wrightexperience.com ), and he says that it looks like the real thing, that later Wright data plates did say “Wright Flyer” on them.

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Interesting turn of events!

Surely if its genuine, they would have had it authenticated, or otherwise endorsed by experts, before offering it for $1.5 million.

I can’t see anyone bidding, without any authentication (experts best evaluation), besides “I found it in a shed”. Surely the seller must have based his price on something (or perhaps not).

Although avid collectors have surprised me before, i dare to suggest that the asking price is well above the mark, even if genuine.

No, I don’t think so. The lady is standing behind two pieces of wreckage. The one on the right is from the nose (the devil), on the left is from the rear fuselage (the roundel). They are both from the port-side.

Peter

It does not look like two separate pieces to me. The rivet lines seem to continue. Besides, why would people move heavy AC structure around to take a picture?

JA977 was lost near Metz between 23 and 24 september 1943, during a raid on Mannheim.

I would suggest looking at Mannheim, or Munich, raids, as they could have brought the aircraft in the vicinity of Ormersviller (Lorraine region).

I will investigate a bit further.

I have also seen a pic of the Finnmark with a high pointy tail..Im not sure about its history, but maybe they redesigned the tail at some stage.

Im curious about a few inconsistent bits.

Primarily the Model D was not knows as “The Wright Flyer”, but simply “Wright Model D”. It would not have had “The Wright Flyer” engraved anywhere.

Furthermore the Wright model D did not use wing warping, but used ailerons, so there would be no reason to stress the patent – IF THEY ACTUALLY HAD THE PATENT FOR WING WARPING!

The Wright brothers held US patent No 908.929 for flexing the rudder of a flying machine.