After a little digging around on the ‘net, i think I may have an ID for your Provost T.53:

UB-232 (c/no.PAC/F/451): Delivered to Burma as ‘1058’ later ‘2232’. Sold to USA in 1999. Currently under restoration in New Zealand.

Source: http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-eastasia/burma/burma-af-aircraft.htm#prov

Hunting Percival Provost Mk 53: Forty aircraft delivered in two batches from 1958 onwards. The Provosts supplemented and eventually replaced the Seafires and Spitfires as ground attack aircraft, and the last were withdrawn from use in the mid-1970s. Some survivors were sold to the USA in 1999.

As for our correspondent Captain Bombay, the thread he started about his Provost ZK-PPP can be found here: http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=108969&highlight=Captain+Bombay. He last posted 18 March 2012 and gives his location as “Las Vegas, Nevada, USA” (…a long way from NZ!). Still, you should be able to PM his via the aforementioned thread.

ETA: re-reading the above thread reminded me that Captain Bombay re-located to Nevada earlier this year (Feb 2012) and has applied for ZK-PPP to be re-registered N397WW (see here: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=397WW&x=0&y=0) although the registration has not yet been taken up/formally applied to the airframe

At the risk of asking an obvious question – as I should really know the answer – what is the id/serial number of this Piston Provost?

Also, you alluded to the much-discussed “buried” Spitfires in Burma. Does the condition of your Piston Provost give any clues as to what state the Burma Spitfires (IF they exist…) may be in once they are unearthed?

Obviously your Provost has been stored in similar climatic conditions, albeit for 15 years and not 67 years; but it would be interesting to see how the heat and humidity of Burma over a sustained period (decades) affects the condition of airframes…

seen on ebay

Westland scout helicopter

Item number 150816890276

Better link here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WESTLAND-SCOUT-HELICOPTER-FOR-SALE-/150816890276?pt=UK_CPV_Aviation_SM&hash=item231d631da4#ht_500wt_897

Aircraft appears to beXV124 (c/no F9699). The vendor would appear either to be – or be closely connected to – the well-known Roger Windley yard at Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire.

Perhaps the aircraft is up for sale due to the Greek economic crisis? According to the uk serials site (http://www.ukserials.com) XV124 was “To SEAE, Arborfield, Berkshire, to Everett Aero, Bentwaters, 12/2009, to Greece 10/2010″

Last I knew, XV124 was in Karellas Koropiou, Greece, in November 2011…a long way from Lincolnshire!

If it is XV124, then the economic crisis in Greece means that either the Greek owner never paid for it, or is suddenly “strapped for cash” and realising his assets, including one Scout AH.1?

THIS link goes to the online brochure, including plans/blueprints of the building: http://www.homesonview.co.uk/Scripts/fulldetails.aspx?cid=PARRSHRE&aid=PARRSHRE&pid=PSP01351&src=rightmove

To Moggy C – MY lottery win was £10 – so I am in a position to “gazump” you!

However, if it’s £450 grand, I think I’ll pass this time. That does seem a little steep for something that needs, for example, glass in the windows, and a door…

The Mail on Sunday claims to have traced a member of Flt Sgt Dennis Coppings family: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143592/My-Uncle-Denis-pilot-plane-time-forgot-First-pictures-man-crash-landed-plane-Sahara-walked-sands-death.html

Seems that his nephew is alive and well and living in Kinsale, Ireland, and seems to be the closest surviving relative

“He poses proudly in his RAF uniform and also looks down from the cockpit of his Second World War fighter plane, perhaps ready for a mission against the Desert Fox himself, Erwin Rommel.

These are the first pictures of 24-year-old Flight Sergeant Denis Copping, the wartime pilot who crash-landed his plane in the Sahara and then walked off across the sands to his death.

His story came to light last week when pictures of his Kittyhawk P-40 were published. The battered but well-preserved wreckage was found in the Western Sahara – 70 years after the plane came to grief. It was believed that Flt Sgt Copping had no surviving relatives, but The Mail on Sunday found his nephew, whose family album contains these poignant photographs.

William Pryor-Bennett revealed that, until now, the fate of his uncle had been a mystery because all the family had been told officially was that he was ‘missing in action’.

The discovery of my uncle’s plane has been more of a shock than I thought it would be after all this time,’ said Mr Pryor-Bennett, 62, whose mother Edna was Flt Sgt Copping’s sister.

‘Our generation all speculated whether he was still alive somewhere. Obviously the answer was no.’Looking down into the cockpit and seeing the joystick, thinking that Uncle Denis was actually manipulating that and sitting in there, is very moving.’

He added: ‘My mother used to call him her darling little brother. She said he was a very nice, quiet boy, not at all boisterous. They were amazed when he signed up. ‘Even though I was born after he had died, we used to talk about him a lot. We used to have a photograph on the mantelpiece and flowers were placed next to it at Christmas and on his birthday.’

The report has what I think are the first publicly published pictures of Dennis Copping (presumably sourced from the family album). Now we know what he looks like!

Auster perhaps?

Auster T.7 maybe now on display at Cosford

Very possibly it was Auster T.7 WE600. History of this aircraft around this period (later 1950s/early 1960s) is as follows

9 Dec 57 Flown to Halley Bay, Antarctica for shipment to the UK aboard the ‘M.V. Tottan’.
26 Mar 58 To No.19 MU, RAF St Athan ex Antarctica. Withdrawn from use.
10 Jun 58 In to store at No.19 MU, RAF St. Athan.
17 Mar 59 Allocated instructional serial 7602M.
14 Apr 59 To No 71 MU RAF Bicester and retained for exhibition purposes with the RAF Exhibition Flight then based at Bicester.
c. Oct 64 To RAF Colerne, Wilts by this date.
c. Apr 68 Repainted in trainer yellow, replacing the Antarctic orange colour scheme.

Full history at http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/collections/aircraft/aircraft_histories/1989-0305-A%20AUSTER%20T.7.%20WE600.pdf and plenty of photos of this aircraft at http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=WE600&f=hp. However, most of them are since it was installed at Cosford in February 1989, and in overall yellow. Not found any pics so far of it in “Antarctic Orange”.

There is THIS picture, taken at Hendon on 21-7-51 (“19-21 Jul 51 Displayed at Daily Express 50 Years of Flying Exhibition at RAF Hendon.” )…

The Vancouver Sun are running the story at http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Egyptian+sand+yields+wreckage/6611575/story.html and are naturally paying up the Canadian connections via “Stocky” Edwards. The Vancouver Sun would have you believe that “Stocky” Edwards flew this P-40 before it was damaged in combat, at which point it was assigned to be flown off for repairs, being replaced by another aircraft

A quick Google search has revealed that there are currently at least 68 newspapers and website running the story. Such as

The Voice of Russia: http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_05_12/74532889/

The Courier-Mail (Australia): http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/lost-wwii-plane-a-desert-treasure/story-fn6ck55c-1226353900222

The Southend Standard: http://www.southendstandard.co.uk/news/9702582.Essex_pilot___s_final_flight_is_found_after_70_years/ (playing up the possible Southend connection)

The Business Recorder (Pakistan): http://www.brecorder.com/world/africa/57259.html

Q13Fox.com: http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-british-wwii-fighter-jet-found-in-egyptian-desert-20120511,0,4234377.story (note that they seem to think the P-40 is a JET aircraft! Probably confusing it with a Lockheed P-80?)

Catholic Online: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=46169 (Hmmm…was the pilot of the Catholic faith?)

The History Blog: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/16627 (and I agree with what they say: “Because of the location of the wreck, the search and recovery teams will need to be escorted by the Egyptian army. Coordination is a challenge, to say the least, and the clock is ticking.”)

Gizmondo UK: http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/05/never-before-seen-world-war-ii-fighter-plane-found-in-the-sahara-desert-after-70-years/ (“…since the discovery of the plane has been made public, locals and scavengers have reached the site and have started pilfering whatever they can get their hands on. Hopefully it won’t be stripped bare. If it survived this long in the desert without getting buried or destroyed, it’d be a damn shame to see it disappear now“)

…and even The Sun: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4309662/Crash-landed-RAF-warplane-found-in-Sahara.html (although I’m disappointed to find that they reported it “straight”. I was hoping for “pilot kidnapped by Aliens in ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind'” style report!)

Benes-Mraz Be550 Bibi G-AGSR

Dr John – Many thanks. I was just trying to get some more detail on the crash itself. Back to pestering the AAIB by the look of it.

OG

Only other useful suggestion I can make is to check the local newspapers for the area covered by White Waltham – that is the local papers for Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead – for around the date of the crash or a few days after.

Since it was a fatal crash, it probably was reported in the local press. There would have been an inquest, and possibly the Coroner’s report and verdict would have made it into the local press.

These papers are possibly on line, but, if not, should be on microfilm in Slough or Maidenhead public library. There is also, as touched on above, the related Coroner’s report into the death of the pilot. That should still exist in the archives for the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. If it does, there may well be eyewitness reports into the crash contained therein.

Your best bet would be the local history section. Start with http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/libraries_local_history.htm and/or the contact email at: [email]maidenhead.library@rbwm.gov.uk[/email] or telephone Chris Atkins on 01628 796974.