P-40 raised from Kunming lake

In Kunming last Saturday, without any fanfare and despite earlier
pronouncements that the project would be delayed to December or
January, the Chinese lifted a P-40 from the mud of Dianchi lake. It
was immediately removed, but nobody seems to know where. (China is
still a closed society, we keep getting reminded.)

November 15 was the original date for the lift. Several AVG veterans
had planned a tour around the date, visiting Chiang Mai in Thailand
for Veterans' Day and the dedication of a memorial to the Flying
Tigers, then moving on to Kunming for the raising of the P-40. Let's
hope that not many of them canceled!

The P-40 is almost certainly the one John Blackburn was flying when he
crashed into Dianchi (which the AVGs called Lake Kunming) in April
1942. Most contemporary reports suggests that it was one of the new
P-40E models that were then being ferried into China, but some folks
insist that it was one of the original Tomahawk IIBs supplied for the
AVG in the spring of 1941.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put CUB in subject line)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Cub Driver writes:

In Kunming last Saturday, without any fanfare and despite earlier
pronouncements that the project would be delayed to December or
January, the Chinese lifted a P-40 from the mud of Dianchi lake. It
was immediately removed, but nobody seems to know where. (China is
still a closed society, we keep getting reminded.)

Wow, there must be news on the Chinse sites on this somewhere.... will check later today.
--
G Hassenpflug * IJN & JMSDF equipment/history fan