The Last Flying Pencil

Digs & Discoveries September/October 2013

(Courtesy Royal Air Force Museum Cosford)
SHARE:

More than 400 were flown by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, but today there is just one. The Royal Air Force Museum has lifted the last known intact Dornier Do 17—known as the “Flying Pencil” for its svelte profile—from the English Channel. The German bomber crashed following a dogfight in August 1940. Conservation of the plane will include spraying it continuously with a solution of citric acid for 18 to 24 months. 

  • Artifacts September/October 2013

    Writing Tablet

    A tablet bearing a birthday party invite includes the earliest Latin script penned by a woman

    Read Article
    (© The Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource, NY)
  • Around the World September/October 2013

    JAPAN

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Izumi Niiro)
  • Digs & Discoveries September/October 2013

    No Changeups on the Savannah

    Read Article
    (Private Collection/J.T. Vintage/The Bridgeman Art Library, Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY, Pat Benic/Copyright Bettmann/Corbis/AP Images)
  • Features September/October 2013

    Wolf Rites of Winter

    Archaeologists digging a Bronze Age site on the Russian steppes are using evidence from language and mythology to understand a remarkable discovery

    Read Article
    (Courtesy David Anthony)