Normal ist das nicht. 24 August 2005: I have only time to tantalize you with a brief list of what we may have found in the "crash feature" on this day. (A crash feature is also known as a non-transportable artifact of human behavior..ponder that.) Among the things discovered are:
Intake and exhaust valves
Solenoid to trigger machine guns
Engine generator from one engine
Rocker boxes for valves
Pieces of instrument panel and possibly one part from barometric instrument
Gear pump for hydrolic or lubrication of engine
Rubber hosing of various length and dimension
Pieces of oxygen mask and hose
Armor plate from front cockpit area near pilot's feet
Back plate from machine gun with steel spring
Pieces of leather and webbing
Glass for altimeter
Plexiglass
250+ .50 and 20 mm ammunition rounds with some links
Unburned fibre board (this discovery may bode well for other things)
Gasket from exhaust pipes
Switches
30 cm bolts for engine
Electric wires
Gears with teeth

This great list is courtesy of Hans-Guenther Ploes, the researcher who found the site and who is known by his counterparts as the God of Aircraft Parts. He arrived at the site this morning as did the documetary crew from Der Spiegel TV. It was a busy and productive day about which I will happily report in detail tomorrow.

In order to maintain my reputation as a careful and precise foreign correspondent, I named one of the team incorrectly in my last post: Craig's last name is Daniels and Rick THOMAS is our linguist.

My lingering memory of today is the smell of the crater as it is revealed. It is filled with burned parts of the plane and, after 60 years, it still smells strongly of something recently burned. Many of the parts we examine are chunks of molten metal. The screening process has become more tedious. Tomorrow is another day, another television station visit and I promise a full report then.

Translation of first line which I noticed on the bumper of a car today:
This is not normal.