A Nazi bomber, the only remaining Dornier plane, will soon be pulled out of the English Channel. The Nazi plane was used during the WWII London Blitz, and the Royal Air Force Museum in London plans to excavate it.

The plane was lost for decades in the channel before being found. "There are no other Dornier 17s left that we're aware of. I really can't stress enough how important this is," said Ian Thirsk, head of collections at the RAF museum.

The bomber was a formation of German Dornier Do-17s that Hitler sent to the southeast coast of England during the Blitz.  It's the only remaining Dornier because all the other planes that were shot down were melted down and recycled-to be turned into British planes. 

"We're pretty much on tenterhooks. It's very exciting," Thirsk told press.The effort was years in the making, and the bomber may be lifted out as soon as today, pending the weather's cooperation.

The eight-ton plane sat 60 feet underwater since 1940 in the Goodwin Sands, between the coast of Kent County and the Straits of Dover.  It was revealed via sonar imaging in 2008.

 "We've got a Spitfire and a Hurricane and a German Messerschmidt," Peter Dye, director general of the RAF Museum, told press. "All the other aircraft were sent to smelters and recycled, ironically enough into our aircraft."

"You might say it's environmentally sound," he added, with characteristic British wry humor.

After the Nazi bomber is puled from the water, exposure to oxygen will immediately begin to degrade the plane, Thirsk explained. So the RAF Museum will immediately cover it with sea-water, chemicals, and gels. The plane will then be driven a few hours away; then showered, oddly enough, with lemon juice for months or even years. The citric acid washes away the chlorine and works as a barrier. The lengthy process will cost half a million pounds (750,000).

 "We feel that this is a unique survivor, the only German bomber from the Blitz that's left. And it's hugely important to British national history," Thrisk said.