The plaene wreckage did not look familiar to me. It probably is the same wreckage that the pilot was in when Smokey got him. The Losties seemed familiar with it, but I don't remember seeing before - at least from that angle. I know some of the Lost spoiler sites posted pictures of the wreckage in the off-season and they seemed to think it was a different plane crash. Any thoughts?

I had the same thought. The tail section was obviously in the water. The mid-section was the portion on the beach. And the forward-section was in the tree with the pilot before it was eaten by Smokie. However, I don't remember that section ever falling to the ground. And its tough to place where the group was tonight w.r.t. other areas on the island.

Even if the antenna group (Jack etc.) and the beach group (Hurley etc.) met halfway, wouldn't they still be far from both the original crash site, and the site with the cockpit in the jungle?

It was the cockpit of the plane correct?

If so, then I am pretty sure that only Charlie, Jack and Kate had seen it of our survivors (that we know about).

And from our perspective we have only seen it during the day and for a brief period under dark rainy clouds.

I was surprised that nobody was checking it out or even asking questions about possible useful materials. But then again, most of them think they are being rescued in a few hours.

Yah, it was the nose/cockpit of the plane. Jack and Kate mentioned it when they reminiced about Charlie. Jack said "It seems like years ago when the three of us first came here together."

It was the cockpit indeed. Don't forget that the entire time spent in there in the first (second?) episode it was at an angle until smokey through a temper tantrum and tossed the pilot. At that point the plane came crashing down to where it was flat, and Jack, Kate, and Charlie were hauling *** away from it....that's why it doesn't look as familiar, that and the aforementioned weather/lighting differences.