Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: Raptor05121 on April 15, 2012, 06:26:47 PM
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After years of searching, this guy found 20-something perfectly-preserved, unopened Mark XIV Spitfires left in a bomb crater after the Allies retreated from a Japanese attack.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/burma/9204921/British-farmers-quest-to-find-lost-Spitfires-in-Burma.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9203822/Spitfires-buried-in-Burma-during-war-to-be-returned-to-UK.html
This is outstanding! I cannot wait to see these in the air. Expect prices of Spitfires to drop dramatically.
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Wow in the crates and everything. Sweet.
Even though they are spitfires :rolleyes:
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:aok
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After years of searching, this guy found 20-something perfectly-preserved, unopened Mark XIV Spitfires left in a bomb crater after the Allies retreated from a Japanese attack.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/burma/9204921/British-farmers-quest-to-find-lost-Spitfires-in-Burma.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9203822/Spitfires-buried-in-Burma-during-war-to-be-returned-to-UK.html
This is outstanding! I cannot wait to see these in the air. Expect prices of Spitfires to drop dramatically.
First article says Mk XIVs second says MKIIs which is it? Makes more sense to be XIVs because it happened late in the war.
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Um.. there's no proof they're in mint condition.. they haven't been uncovered yet.
I hope they don't find an IOU from Milo Minderbinder when they open up those crates..
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Um.. there's no proof they're in mint condition.. they haven't been uncovered yet.
I hope they don't find an IOU from Milo Minderbinder when they open up those crates..
they might find Jimmy Hoffa
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yup after 70 years mint condition is a relative term. kindda like saying they found a mummy in mint condition. it's gonna take a lot of restoration if they can dig them out to bring them up to flying standards. after all rust doesnt stop underground. and they way it rains over there who knows what condition they are in.
semp
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they were wrapped and sealed for transportation though, and being buried will actually seal them better. I am sure they will need some work - but overall - I am sure most of them can be restored.
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To clarify. 20 RAF Spits were buried in crates at the end of the war. The odds of them being mint condition is not great but folks are hopeful the packing was done well. The guys who have seen the ground penetrating radar images say that they see fuselage shapes. The Spits would be RAF Spitfire XIVs and possibly some VIIIs that had been in that theater of the war.
The hunt for these has gone on for 12 years. If and when they come up, and if and when they can be restored, it's gonna be a while. I wouldn't buy any airshow tickets based on this :)
As a Spitfire junkie it's great news though :)
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From another site
Aviation historians and warbird enthusiasts are drooling at the discovery of at least 12 and maybe as many 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in Myanmar, which was formerly Burma. Thanks to the tenacity (and apparently considerable diplomatic skills) of British farmer David Cundall, the lost squadron of pristine fighters was found where they were buried by U.S. troops in 1945 when it became clear they wouldn't be needed in the final days of the Second World War. At least a dozen of the aircraft, one of the latest variants with their 2,035-horsepower Roll Royce Griffon engines replacing the 1,200-1,500-horsepower Merlins in earlier models, were buried without ever being removed from their original packing crates. It's possible another eight were also buried after the war ended. After spending 15 years and $200,000 of his own money, Cundall was rewarded with visual proof of the magnitude of his discovery. "We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates," he told the Telegraph. "They seemed to be in good condition."
The aircraft were declared surplus when they arrived in Burma because the Japanese were in retreat by then and carrier-based Seafires were getting all the action. They were ordered buried in their original crates, waxed, swaddled in grease paper and their joints tarred against the elements. Cundall found some of the soldiers who buried the planes by placing ads in magazines and was able to narrow down the search before using ground-penetrating radar to confirm the burial site. The next obstacles to recovery are political. Myanmar's former military junta was under a variety of sanctions, among them an international convention that prevented the transfer of military goods to and from the country. Recent political reforms have led to the lifting of that ban effective April 23. Cundall will also need the permission of the new Myanmar government to unearth the treasure. He helped his own cause by making numerous trips to the country and earning the trust of government officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to seal the deal with Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit.
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:aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok
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I hope they have had the sense to sign a contract allowing somebody to film a documentary about the entire process... I enjoyed watching the doc about the recovered P38 and its restoration.
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I hope they have had the sense to sign a contract allowing somebody to film a documentary about the entire process... I enjoyed watching the doc about the recovered P38 and its restoration.
Sounds like a 'Dirty Jobs' episode to me!
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Like I said in the other thread: I would literally give anything to be a part of that dig/excavation....
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On a side-note, the Burmese AF, formed later in 1947, used Spits and Seafires:
http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-eastasia/burma/burma-af-aircraft.htm
(http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/52/pics/217_3.jpg)
(http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/72/pics/217_1.jpg)
The Myanmar gov. might have some slight interest in the dig themselves.
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Aren't they too busy slaughtering people to worry about planes?
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Great News
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Burma, soaking wet crates for 65+ years, they've caved in and thew weather and earth minerals have probably destroyed them. Alaska, Mojave, Sahara, maybe :salute, south pacific jungle Island? Nope! IMO.
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Anyway, let's hope for the best.
I'd like to have someone find Bf 109 or Fw 190 in a similar forgotten crate though.
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:O :O :O :O :O :O
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Quite fascinating! Lets hope some history can be salvaged from this :rock And on a side note, do any flying 109's remain? Think I heard something about the last one collapsed the gear on landing or caught fire?
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Several 109 are in flying condition although a lot of G-series 109 may be rebuilt spanish Hispanos.