Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK

[maddog65]

View Article Here

[CelticWarrior]

Before anybody gets too excited, nobody actually knows exactly where they were buried. The going favourite at the moment is about 50 feet below the main apron at the international airport. Also Burma/Myanmar/Whatevertheyarethisweek haven't categorically stated that they will be returned to the UK even if they are located and prove to restorable.

However, it would be absolutely wonderful to have 20 brand new Spitfires back on the register.

Somebody stands to make a mint from them, I believe the going rate is approximately £1.5m each.

[tango234]

Though apparently the guy paying the £500,000 cost of digging them up is going to be given one, assuming they are there.

Fingers crossed the Burmese govt. will let them come home, after all, DC did talk to the Burmese president about them.

[maddog65]

Somebody stands to make a mint from them, I believe the going rate is approximately £1.5m each.

Don't know if the RAF is like the US Navy here, any salvaged or wrecked plane is property of the Navy so whoever found it would have to turn it back to the US Navy.

[Firebird]

So it's a bit premature to state that 56 Sqn will be reformed on Spits, as they are cheaper to run than Tiffs then.

[MIKE JG]

LOL! It will be interesting to see what state they are in. This is certainly a HUGE discovery though!

[tango234]

Well, I'm quietly optimistic, since those aircraft were buried with the express purpose of digging them up if they were ever needed. Granted, they've been down there a lot longer than envisaged, but the crates were waxed etc so there is a chance.

Fingers crossed.

[CelticWarrior]

It'll just give Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner another excuse to declare we're warmongering over the Falkland Islands.

[Firebird]

Yeah, I can see it now. the Evil Colonial Empire is trying to tunnel their way into the heart of the Argentine defense network!

[tango234]

Now that would be a laugh.

[sr01]

There's 2 RR Condor engines from the R100 buried @ CYHU airport and we could never find them. The British Consulate said we could not Possibly have them as they were restricted military items . The airport manager finally gave up returning them and had them buried !We did find 2 anchor points a 6X14 inch concrete piece of the mooring mast structure and a mooring bollard thingy .
During WW11 a P40 crashed a mile or so offshore @ Cap Chat Qc . It's PX was triangulated from shore but the A/C must have "flown" underwater or rode the currents to its final resting place which has never been found . There's a shipment of quite a few brand new crated Hurricanes still on a ship in the bottom of the St Lawrence .Also never been found ( The St Lawrence is VERY deep in spots . Back in the 70's a Hurricane was found south of CYBG and the Qc. provincial police wisely ordered it bulldozed into the ground and buried so no-one would re-report the wreckage . Interesting finds = Feiseler Storch in a barn , A Spit MkXV1 ALSO IN A BARN and in fantastic shape although in a large # of pieces !!
http://www.wingsmagazine.com/content/view/1794/132/
A Waco Biplane I found in a barn on a farm very near CYUL ! !! An Air Canada pilot friend of mine is rebuilding it . Engine was seized but he got it turning over .

[Victory103]

Looks like some have been found:

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#206526

[james84]

Which version of the Spitfire is it? I remember that the PR.XIX (recon version) was the last version the RAF used, and it was just in that theater.

[delbydoo]

Article says that they are Mk.XIV's (14) which will have the Griffon engines

[Victory103]

We have a company selling 90% scale Spitfire kits here in the US using LS series engines (Corvette V8 motor). Saw the demo model at a local airshow, and the mind starts to dream up having my own with historically correct paint.

[Firebird]

All this reminds me of something I read a few decades a go.
At the end of the war a North American factory was churning out P-51Ds at a rate of over 1 an hour. The trouble was that the lead times of items was such that they couldn't just stop so there answer was to cram as many spares as possible into a new produced Mustang and the test pilot would take off on it's maiden flight and they would fly over the coast and bale out after putting the machine into a dive.

Apparently, the test pilots were paid by each aircraft they got rid of to clear the airfield of the backlog.

If they had known then how much brand new Mustangs would go for they would have built a huge Warehouse 13 type building and made an absolute mint a few decades later.

[ronniegj]

Update: http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Do ... 608-1.html

[delbydoo]

This is getting messy, and however naive this statement may be, it's a great shame that all parties cannot work together to bring out however many alleged spitfires there are......