Is there any more news on the Spitfires that were buried in their crates by the British? They buried them to keep them from falling into enemy hands.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9638613/Revealed-the-wealthy-backer-helping-the-hunt-for-the-buried-Spitfires-of-Burma.html

Burmese gvmt signed off on the dig.  Actual digging was supposed to start in late Oct, 2012.  Don't know if that happened.

Thanks just fascinating wish I could be on that dig.

That would be awesome

I'm really looking forward to seeing the moment the crate is opened.  I mean, if we can restore planes pulled from bogs, under glaciers, and 2 miles down in the Pacific, these should be airborne in no time!

I love stuff from this period just awesome engineering. The effort and time taken to bury these spitfires with such deliberate care is truly mind blowing. Can't wait to see them.

From AVWEB

"Spitfires' Excavation Date Set

The long-anticipated dig to unearth a cache of brand-new Spitfires that are believed to be buried in Burma is expected to start on Jan. 12, local press has reported. According to The Irrawaddy, archeologists first will spend about a week studying the site, then the digging can begin. Up to 36 pristine Spitfires, still in the packing crates they were delivered in near the end of World War II, are expected to be found. David Cundall, who located the burial site, said he has confirmed the airplanes are there by sending a camera through a borehole. "We went into a crate, you can see an object which resembles a Spitfire," he said"

A link from within that story...

Quest for Hidden Spitfires Nears Completion

*Squeals like a high school girl going to prom*

Sounds really promising I have to follow this story the suspense is killing me.

Thanks

Who will they belong too once dug up? still the British government?

Not sure, read that they will be worth about 1mil each. I guess the money details will be finalized once the planes are recovered.

Should be in the hot link previously attached

Anything is worth what someone will pay for it.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there are people that wold pay a lot more than 1mil for a brand new spitfire.

According to the article,"...half will go to the Burmese government, Cundall will get 30 percent of the planes and his Burmese agent will get the remaining 20 percent."

A dug up Spitfire only being worth 1 mil each?  I think that's pretty low.  Since few are on the market there isn't much to compare, but a P51 will run you around 2 mil average.  There are over 200 P51's but only about 50 Spitfires.

Condition hurts the price.

Assuming even a very optimistic average level of degradation across all of them, you're going to spend well more than 1mil apiece getting them flyable again.

I think they are packed in grease or something and should be pretty clean. I wouldn't be surprise if one could actually start after a few weeks of cleaning. I'm not a pilot and know nothing about planes ,but I'm sure these babies are built like a tank.

Think again, 70 something years stored underground in a tropical climate and they'll be lucky if any of these are in conditions any better than a shot down f-ed up jungle wreck. I hate to be a downer, but i think that this is going to be a huge letdown. Planes weren't crated and stored in cosmoline an inch thick like guns. Also, when you dig an impromptu hole in hard packed jungle ground, push a bunch of planes in (packed in crates or not) and then scrape dirt over them, it amounts to them sitting in a bowl that collects rain water. When parts of Burma get over 200 inches of rain a year??? They are toast. Oh how I hope I'm wrong though.

From the article:

"He thinks the buried planes will be in good condition. “They are all brand new, all the boxes are tarred. They are on massive teak timbers to assist the drainage, there is a wooden roof over them to protect them,” he said.

The planes are buried eight and a half meters down in an area 100 meters wide and 270 meters long. One plane is only 30 meters away from the end of the runway."

8 and a half METERS down??? Shit, how high is the water table there in the jungle?!?! I'm taking everything he says with a grain of salt. It is in his best interest to drive demand and make people think that this is like unearthing some pristine Indiana Jones treasure. I understand all of the legal wrangling complicated things, but why has there been no pictures, of the site prep, bore holes, etc.? I WANT them to be in great shape, but to think that you'll be able to throw em together, fuel em, oil em, knock the dust off, and fly em is naive. I hope I can eat crow when its all said and done, but 70 years underground is a really really long time.

This story has been floating around for a long time, with a ton of misinformation.  I'll beleive it when I actually see a Spit sitting on a runway.  This whole episode has smelled since day one.

8 meters =28.05ft They would be sitting in water. I'm sure perched water was hit way above that mark. It would be amazing if they are in good shape  ,I wish they are perfect. Some pictures of the site and bore hole pictures would add to the excitement.

This is just to much hurry and get them out of the ground already.

You won't see pictures until they are all out of the ground...there's no way they are going to risk releasing the location of the site to the general public. Still, it is interesting none-the-less.

They're supposed to be here, http://www.theairdb.com/airport/RGN.html I know Myanmar isn't the most secure place in the world, but given the Spitfires are supposed to be buried between 30 and 200 meters from the runway of an international airport, you would think site security wouldn't be too big an issue. I would also think that at least one enterprising individual would have gotten a picture of the site prep. If they're buried that deep and they're going to start digging in a couple of days, the earthworks isnt something you'd be able to ignore.

Excavators head to Burma hoping to uncover buried stash of WWII fighter planes

"Not everyone is as convinced. Even at the conference, freelance archaeologist Andy Brockman acknowledged that it was "entirely possible" that all the team would find was a mass of corroded metal and rusty aircraft parts — if it found anything at all.

But Cundall said eyewitness testimony — from British and American veterans as well as elderly local residents of Burma — coupled with survey data, aerial pictures, and ground radar soundings left him in no doubt that the planes were down there. And others not involved in the trip have expressed cautious optimism."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/06/excavators-head-to-burma-hoping-to-uncover-buried-stash-wwii-fighter-planes/?test=latestnews


I have no clue as to what the hell Im trying to do. Hot link !!

Edit :spelling and you beat me to it !!

Myanmar Spitfire hunt leads to water-filled crate

"YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — An excavation team searching for a stash of legendary World War II-era British fighter aircraft in northern Myanmar said a wooden crate believed to contain one of the planes has been found, full of muddy water.

How much water damage occurred was not yet clear, and searchers could not definitively say what was inside the crate. But British aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall, who is driving the hunt for the rare Spitfire planes, called the results "very encouraging."

"It will take some time to pump the water out ... but I do expect all aircraft to be in very good condition," Cundall told reporters Wednesday in Myanmar's main city, Yangon."

No kidding! I can't figure out where this guy gets his optimism..."I do expect all aircraft to be in very good condition" said nobody, EVER after finding ANY kind of metal submerged in muddy water in a tropical (Salty) climate for 70 years.

Not to mention the fact that little things like primers, sealants and cpc's (corrosion preventive compounds) weren't bothered with on most WWII aircraft, and most of the rubbers turn to goo after a few years anyway.  Pat Epps and Richard Taylor had the same illusions when they first set out for the P-38's in Greenland (see Glacier Girl).  They thought they were going to put some air in the tires, change the oil, and fly them out.  I wish it were different, but I doubt there's anything in those crates that's salvageable.  Can't wait to see.

Can you hot link this story? I think I remember when they attempted to take off the plane caught fire?

That was a B-29, and a crying shame.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird

The documentary is painful to watch.  They were SO damn close to getting that bird in the air before the APU's gas tank broke and caught fire.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18532986@N07/4719162415/   Hot link.     This is where my uncle was killed, really sad he was the S/SGT  top gunner on board.  Several years ago the priest at the parish chttp://www.birdbrook.net/66.html  Hot link  contacted me to attend a memorial service at the church they erected the tail section with the crews names on it, I cry about this on occasion [img]

Stupid fucking reporters...






Jets...

As found on Xfinity / Comcast this morning

Now I have [edited...wouldn't want someone to not get the joke] AND a jet.

Fox is reporting this morning that so far all they've found is rusty parts of something.  Not even sure its airplanes.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/19/hunt-for-lost-spitfires-comes-up-empty/

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/spitfire_dig_burma_cundall_airport_runway_RAF_found_208037-1.html

"An internationally supported expedition to Burma to dig up Spitfires thought to be buried there after the close of WWII is quickly drawing skepticism as it has so far found none after one week digging at a primary site, Mingaladon airport. The project's mastermind, British farmer David Cundall believes there's still hope. Cundall had found eyewitness support of his theory that the British military packed more than 120 Spitfires in crates and buried them in the ground before vacating Burma more than 60 years ago. His evidence drew the assistance of David Cameron and cooperation of the Burmese government in arranging permission for a dig. But after one week digging at Mingaladon airport (now Rangoon International Airport), and with one witness, a 91-year-old British veteran, in attendance, archeologists Wednesday suspended the search on lack of evidence. Counterclaims and alternate theories of explanation are beginning to surface, including one from another witness. Cundall expects to continue.

In a letter published on January 9, by TheTimes.co.uk, Lionel Timmins claims to have served with RAF 81 squadron from August 1946 through February 1948, spending time at Mingaladon "for a substantial part of each year." Timmins states he "neither saw anything of the burials nor did I hear any rumors, which I believe there most certainly would have been had the aircraft been buried." Tmmins wrote at the time that the steel interlocking plates of the airport's then runway could account for the search's initial indications of buried metal. The search itself has since turned up cables and pipes, as well as metal plates used in construction of the earlier airport's runway. It had expected to find as many as 36 Spitfires carefully packed in crates for storage and buried in good condition at the location. Some skeptics now believe witnesses may have confused burial of the planes with the disposal of other equipment while Spitfires were assembled or disassembled, nearby. Cundall's project had acquired funding from Wargaming.net, an online gaming company and the project's spokesman Frazer Nash has said the team will continue its investigation at two other sites in Burma."

Shit, that's even worse than I thought it would be...

Supposedly, they have two more areas to look at.

Not looking good.



http://truthdive.com/2013/01/19/Archaeologists-fail-to-find-iconic-Spitfires-buried-in-Burma-during-World-War-II.html

"Cundall said that it is the search that matters, not the failure."

So how long before we figure out who made a fortune off the whole search?