Spitfires found in Burma
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Australia - South of where I'd like to be !
Age: 59
Posts: 4,261
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What a suprise
+ 2
Now we just have to wait for all the press releases and back tracking
as to why they got it so "wrong", with the exception of etracting
huge amounts of money from various sources.
+ 2
Now we just have to wait for all the press releases and back tracking
as to why they got it so "wrong", with the exception of etracting
huge amounts of money from various sources.
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: huj
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So it goes from 124 possible Spitfires down to zero? The original figure was always too good to be true. But zero is too bad to true. There has to be one or two unless everything we've been told is inaccurate.
Having said that, one thing that always bothered me was the complete lack of evidence. It always seemed to me that if they knew where one was. A small hole could be drilled down and a simple video camera with a light attached on a piece of string. Basic stuff. Yet we have nothing. Not a single compelling image, even of the waterlogged crate.
Having said that, one thing that always bothered me was the complete lack of evidence. It always seemed to me that if they knew where one was. A small hole could be drilled down and a simple video camera with a light attached on a piece of string. Basic stuff. Yet we have nothing. Not a single compelling image, even of the waterlogged crate.
Paxing All Over The World
From that BBC article:
Of course, as Project Leader, he had zero influence on where they were digging. 
Also:
Poor chap, he's not had nearly enough time to find the right place after a mere 17 years. Perhaps he should speak to the Project Leader. 
Wargaming.net, the firm financing the dig, has also said there are no planes. But project leader David Cundall says they are looking in the wrong place.
Also:
British campaigner David Cundall has spent the last 17 years trying to discover the truth of claims that unused, unassembled Spitfires were packed into crates and buried ...
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Tr_no 688
Posts: 235
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think the blokes continued use of phrases like "they will be in great condition", was the big clue, that this might be someone who "believes" things as opposed to someone who finds things out ......and lets face it the whole thing was based largely on second hand tales and fuzzy 70 year old memories told mostly in a foreign language .....not saying that blind faith and optimism never worked, but its uneliable at best, great shame for all the the believers out there.
.....same time next week?
.....same time next week?
Paxing All Over The World
And all because of the overworked word 'Spitfire'. There is no doubt about what a remarkable aircraft it was/is, just as there is no doubt about the Hurricane and the remarkable number of sorties it flew and it's success at bringing down the enemy. I do not have to hand the exact numbers for both machines but I recall that the Hurricane claimed more and I sit to be corrected on that.
Whoever coined the word 'Spitfire' cannot have known what a fabulous marketing tool it was going to become...
Since the war, the British press and MPs have relentless built the image of this aircraft - so the idea that more of these icons of Britishness could be found? To many that would be irrisistable - eventhough it always sounded too good to be true ...
Whoever coined the word 'Spitfire' cannot have known what a fabulous marketing tool it was going to become...
Since the war, the British press and MPs have relentless built the image of this aircraft - so the idea that more of these icons of Britishness could be found? To many that would be irrisistable - eventhough it always sounded too good to be true ...
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: huj
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I do not have to hand the exact numbers for both machines but I recall that the Hurricane claimed more and I sit to be corrected on that.
But the Hurricane was obsolete as a front line air fighter very quickly after that and the Spitfire was continually developed and served through the war and beyond. So the Spit comfortably outpoints the Hurricane in terms of kills in the long run.
As for the now mysteriously missing Spitfires in Burma. There must have been some evidence otherwise so many people wouldn't have come on board.
I find it hard to believe there are no buried aircraft at all.
Last edited by bluecode; 19th Jan 2013 at 18:15.
Hurricanes in Burma
I always thought it was the Hurricane that bore the brunt of the original Burma fighting.Not only as a fighter,but in its :- Bombing,rocketing,tankbusting,and general airborne jeep on rough strips bit.
A bit outmoded perhaps,but never short of taking the fight to where it was needed;what a machine,and surprising how many 'tasks' it pioneered.
Do not recall any accounts of them being buried;far too useful for that.
A bit outmoded perhaps,but never short of taking the fight to where it was needed;what a machine,and surprising how many 'tasks' it pioneered.
Do not recall any accounts of them being buried;far too useful for that.
Last edited by POBJOY; 19th Jan 2013 at 20:07.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: DORSET
Posts: 191
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
a sad time
I feel sorry both for Mr Cundall,and for all aviation enthusiasts:Some of our Spitfires are missing: Doubts over existence of 160 WW2 fighter planes in Burma - Asia - World - The Independent
Health scare 'won't end my Spitfire dream': Adventurer will continue searching for the planes in Burma | Mail Online
Health scare 'won't end my Spitfire dream': Adventurer will continue searching for the planes in Burma | Mail Online
Last edited by sharksandwich; 20th Jan 2013 at 08:44.
Paxing All Over The World
Ah, thanks bluecode, very helpful. Although I still think that the name has ensured the legacy. There are some product names that just 'zing' into the mind and the modern world has a few such.
Last edited by PAXboy; 20th Jan 2013 at 17:43.
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
Posts: 14,574
Received 422 Likes
on
222 Posts
Bearing in mind that the Hurricane is a much rarer beast, I think there would still have been a great deal of interest.
As an independent observer 'Mark' puts it into perspective. At Mingaladon they apparently never got a chance to dig at the hot spots.
See following.
Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums - View Single Post - Spitfires From Burma (Merged thread)
See following.
Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums - View Single Post - Spitfires From Burma (Merged thread)
La Bouteille 2000
This all reminds me of La Bouteille filmed in 2000. Two buddies arrive at a house to dig up a bottle they buried decades ago with predictions of their future.
The current homeowner charges for each square foot dug up -- and the digging continue$$$
As a side plot here is a charming bedroom scene where one of said buddies is having a wonderful time with the heavily pregnant granddaughter.
I watched this tender scene unfold during the French film festival in Toronto. As the screening was during the day, one of the posh private [ public in UK ] girls schools brought in their Grade 10 class. They were seated behind me. Their gasps and strained remarks added to the entertainment
How the teachers lived that one down, I do not know
The current homeowner charges for each square foot dug up -- and the digging continue$$$
As a side plot here is a charming bedroom scene where one of said buddies is having a wonderful time with the heavily pregnant granddaughter.
I watched this tender scene unfold during the French film festival in Toronto. As the screening was during the day, one of the posh private [ public in UK ] girls schools brought in their Grade 10 class. They were seated behind me. Their gasps and strained remarks added to the entertainment
How the teachers lived that one down, I do not know
Last edited by RatherBeFlying; 21st Jan 2013 at 00:34.
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: huj
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ah, thanks bluecode, very helpful. Although I still think that the name has ensured the legacy. There are some product names that just 'zing' into the mind and the modern world has a few such.
Look at the Mosquito, called after an annoying stinging insect. But it is a beautiful aircraft to look at.
As for the lost Spitfires of Burma. From what I've read they went out there, dug one not very deep hole, found some old PSP and went home declaring there were no Spitfires at all. Bizarre! They surely can't have expected to find them all immediately. A distinct lack of professionalism there.
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In contrast to Fergal Keane's BBC report, basically - there are no Spitfires in Burma, this interview with the Sunday Telegraph over this past weekend.
Video: Burma spitfires: search still on, says mission leader David Cundall - Telegraph
Video: Burma spitfires: search still on, says mission leader David Cundall - Telegraph
Last edited by Mark22; 21st Jan 2013 at 16:53.
At Mingaladon they apparently never got a chance to dig at the hot spots.
Paxing All Over The World
Continuing thread drift ...
bluecode
I agree that the Spitfire would have been as beautiful and has fine to fly as the Aardvark - but I contend that the public would not have taken it up in the same way. The professionals would have loved the Aarvark, but not the public.
I agree that the Mossie is a strange name but, again, the professional (or the enthusiast) looks on these things very differently. I think that a heavy four engined bomber called the Plymouth would not have been thought of in the same way as the same machine with it's rolling three syllable name is known.
Another example, in the competition for attention, 'HD-DVD' was always going to lose out to 'Blu-Ray'.
bluecode
Well the name helps but if they had called it the Aardvark. I think the lines of the aircraft alone would have ensured it's immortality. It is a beautiful in a way the Hurricane looks like the box it came in. (A little harsh that, I know)
Look at the Mosquito, called after an annoying stinging insect. But it is a beautiful aircraft to look at.
Look at the Mosquito, called after an annoying stinging insect. But it is a beautiful aircraft to look at.
I agree that the Mossie is a strange name but, again, the professional (or the enthusiast) looks on these things very differently. I think that a heavy four engined bomber called the Plymouth would not have been thought of in the same way as the same machine with it's rolling three syllable name is known.
Another example, in the competition for attention, 'HD-DVD' was always going to lose out to 'Blu-Ray'.