Spitfires found in Burma
I'd suggest to Claridon rather than wasting money on an idiots flights of fancy they could support a charity in Myanmar - there are plenty of street kids and HIV/AIDS victims etc who need help.
The Two Basic Questions.
There have been pages of complete drivel written on the web about this whole episode. Two simple facts stand out for me;-
1. There has never been any adequate, documented and logical and credible motivation given for the British military to bury these aircraft.
2. There is absolutely no precedent whatsoever for new crated a/c to be buried en-mass in this way. (Sure, a few junk airframes and crashes have been buried - but dozens of new/serviceable complete airframes? Never.) I think the Iraqis buried a few more recently, but that was an a very dry arid environment anyway, not crated and not deep under Monsoon-soaked jungle soil....
Like everyone - I'd love Mr.Cundall to find the a/c he believes are there. I might feel a bit more confident if he'd successfully found a/c before, but as far as I'm aware - he hasn't, - nor is he a historian, engineer or pilot. Is success likely then.... The answer must logically be 'no', but nonetheless, I still wish him and his sponsors good luck and do sincerely hope they manage to confound all the doubters...!
1. There has never been any adequate, documented and logical and credible motivation given for the British military to bury these aircraft.
2. There is absolutely no precedent whatsoever for new crated a/c to be buried en-mass in this way. (Sure, a few junk airframes and crashes have been buried - but dozens of new/serviceable complete airframes? Never.) I think the Iraqis buried a few more recently, but that was an a very dry arid environment anyway, not crated and not deep under Monsoon-soaked jungle soil....
Like everyone - I'd love Mr.Cundall to find the a/c he believes are there. I might feel a bit more confident if he'd successfully found a/c before, but as far as I'm aware - he hasn't, - nor is he a historian, engineer or pilot. Is success likely then.... The answer must logically be 'no', but nonetheless, I still wish him and his sponsors good luck and do sincerely hope they manage to confound all the doubters...!
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Amazing new technology!
His battle was in part won after he sought the help of a Harrogate-firm which used X-ray-style satellites based in space to confirm that he had definitively found the location of a cache of buried planes.
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The scan of the official document outlining the 100 accumulated "scrap" aircraft being disposed of by locals, has to be accurate. The writer obviously had first hand information.
Re the final comment in post #81 on the abovementioned site ...
... the poster obviously has not seen what a sizeable number of determined, poverty-stricken and deprived third-world people can do, to large items of abandoned Western technological equipment, when it comes to parting it out for their personal benefit!
"Cundall is a fantasist", is the most accurate statement I have seen written anywhere.
Re the final comment in post #81 on the abovementioned site ...
So we are to believe that 100 aircraft of unspecified types were dismantled by the local population, either supervised or unsupervised, on the active Mingaladon airfield with tools and equipment at their disposal, with no help from the departing RAF, at a time of increased airfield security and civil unrest, major runway infrastructure upgrade and a monsoon …without leaving but a trace in the panoramic photo of January 1946 and the PRU recon images of February 1947?
That is a mighty big ask.
That is a mighty big ask.
"Cundall is a fantasist", is the most accurate statement I have seen written anywhere.
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
... the poster obviously has not seen what a sizeable number of determined, poverty-stricken and deprived third-world people can do, to large items of abandoned Western technological equipment, when it comes to parting it out for their personal benefit!
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I am with GQ2 (#285):
..
That question has been well expressed as "Cui Bono ?" (who stands to profit or gain advantage from doing this ?) And it is often overlooked that we were the ruling Power there until Independence on 4 Jan 1948. Didn't we know that a civil engineering job of this size was going on ? So where is the record in the archives of the former Colonial Office ?
Having said that, I ruefully admit that, in the beginning of this "find" and the Thread, such was the attraction of the fairy tale, that I myself contributed to the "drivel" by attempting to suggest possible scenarios to account for it.
Now I repeat: I did not believe it then, and I do not believe it now (but I'd be overjoyed to be proved wrong !) We shall see.
Danny42C.
...The Two Basic Questions.
There have been pages of complete drivel written on the web about this whole episode. Two simple facts stand out for me;-
1. There has never been any adequate, documented and logical and credible motivation given for the British military to bury these aircraft.
There have been pages of complete drivel written on the web about this whole episode. Two simple facts stand out for me;-
1. There has never been any adequate, documented and logical and credible motivation given for the British military to bury these aircraft.
That question has been well expressed as "Cui Bono ?" (who stands to profit or gain advantage from doing this ?) And it is often overlooked that we were the ruling Power there until Independence on 4 Jan 1948. Didn't we know that a civil engineering job of this size was going on ? So where is the record in the archives of the former Colonial Office ?
Having said that, I ruefully admit that, in the beginning of this "find" and the Thread, such was the attraction of the fairy tale, that I myself contributed to the "drivel" by attempting to suggest possible scenarios to account for it.
Now I repeat: I did not believe it then, and I do not believe it now (but I'd be overjoyed to be proved wrong !) We shall see.
Danny42C.
If you go to Myanmar in Rangon PSP is clearly in use in fences around the church and in many other places. The city is fascinating as parts have hardly been developed for years and are faded but glorious.
Even the WoW web site has a photo showing a PSP fence: Mingaladon Airfield | World of Warplanes
https://www.google.com.hk/search?tbm...w=1366&bih=643
The point I'm trying to make is that anything of value then that was being dumped would have been pulled to bits and anything of value sold or used.
This search is a total waste of money...money that could be spent on some very needs people in that country. Such as: Ratana Metta Organisation | Ratana Metta Organisation
Even the WoW web site has a photo showing a PSP fence: Mingaladon Airfield | World of Warplanes
https://www.google.com.hk/search?tbm...w=1366&bih=643
The point I'm trying to make is that anything of value then that was being dumped would have been pulled to bits and anything of value sold or used.
This search is a total waste of money...money that could be spent on some very needs people in that country. Such as: Ratana Metta Organisation | Ratana Metta Organisation
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When 60 Sqn was disbanded at Tengah,Singers,you could nearly buy a Javelin in CKD Form in the market the following week.Things have never changed.There was never any Aden Brass left at the ranges at Thumrait,as the locals used to crawl across them with cardboard sheets covering them,to recover any brass, as 6 Fighter Sqn roared overhead or Wizz in his Jag from no8 tried to take the roof off the FAC's Land Rover,as his skid marks proved!!!Happy days.
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Maybe he needs to look out for old rivetted cooking pots and chicken shed roofs etc.
or Wizz in his Jag from no8 tried to take the roof off the FAC's Land Rover,as his skid marks proved!!
that's pretty novel . .. . almost as novel as the bloke in remote northern Western Australia who found his wife had run off with a station hand. He leaped in his C182 to give chase. Ten miles away he just made out a plume of dust.
It was his target no mistake. He came in low low and fast . Then right on top of the ute he gave the nose wheel a quick bang on the cab of the ute. This resulted in the whole nose-wheel and strut parting company with the Cessna, falling back into the tray of the ute. The terrified occupants fearing for their lives found a few trees to park under for a while till hubby got sick of hanging around . . probably wanting to get back home for his shot gun. Landing, luck of the draw, he did not do a lot of extra damage .. but meanwhile the other two drove into Wittenoom to the police station. When the case went to court the accused entered no plea on the charge of reckless flying .. . despite the fact that a part of his plane was EXHIBIT 'A'. The beak fined him 500 pounds and the DCA was happy to take his licence off him for two years.
Whether his action saved the marriage or not you have to do a time warp back to the Fortescue Hotel in Wittenoom and look for Nev Maguire the Mobil agent who first told me the story.
how we can digress. .
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Onetrack, Post#290
In your experience what would be that sizeable number of determined, poverty-stricken and deprived third-world people that would be required to totally remove 100 aircraft with the tools and equipment available to them in 60 days...the very active Mingaladon at that time being one of the main staging posts on the air route from India to Singapore?
In your experience what would be that sizeable number of determined, poverty-stricken and deprived third-world people that would be required to totally remove 100 aircraft with the tools and equipment available to them in 60 days...the very active Mingaladon at that time being one of the main staging posts on the air route from India to Singapore?
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Here's an interesting one...
Focke-Wulf Fw190s buried in Turkey!
Now, Turkey DID acquire seventy-five Fw190-A3s in a barter deal with Germany in 1942.
Hitler was keen to get Turkey on-side at that time and so the aircraft were supplied in exchange for an unspecified amount of nickel and high-grade iron.
Turkey did operate the type until 1947.
That much is fact.
Browsing through another site earlier today, I noticed a post from a contributor who said he'd turned up the following, somewhere on Wiki...
(I had a brief look but couldn't find such an entry, myself.)
"The Turkish Air Force retired all of its FW190 A-3 fleet at the end of 1947 mostly because of a lack of spare parts and bi-lateral agreements which requires retiring and scrapping of all German aircraft. Nonetheless, all of retired FW190s were saved from scrapping. The aircraft were wrapped with protective clothes and preserved under the soil near Aviation Supply and Maintenance Centre at Kayseri city. Several attempts have been made to move these aircraft to museums, none of them have been successful as of now."
So, there we go, Claridon Group ... I hear it's quite nice in Turkey at this time of year.
Focke-Wulf Fw190s buried in Turkey!
Now, Turkey DID acquire seventy-five Fw190-A3s in a barter deal with Germany in 1942.
Hitler was keen to get Turkey on-side at that time and so the aircraft were supplied in exchange for an unspecified amount of nickel and high-grade iron.
Turkey did operate the type until 1947.
That much is fact.
Browsing through another site earlier today, I noticed a post from a contributor who said he'd turned up the following, somewhere on Wiki...
(I had a brief look but couldn't find such an entry, myself.)
"The Turkish Air Force retired all of its FW190 A-3 fleet at the end of 1947 mostly because of a lack of spare parts and bi-lateral agreements which requires retiring and scrapping of all German aircraft. Nonetheless, all of retired FW190s were saved from scrapping. The aircraft were wrapped with protective clothes and preserved under the soil near Aviation Supply and Maintenance Centre at Kayseri city. Several attempts have been made to move these aircraft to museums, none of them have been successful as of now."
So, there we go, Claridon Group ... I hear it's quite nice in Turkey at this time of year.
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"In my experience in China; about fifty."
But you would probably get several hunderd "volunteers"- in fact the main issue would be how many you can get round each aircraft at the same time
If there was the scent of serious cash it could be done in one night easily................ in Nigeria maybe in 2 hours...............
But you would probably get several hunderd "volunteers"- in fact the main issue would be how many you can get round each aircraft at the same time
If there was the scent of serious cash it could be done in one night easily................ in Nigeria maybe in 2 hours...............
