Spitfires found in Burma
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ON CNN.......
Just heard this story on CNN and I'm reminded of Chico California, where for nearly a year after WWII, brand new, (as well as some already in service), B-17 Bombers were being flown directly to Chico California where they were buried. I discovered that this practice had occurred at several places across the U.S..
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My God! Now we discover there are fleets of B17s buried in the USA, and I'll wager no one knew that little gem until now!
They must have had a vast surplus of time and buldozers to achieve that monumental feat. I wonder why they didn't just leave them lying about in rows for years and steadily chop them up and melt them down for scrap like they did with all the rest. Perhaps they were on a job creation scheme or just training to dig the biggest secret hole in the world.
I think I'm going to start a rumour abour the battleships buried on Salisbury Plain because it was "easier" than turning them into razor blades. Then there are the aircraft carriers buried in Yorkshire, two dozen new Mosquitos in a disused coal mine in Wales, fifty new Merlins in a locked hangar at Heathrow (the big black one they haven't opened for 70 years) and a whole division of surplus WRENS under the parade ground at Chatham docks...They were buried in their service issue girdles and smothered thickly with make-up so should be perfectly preserved. Fnarrr!
There's a soup-dragon living in a tree in Hyde Park too. I know that's true because I heard someone say they'd smelled celery there. I can't reveal where it got it's engines though. Yet.
And as you can probably tell, AB's not the only one who's been on the mushrooms!
They must have had a vast surplus of time and buldozers to achieve that monumental feat. I wonder why they didn't just leave them lying about in rows for years and steadily chop them up and melt them down for scrap like they did with all the rest. Perhaps they were on a job creation scheme or just training to dig the biggest secret hole in the world.
I think I'm going to start a rumour abour the battleships buried on Salisbury Plain because it was "easier" than turning them into razor blades. Then there are the aircraft carriers buried in Yorkshire, two dozen new Mosquitos in a disused coal mine in Wales, fifty new Merlins in a locked hangar at Heathrow (the big black one they haven't opened for 70 years) and a whole division of surplus WRENS under the parade ground at Chatham docks...They were buried in their service issue girdles and smothered thickly with make-up so should be perfectly preserved. Fnarrr!
There's a soup-dragon living in a tree in Hyde Park too. I know that's true because I heard someone say they'd smelled celery there. I can't reveal where it got it's engines though. Yet.
And as you can probably tell, AB's not the only one who's been on the mushrooms!
Last edited by Agaricus bisporus; 23rd Apr 2012 at 11:24.
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It's a nice thought that the lottery heritage fund, or HM government might acquire these, or at least some of them, for the Nation.
Some hope ! Cameron's involved. First of all, there'll be a few people in Burma who'll become very rich out of this. Unavoidable in Asia I know, that's their way of doing business.
From our side, we'll Contract-out the enormous amount of consultancy work involved in this project. (To a cronie, obviously). Solictors will generate problems that will earn them a fortune. The removal, and transportation will be contracted-out, as part of a partnering agreement, private finance initiative, and framework agreement (Multiple tiers of profit !!!) On reaching the UK, our own revenue & customs will cause all sorts of problems (More millions for solicitors / consultants)
Sorry to be so grumpy, but we all know how this will pan-out. Taxpayers / lottery players will get very little, millions will be exchanged, and a few will be loaded.
Never in the field of human conflict ..............
Some hope ! Cameron's involved. First of all, there'll be a few people in Burma who'll become very rich out of this. Unavoidable in Asia I know, that's their way of doing business.
From our side, we'll Contract-out the enormous amount of consultancy work involved in this project. (To a cronie, obviously). Solictors will generate problems that will earn them a fortune. The removal, and transportation will be contracted-out, as part of a partnering agreement, private finance initiative, and framework agreement (Multiple tiers of profit !!!) On reaching the UK, our own revenue & customs will cause all sorts of problems (More millions for solicitors / consultants)
Sorry to be so grumpy, but we all know how this will pan-out. Taxpayers / lottery players will get very little, millions will be exchanged, and a few will be loaded.
Never in the field of human conflict ..............
Why don't we just.....
There are a lot of specialists in the UK and abroad who specialise in re-building these old hulks. Why don't we just build some new ones? The precedent is already there with the FW-190's and Me 262's that are now available.
That way, when genuine wrecks are found, the 'handling fees' associated with the recovery should drop right through the floor.....
I'm not being simplistic (or trolling) just asking, to parapharse JFK 'why not'??
That way, when genuine wrecks are found, the 'handling fees' associated with the recovery should drop right through the floor.....
I'm not being simplistic (or trolling) just asking, to parapharse JFK 'why not'??
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Lot of naysayers eating humble pie over on the P40 thread......
It was reportedly brought down by flak after a fighter bomber sortie in the area of Voibakala. Pilot Feldwebel Paul Ratz taken prisoner by Russian's. Released in the 1950's and was repatriated to germany where he died shortly before the aircraft was recovered. Recovered in 1990 and shipped to UK and sold to Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection, Seattle in 1999
Current location is at JME Aviation in Norfolk UK and registered as N19027. Its hoped to have engine test's some time in 2006.
Interesting thing is that flak was not the real cause of the crash. During engine strip down they found uniform rag's in the oil lines.
Its in the classic wings magazine vol 12 No5 2005 Issue 53".
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Anyone here speak fluent IKEA?
Now where are those Whitworth and BA spanners from my motorcycle days?
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Rival teams seek Burma Spitfires
Rival teams seek Burma Spitfires
27 April 2012
Several teams are now said to be competing to unearth as many as 120 Spitfires buried by the Royal Air Force in Burma at the end of World War II.
Last week it was reported that Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall, 62, had located around 20 Mk XIV Spitfires, still packed in shipping crates, which were buried near an airfield in Burma in 1945. Cundall also claims to have located six MkVIII Spitfires buried un-crated in a quarry in the country.
It is now estimated that as many as 120 of the iconic World War II fighters were buried in the country at the end of the war, with the locations of around 60 said to be known by either of two British teams.
Many are believed to be buried near former RAF airfields in Myitkyina, in the north of the country, and Mingaladon, in the South.
Cundall has spent some 15 years searching for the aircraft and has secured financial support of around £500,000 from a second backer after a disagreement with property investor Steve Boultbee Brooks, who had originally offered to fund the excavations.
Cundall rejected a "memorandum of understanding" by Brooks, who is now said to be launching a "massive" recovery project of his own.
"I can do it without Brooks, I can do it without anybody," Cundall told The Daily Telegraph. "I've been digging up aircraft for 35 years. I've pushed the boat out financially. I've struggled like hell to keep it going. I've dug up Burma before, and I don't need them."
Brooks told the newspaper that his team would "keep this project on the road" and were still willing to work with Cundall to recover the planes, but warned that American, Israeli and possibly even Australian teams are interested in excavating the valuable fighters, which can sell for over £1m each.Rival teams seek Burma Spitfires - Defence Management
27 April 2012
Several teams are now said to be competing to unearth as many as 120 Spitfires buried by the Royal Air Force in Burma at the end of World War II.
Last week it was reported that Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall, 62, had located around 20 Mk XIV Spitfires, still packed in shipping crates, which were buried near an airfield in Burma in 1945. Cundall also claims to have located six MkVIII Spitfires buried un-crated in a quarry in the country.
It is now estimated that as many as 120 of the iconic World War II fighters were buried in the country at the end of the war, with the locations of around 60 said to be known by either of two British teams.
Many are believed to be buried near former RAF airfields in Myitkyina, in the north of the country, and Mingaladon, in the South.
Cundall has spent some 15 years searching for the aircraft and has secured financial support of around £500,000 from a second backer after a disagreement with property investor Steve Boultbee Brooks, who had originally offered to fund the excavations.
Cundall rejected a "memorandum of understanding" by Brooks, who is now said to be launching a "massive" recovery project of his own.
"I can do it without Brooks, I can do it without anybody," Cundall told The Daily Telegraph. "I've been digging up aircraft for 35 years. I've pushed the boat out financially. I've struggled like hell to keep it going. I've dug up Burma before, and I don't need them."
Brooks told the newspaper that his team would "keep this project on the road" and were still willing to work with Cundall to recover the planes, but warned that American, Israeli and possibly even Australian teams are interested in excavating the valuable fighters, which can sell for over £1m each.Rival teams seek Burma Spitfires - Defence Management
Several teams are now said to be competing to unearth as many as 120 Spitfires
Investment tip - JCB shares set to rise
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Values to plummet????
Just curious....at what value would it become a loss making exercise to recover, ship, reassemble & certificate? What's a late mark Spitfire worth at the moment?
Is there demand for 60?
I'm positive someone out there could take an informed guesstimate.
Is there demand for 60?
I'm positive someone out there could take an informed guesstimate.
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These are not crated, but are there for the digging. Don't have to go to Burma either.
Not Spitifres, I'm afraid.
The truth behind buried submarine legend | This is Cornwall
Not Spitifres, I'm afraid.
The truth behind buried submarine legend | This is Cornwall
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Anyone know what happened with the recovery of these spitfires?
This threatened to be one of the biggest stories ever in aviation history, but it now seems to have run cold?
This threatened to be one of the biggest stories ever in aviation history, but it now seems to have run cold?
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I have no inside information, but living on the Burmese border, the reason for the apparent delay becomes obvious.
The Monsoon season has only just begun.
Anybody trying to dig holes around here for the next couple of months will simply be making brown muddy mosquito ponds.
Then, there's the dissension that inevitably occurs over buried treasure to resolve.
Better they remain where they are for now.
The Monsoon season has only just begun.
Anybody trying to dig holes around here for the next couple of months will simply be making brown muddy mosquito ponds.
Then, there's the dissension that inevitably occurs over buried treasure to resolve.
Better they remain where they are for now.