20 Spitfires found in Burma

[18-Wheeler]

To put that another way, the ingenuity of service men knows no bounds. We could all be in for a surprise.

I remember one of the classic stories in that great book, Chickenhawk, where he tells the story a Huey that crashed doing a freighter flight. All the local quartermasters quickly added all the stuff from their stores that had gone walkabout and produced paperwork that they'd had it on that chopper.
Since choppers are pretty sensitive to even a few tens of kilograms of excess mass, when someone worked out it was a full eight tonnes overweight it was no surprise it crashed.

[Wunwing]

On top of the RAF spitfires which were in Burma at the end of WW2 there were a number of ex Israeli Air Force aircraft ferried there later.

I've recently read a book about the ATF women pilots and noted a discussion about what they did after WW2 and their work included being involved in that ferry.So who knows what is actually in the country.

As for the surviving aircraft condition, I've now worked on a number of piles of scrap that aren't far from flying again. All that is needed is a makers plate and in some cases if the serial number is identified, not even that.

Wunwing

[gileraguy]

I understand that an original Dataplate is required for the COA for a "restored" warbird.

[rcoight]

If they have the Griffon engine and / or teardrop canopies then they're not REAL Spitfires for mine. So count me out.

Otherwise, I'm in!

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

AND WHAT PRECISELY, IS WRONG ABOUT THE GRIFFON ENGINE...???

Humph!!

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Sorry Griffo, they do not sound as sweet running as the Merlin. Mind you, at certain settings the Allison makes a very satisfying bass note.

[Mr & Mrs Rocketboots]

Any news on this? there is a rumour doing the rounds that the dig has met with success - personally, I'd be surprised - but what do I know?

Still nothing certain - if this report is accurate there won't be for another couple of months.

British farmer hunts buried Spitfires in Myanmar | Stuff.co.nz

I do so hope there is a few which are still salvageable.

[Engineer_aus]

On Channel 10 news. He is hoping to have them out in the next few weeks and 12 are being looked at. His intentions are for at least enough parts to make one airworthy. They were his words that came out of his mouth. I am gearing up for a huge letdown by the sounds of it.

[illusion]

Here is a reality check boys...

Oklahoma centennial time capsule car found ruined | Reuters

[TBM-Legend]

Griffon Spitfires did not come to the region until late 1944 and there were no earlier Spitfire models in the theatre in 1942. They used some Hurricanes and Curtiss Mohawks then.

Not sure why Spitfires needed to be buried to keep them from the Japs!

It is possible stuff was buried after Burma was retaken by the Allies but whey bury complete aircraft in crates?

[Wallsofchina]

The explanation might be that they didn't. We should have seen at least wooden crates sections from the downhole camera shots taken months ago by now.

[Aussie Bob]

A bit more news on these is coming to light water filled crate found

[VH-XXX]

One of the articles I read on this today showed a photoboard of shots from the cameras underground. Unfortunately here were no close ups of it. It is interesting that there has been zero evidence shown to the world thus far.

[AEROMEDIC]

No Spitfires found.

It's a real shame but no Spitfires have been found and the expensive search has been called off.

Dogfight begins over failure to find Burma's buried Spitfires

So what next?

As I posted earlier on this thread, any Spitfires found would be in unsuitable condition for anything.

[Sunfish]

Aaa ah! But they were there until,someone dug them up last year!

[Offcut]

"I call bullsh_t on the whole thing. Just think, the Japanese army is invading, the Brits are retreating, they are hardly going to take the time to dig nice big holes and carefully lower large crates intact into them. If I was in charge I would order them blown up, burnt, or bulldozed. Spitfires weren't the rarity then that they are now. Why leave them intact where they could well be dug up by the enemy? I hope I'm wrong and they pull the whole lot out ready to go, but I doubt they will. To me it smells of a scam to get some collector to stump up money, never to be seen again."

The above is my post from last year. Hate to say "I told you so" but..............

[tinpis]

Maybe all is not lost They could turn the whole search into a comedy series

[tail wheel]

Sorry to burst your bubble but it all looks like another myth:

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

Video: Burma spitfires: search still on, says mission leader David Cundall - Telegraph

'There are no Spitfires': The dream has ended in the hunt for buried British planes - ITV News

[tinpis]

Hah hah..I've worked with bloody fools as portrayed in 'aint 'arf 'ot...they weren't all in GA either....

[oliveau]

Let's clear up some of the myths.

According to the Telegraph Cundall claims that Castle Bromwich built Mk XIV's were shipped to Rangoon, arriving in August 1945. It also claimed that a significant number of Mk XIV's were SOC on the same date in August 1945.

FACT: Mk XIV's were all built under Air Ministry order Air/1877 by Supermarine themselves. Castle Bromwich didn't build any Mk XIV's

FACT: There are no records of Mk XIV's being shipped to Rangoon. There are records of Mk XIV's being shipped to India [where presumably they were assembled and ferried to their final destination]. The records of some of those MK XIV's showing being attached to ACSEA [Air Command South-East Asia] . More Mk XIV's don't appear to have gone further than India, with many being SOC in 1946/7 [Partition time, when the Brit's got out of India, so perhaps although shown SOC, they stayed with the Indian Air Force?]

There are no records showing Mk XIV's being SOC in August 1945.

*****************

Why bury brand new aircraft in 1945? - The RAF were still operating Spits in Japan and Malaya in 1946/7. Furthermore, records show another ship delivery to India in October 1945.

Yes, the 'witnesses' may have seen crates being buried, and yes, they may have been told that they contained Spits [on the good old 'Send three and fourpence, I'm going to a dance' principle.] Unless anyone actually opened a crate & took a gander inside, there's no telling what was inside. [Knowing some of the supply snafus, I expect someone had despatched crates of Arctic clothing to Burma, so Yes, bury it quick!]