Dozen Spitfires found buried in their shipping crates in Myanmar

jasc15

jasc15

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http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Lost_Spitfire_Squadron_206526-1.html

Aviation historians and warbird enthusiasts are drooling at the discovery of at least 12 and maybe as many 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in Myanmar, which was formerly Burma. Thanks to the tenacity (and apparently considerable diplomatic skills) of British farmer David Cundall, the lost squadron of pristine fighters was found where they were buried by U.S. troops in 1945 when it became clear they wouldn't be needed in the final days of the Second World War. At least a dozen of the aircraft, one of the latest variants with their 2,035-horsepower Roll Royce Griffon engines replacing the 1,200-1,500-horsepower Merlins in earlier models, were buried without ever being removed from their original packing crates. It's possible another eight were also buried after the war ended. After spending 15 years and $200,000 of his own money, Cundall was rewarded with visual proof of the magnitude of his discovery. "We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates," he told the Telegraph. "They seemed to be in good condition."

The aircraft were declared surplus when they arrived in Burma because the Japanese were in retreat by then and carrier-based Seafires were getting all the action. They were ordered buried in their original crates, waxed, swaddled in grease paper and their joints tarred against the elements. Cundall found some of the soldiers who buried the planes by placing ads in magazines and was able to narrow down the search before using ground-penetrating radar to confirm the burial site. The next obstacles to recovery are political. Myanmar's former military junta was under a variety of sanctions, among them an international convention that prevented the transfer of military goods to and from the country. Recent political reforms have led to the lifting of that ban effective April 23. Cundall will also need the permission of the new Myanmar government to unearth the treasure. He helped his own cause by making numerous trips to the country and earning the trust of government officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to seal the deal with Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit.
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I also recall a similar story in Australia recently.
 
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Getting them out of country could prove to be an interesting exercise in politics, but what a find!
 
That is incredible! I'd love to see pictures of those.
 
Wow that's amazing. I wonder who owns them now. The government or the treasure hunter?
 
POA mission to liberate them, and fly them out?


:)
 
Cool, wonder what they traded? I Think for a all around value platform the F-5 was pretty good as was the A-4. I'd suspect food or trade favor.
 
The next thing will be getting the FAA to issue an airworthiness certificate on old war birds.
 
Tom-D said:
The next thing will be getting the FAA to issue an airworthiness certificate on old war birds.
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I don't think the FAA has a thing to do with it.
 
This is a very cool thing... I think if they have remained relatively dry and critter-free all these years undeground, these planes could be extremely restorable. There are flying , certified antique planes built up from a lot less than this. Compared to the Glacier Gal or Boeing 40 projects, getting one of these Spits flying would be a piece of cake, even paperwork-wise.
 
rottydaddy said:
Compared to the Glacier Gal or Boeing 40 projects, getting one of these Spits flying would be a piece of cake, even paperwork-wise.
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Except for one thing... I don't know if they were shipped armed, but if they've got guns installed the Brits will absolutely freak. Like Granny on the kitchen chair with a mouse running around.
 
DaleB said:
Except for one thing... I don't know if they were shipped armed, but if they've got guns installed the Brits will absolutely freak. Like Granny on the kitchen chair with a mouse running around.
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Ain't that the truth. Plus if there are any sharp objects in there.......
 
I sure would hate to be a Spitfire owner right now. The value is about to be significantly reduced.
 
We still don't know the condition of these planes. They could be pristine or they could be oxidized junk or somewhere in between.
 
DaleB said:
Except for one thing... I don't know if they were shipped armed, but if they've got guns installed the Brits will absolutely freak. Like Granny on the kitchen chair with a mouse running around.
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They are the people that imprison citizens for turning in a shot gun found in a field. Anything is possible with those nutty progressive socialist Brits, which his why so many of them live in Florida.
 
I remember when they found a Hurricane in a bog. When they realized there were still guns and ammo on board, albeit, probably inoperable, rusted junk, they still pee'd their pants.
 
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Anthony said:
We still don't know the condition of these planes. They could be pristine or they could be oxidized junk or somewhere in between.
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My vote's for "oxidized junk." Doubt the buriers way back when realized the planes would be underground for 60+ years. Moist, tropic soil and time.... it's not the ice of Greenland, that's for sure.

One news report said they were buried to hide them from the Japanese, which argues even less preparation.

I don't doubt one of them might eventually fly, but it'll probably essentially jacking up the data plate and building an airplane under it.

Ron Wanttaja
 
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Sac Arrow said:
I sure would hate to be a Spitfire owner right now. The value is about to be significantly reduced.
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I'd absolutely love being a Spitfire owner. How many Spitfires are owned privately? I'd venture very few. I'm waiting to see a single one recovered from underground and it will be an even longer wait to see one flying. I don't think any Spitfire owner is sweating.
 
Witmo said:
I'd absolutely love being a Spitfire owner. How many Spitfires are owned privately? I'd venture very few. I'm waiting to see a single one recovered from underground and it will be an even longer wait to see one flying. I don't think any Spitfire owner is sweating.
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I'm thinking not many Spitfire owners are holding them as an investment either. ;) They may go up or down in value, but I'd guess that the airplane is a very small % of the average owner's net worth. :D I bet some of them are hoping the recovery is successful and more are available, in case something happens to theirs. :dunno:
 
jasc15 said:
:goofy:

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Lost_Spitfire_Squadron_206526-1.html
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Doesn’t this sound like a treasure hunt scam?

The article from April 15, 2012 speaks to the “discovery” of “at least twelve and maybe as many as 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in [Burma].” Note that the only physical evidence of this is David Cundall’s claim that “We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates [and] they seemed to be in good condition.” And, this evidence is just mentioned by the interviewee, not shown.

Even assuming that some camera stuffed down a small bore hole really returned an image of the cored edge of some wood that looks like a crate, doesn’t this sound like hogwash?

The end-goal here is to get a number of wealthy folks to “invest” in a share of Cundall’s share of profits.

And now, six months later in an article dated October 19, the number of buried Spitfires they expect to excavate has risen to “as many as 140” and, somewhat oddly in the same article, “at least 60.”

http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/259204/Myanmar-find-could-flood-vintage-Spitfire-market-.html?isap=1&nav=5033

So, we have this passage of time, and with crazy increases in the number of WWII airplanes that are supposedly buried, and yet we have no real evidence? How flipping long would it take to dig up part of just one crate that was hastily buried in Burma with the war-torn equipment that was available to them in 1945?

In my opinion, it’s a treasure hunt scam.
 
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It could be the Burmese government holding things up. I can't imagine they'd let ANY digging without several, significant "fees" to authorities there. Lots of hoops to jump through. Maybe even more than Chicago.
 
register@teamandras.com said:
Doesn’t this sound like a treasure hunt scam?

The article from April 15, 2012 speaks to the “discovery” of “at least twelve and maybe as many as 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in [Burma].” Note that the only physical evidence of this is David Cundall’s claim that “We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates [and] they seemed to be in good condition.” And, this evidence is just mentioned by the interviewee, not shown.

Even assuming that some camera stuffed down a small bore hole really returned an image of the cored edge of some wood that looks like a crate, doesn’t this sound like hogwash?

The end-goal here is to get a number of wealthy folks to “invest” in a share of Cundall’s share of profits.

And now, six months later in an article dated October 19, the number of buried Spitfires they expect to excavate has risen to “as many as 140” and, somewhat oddly in the same article, “at least 60.”

http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/259204/Myanmar-find-could-flood-vintage-Spitfire-market-.html?isap=1&nav=5033

So, we have this passage of time, and with crazy increases in the number of WWII airplanes that are supposedly buried, and yet we have no real evidence? How flipping long would it take to dig up part of just one crate that was hastily buried in Burma with the war-torn equipment that was available to them in 1945?

In my opinion, it’s a treasure hunt scam.
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If the Japanese were near you'd think they'd only have time to dig shallow holes and bury the crates and yet it sounds like the "treasure hunters" have located the crates far below ground or they would have had solid evidence by now. I agree that more than likely it's BS.
 
The timing sounds fishy to me. The MK XIV wasn't even being delivered to units in Britain until October of 1944. By November of 1944 the Japanese were abandoning Burma after their failed attempt to move into India. Considering that the initial production runs of Griffon powered Spits were in high demand for interception of V-1s in England, it is hard to Imagine them being in Burma within one month. After late 1944 the Japanese were in general retreat throughout the area. If they do indeed exist my bet is they were buried after the war as surplus. Destroying or dumping excess equipment at the end of the war was a common practice as it was cheaper than shipping it home. A large part of the breakwater in Apra, Guam is based on trucks, tanks and construction equipment dumped by the US at the end of the war.
 
register@teamandras.com said:
Doesn’t this sound like a treasure hunt scam?
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Back when I was a young 'un in the '70s, I owned a 1946 Willys Jeep and had upgraded (bought a '51 model). I wanted to sell the '46, but was told my price was too high because some guy in town had found a bunch of left-over WWII Jeeps buried in the South Pacific and he was selling them for a lot less money.

Needless to say, no dug-up WWII Jeeps appeared....

Ron Wanttaja
 
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