I have been following the story for a while. Hadn't heard the 120 number. I had heard it had been bumped to 60 a few days ago. 40' of dirt? Hopefully moisture didn't get into all of them. Excited to see what shape they are in.
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Joe™ If you want a museum piece get a real Cobra. If you want a car that is much better in all regards, get a replica.
I heard 80 and rumor of more at another site. They're supposed to be in good shape, preped for long term storage. It'll be real interesting to see what they dig up.
There's only a small hand full of them left flying.
This was posted on here a few months back. Something about the Brits burying them instead of letting them fall into enemy hands. I believe they were brand new and for some reason they couldn't fly them out.
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Exactly what I thought. That thing was scrap metal...
Supposedly the Spitfires are still covered in grease and wax paper from shipment. They very well could be in great condition. The crates being underground could be good or bad, but those could be intact as well.
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-Joe
"Autoholism: An incurable addiction medicated daily with car porn."
"It's loud, smells like gasoline, and shakes, shudders, and bucks. It makes your arms tired and your feet hot. You nearly crash about once every ten minutes. It's so damn wonderful you can’t believe it." -Automobile Mag. Oct. '04
I read, a while back, they had already had cameras sent down to have a look, and the planes were in good condition.
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Attended build school in '04. Bought a hot '90 GT for an eventual donor in '05. Had to sell it in '09. Life keeps getting in the way... GRRRRRR! Tips on how to post pictures
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I was looking for the latest info on this expedition and found this article:
Burma Spitfire Dream Gets Rude Awakening
By Mark Phelps / Published: Feb 20, 2013
British farmer and aviation enthusiast David Cundall was living out his dream of digging up more than 100 crated World War II Supermarine Spitfires, but that dream has turned to a nightmare. Funding for the expedition has been cut off after none of the aircraft were found buried near the runway of Myanmar’s (formerly Burma) Rangoon International Airport, which was a Royal Air Force base during the war.
Cundall was convinced the airplanes are there by interviews with several veterans who claimed to have seen them preserved and crated, then buried near the airport. Cundall still believes the fighters are there, now saying they must be much closer to the modern airport’s runway. The government will not allow him to dig there for fear of undermining the pavement.
Metal detected at the site of the first dig turned out to be remnants of steel matting, known as pierced steel planking, used during the war for runways, taxiways and parking revetments. The six-week excavation project had been backed by Wargaming.net, a Belarusian video game company. In a statement, a company spokesperson said, “No one would have been more delighted than our team had we found Spitfires [but] we knew the risks going in, as our team had spent many weeks in the archives and had not found any evidence to support the claim of buried Spitfires.”
For his part, Cundall said he intends to return to Myanmar, “…when we have permission to dig at the new site.” He said that getting approval could take months.
I love that wargaming.net funded a project after their team searched archives and found no evidence that the planes existed. Sounds like a great financial decision to me.
The other thing that I don't understand, is there not imaging equipment that they could use in the new location to determin if there was something under the ground? Is digging really the only option?
Scott
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I really hope they find those fighters but seems to me the odds are stacked against them being in any worthwhile shape.
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I love that wargaming.net funded a project after their team searched archives and found no evidence that the planes existed. Sounds like a great financial decision to me.
The other thing that I don't understand, is there not imaging equipment that they could use in the new location to determin if there was something under the ground? Is digging really the only option?
Scott
They did use ground penetrating radar which showed anomalies in the ground. But the area he wanted to dig is now under the runway, and right next to it, they would Not allow them to be there as active airfield.
More people are questioning the actual origin of surplus planes now.
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