Spitfires From Burma / Myanmar (or not?)

[Mark12]

My understanding has always been from 12-14 years ago that the eye-witness accounts were from former 'Seabees'.

Mark

Wiki says:-

Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee[1] is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, (CB) of the United States Navy. The Seabees have a history of building bases, bulldozing and paving thousands of miles of roadway and airstrips, and accomplishing a myriad of other construction projects in a wide variety of military theaters dating back to World War II.

[paulmcmillan]

And not to be confused with this

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBeebies

[fighterace]

That makes more sense.

One heck of a lot of earth to move, though!

I see that work has already started with this trial hole.

Well now that been explained about the river bed, the bore hole is more likely to have gone through a Boat

Yes i can see how the idea of SOC might work however with any discovery thats of financial value it always opens a can of worms and often ends up in tears.

[Tangmere1940]

Agreed, Fighterace...though in this case it seems it might have started in tears!

[Dr Strangelove]

I wonder if these Spitfires will have survived as well as Tulsa, Oklahoma's 1957 Plymouth Belvedere time capsule?


http://www.allpar.com/history/auto-s...e-capsule.html

[Propstrike]

Another press release, another number.

The new number is..............(dramatic pause ).......... 124!

''British farmer and aviation history buff David Cundall now says there are 124 new Spitfires buried in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and he knows where 60 of them are. As we reported two weeks ago, Cundall stunned the aviation world with news that he had found at least 20 crated, brand-new Spitfires wrapped in protective paper and tar to preserve them. Whether he'll be able to capitalize on his stunning discovery is in question, however, as treasure hunters from all over the world race against each other and the impending monsoon season to dig the pickled aircraft up.''


http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news..._206608-1.html

You just have to admire confidence like this

[QldSpitty]

Which ones?Researching start here..
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/

[David Burke]

Can hardly believe it ! There are now one hundred plus with a buyer prepared to pay $1.5 million each!! Does he realise that XIV's will become that common you won't be able to sell one at your local boot sale!

[JonL]

$1.5 million each for a pile of corroded . crushed and rusted metal - if they're lucky.............

He's dreamin'...........

[Bager1968]

The buyer is the RAF... they are planning to stand up 4 squadrons to supplement the Typhoon for COIN operations.

[D1566]

Eighteen 2" diameter test bore holes were made one of which, significantly, passed through 1" timber at 30ft and 42ft as viewed through an optical device.

No mention of passing through anything else in between the two lots of timber?

[Propstrike]

Although the 'Raiders of the lost Crates ' story makes good headlines, the notion of 'buried treasure' needs a bit more scrutiny.

If the recovered aeroplanes were late mark Griffon-engined examples, I am not so sure the preservation movement would necessarily be clammouring to get hold of them- it is not at all the same Spitfire as the 'legendary' 1940 Merlin fighter, which has up to now been the focus of the scratch building/ restoration industry. The big money is in flyers, and these buried Spits will not be worth £1 million until you have spent about £1 million ( or more ) on them.

Historically, the later 'big' Spitfires have not done so well at auction, and have often lingered 'on the shelf' until a buyer could be found. To flood the market with even a dozen, let alone 40, or 60 will surely more than meet demand. That is assuming engines are available, and the specialist restoration companies can undertake the rebuild in the forseeable future.

I could envisage a situation where very shambolic hulks are offered to the market as rebuild projects, initially at a hugely ambitious price but forced down by reality. Fewer than 10 would be a novelty, but, say 30 would be a glut and even at £50 k a piece, they might struggle to find buyers.

''There's Mould in them thar hills !''

[Tangmere1940]

No mention of passing through anything else in between the two lots of timber?

No. Fortunately, the upper wing gun bay panels were off and so were the bottom ones. The auger bit miraculously passed through the empty gun bay.

[Seafire]

If these particular Spitfires have been declared SOC or not, it seems that the burial was to dispose of them; in other words, to dump them and throw them away. I'd have thought that this very deliberate act of permanent disposal could hardly stand the previous 'owner' in a very good position to retrospectively declare they still owned them.

Ah, but didn't the articles say they were buried "to keep them from falling into enemy hands"? Thus HMG can demonstrate that they were, in fact, protecting their investment, and not "disposing" of them at all- thus the great pains to prevent any damage from environmental infiltration!

bob

[Mark_pilkington]

Another press release, another number.

The new number is..............(dramatic pause ).......... 124!

''British farmer and aviation history buff David Cundall now says there are 124 new Spitfires buried in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and he knows where 60 of them are. As we reported two weeks ago, Cundall stunned the aviation world with news that he had found at least 20 crated, brand-new Spitfires wrapped in protective paper and tar to preserve them. Whether he'll be able to capitalize on his stunning discovery is in question, however, as treasure hunters from all over the world race against each other and the impending monsoon season to dig the pickled aircraft up.''


http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news..._206608-1.html

You just have to admire confidence like this

I was always told when I was a child not to "count your spitfires until their hatched", this story is either starting to expose some "divetheworld" like tendancies, or is it just a retrospective attempt to play "3 pods and a pea" over the location of the "confirmed" 20 sites to put former partners and new entrants off the scent?

Or is it possible the RAF used potting mix when they planted these spitfires to cause them to divide and multiply?

I think I'll stick to following P-40s found in the desert for the moment, and wait for something tangible to pop out of the ground.

20, then 60, then 128, if the count hits 248 by tomorrow and 496 by the weekend then I think we can lock this thread altogether.

smiles

Mark Pilkington

[D1566]

No. Fortunately, the upper wing gun bay panels were off and so were the bottom ones. The auger bit miraculously passed through the empty gun bay.

Of course. Now why didn't I think of that??!

[Bruce]

I think we can lock this thread altogether.

I think we're getting close Mark - at least until there is actually some evidence of even one of the things!


Bruce

[Tangmere1940]

Ah, but didn't the articles say they were buried "to keep them from falling into enemy hands"? Thus HMG can demonstrate that they were, in fact, protecting their investment, and not "disposing" of them at all- thus the great pains to prevent any damage from environmental infiltration!

bob

I'd suggest that burying them 30 or 42 ft in the ground "to keep them from falling into enemy hands" in order that they could be retrieved later is suspending credibility rather more than is the supposition that there are now 124 spitfires.

I remain hopeful and optimistic like many others that there is something there (and I believed there was good evidence)...but.....well, lets see. The shenanigans in recent days, the apparent reproductive capabilities of underground crated Spitfires and word that they might be 30 or 42 feet down puts a slightly different slant on things, I'd say. In any case, these crated Spitfires (if only at 30 ft!) would require a civil engineering exercise of epic proportions to say the least. It isn't a case of 'simply' digging a hole 30 or 40 feet deep and hoiking them out. You are looking at digging a quarry. And some! But perhaps they have a plan!

[TwinOtter23]

... might get a few 'tips' here!

For an aviation content some companies do helicopter trips in to the event!!

[Peter]

What started out as an interesting story is slowly winging it's way into the obscure and absurd.. Think I will stick to reading about P40's in the desert..

[CeBro]

I don't even bother to read the updates in this tread anymore

Cees

[J Boyle]

"Perfectly preserved" Spitfires...

Remember the new car that was buried in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1957 and everyone expected to be able to drive it once raised from its underground vault?
The reality was a bit different.


http://www.unburiedcar.com/?page_id=...ry=1&nggpage=3

[ZRX61]

Well now that been explained about the river bed, the bore hole is more likely to have gone through a Boat

Or more likely, tree roots...

[JägerMarty]

Pics or stfu!

[rreis]

the fight started...

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...ires-in-burma/

[Moggy C]

I think you'll find it started two pages back at post #420

Moggy

[rreis]

I think you'll find it started two pages back at post #420

Moggy

Sorry Moggy, contrails take a bit longer to draft to this parts... should have known better.

cheers!

[Malcolm McKay]

So what's the number estimated at now? Have we got to 1000?

[vultee35]

If it were Hurricanes, I'd be excited, but MORE Spitfires! :diablo:

[daveg4otu]

From the link at post #475...this seems to be a new thing.....


''We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition," Cundall told the Herald.