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View Full Version : Buried treasure in Burma: Squadron of lost WWII Spitfires to be exhumed



Shadow
04-21-2012, 02:55 PM
Yar -- it's buried PILOT treasure!

Like a treasure chest stuffed with priceless booty, as many as 20 World War II-era Spitfire planes are perfectly preserved, buried in crates beneath Burma -- and after 67 years underground, they're set to be uncovered.

The planes were shipped in standard fashion in 1945 from their manufacturer in England to the Far East country: waxed, wrapped in greased paper and tarred to protect against the elements. They were then buried in the crates they were shipped in, rather than let them fall into enemy hands, said David Cundall, an aviation enthusiast who has spent 15 years and about $200,000 in his efforts to reveal the lost planes.
The 62-year-old man -- a British farmer by trade -- realized the fate of the aircraft thanks to an offhand comment a group of American veterans made to a friend, he told the Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/world/burmese-treasure-weve-done-some-pretty-silly-things-but-the-silliest-was-burying-the-spitfires-20120415-1x1kn.html).

''They told Jim: 'We've done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires.' And when Jim got back from the U.S., he told me,'" Cundall said.
The location of the planes, which remains a closely kept secret, was confirmed during a recent trip to the Far East country, he said.
''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 (http://www.smh.com.au/world/burmese-treasure-weve-done-some-pretty-silly-things-but-the-silliest-was-burying-the-spitfires-20120415-1x1kn.html).


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/19/buried-treasure-in-burma-squadron-lost-wwii-spitfires-to-be-exhumed/#ixzz1shsIXuPp

Gator Monroe
04-23-2012, 09:12 AM
They have Engines valued at over 100k ea.

Little-Acorn
04-27-2012, 02:05 PM
These are apparently the Griffon-engined Mark-16 Spitfires. One HOT aircraft! Lightweight, big elliptical wing, 2,050 HP, leading edge cuffs. Might also have had the five-blade propeller, I'm not sure. Max speed 448 MPH at 8,000 feet in level flight (that's faster than a P-51 Mustang).

The Brits used them to chase down the unmanned German jet-powered V-1 buzz bombs, and knock them down by slipping the Spitfire's wingtip under the wingtip of the buzz bomb, then banking quickly and flipping the buzz bomb over, upsetting its guidance system and making it go out of control and crash, hopefully in an open field somewhere. They didn't like to shoot them down, because the explosion of the V1's huge warhead could damage the Spitfire.

I wouldn't mind having one of those parked in the hangar next to the Cessna 175. Never mind that the fuel needed just to START that Griffon engine would fill the Cessna's tanks to the brim.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire

SassyLady
04-28-2012, 01:11 AM
These are apparently the Griffon-engined Mark-16 Spitfires. One HOT aircraft! Lightweight, big elliptical wing, 2,050 HP, leading edge cuffs. Might also have had the five-blade propeller, I'm not sure. Max speed 448 MPH at 8,000 feet in level flight (that's faster than a P-51 Mustang).

The Brits used them to chase down the unmanned German jet-powered V-1 buzz bombs, and knock them down by slipping the Spitfire's wingtip under the wingtip of the buzz bomb, then banking quickly and flipping the buzz bomb over, upsetting its guidance system and making it go out of control and crash, hopefully in an open field somewhere. They didn't like to shoot them down, because the explosion of the V1's huge warhead could damage the Spitfire.

I wouldn't mind having one of those parked in the hangar next to the Cessna 175. Never mind that the fuel needed just to START that Griffon engine would fill the Cessna's tanks to the brim.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire

You have a Cessna? Cool.

My first husband and I had a Piper Cherokee and then a Beechcraft Bonanza. Don't ask me anything else about them cause that's all I remember ... other than telling him I didn't want to learn to fly because then I would know if he screwed up. Ignorance was bliss!!!

Thank you for the tidbit about the flip maneuver ... sounded like a ballsy thing to do, but effective.