Friday, November 30, 2012

Lost squadron of Spitfires could fly again in 3 years

Found in Myanmar (Burma), they are expected to be restored.  Rare model XIV planes as well:
Archaeologists will begin digging for the historic hoard of at least 36 British fighter planes in January.

Archaeologists will begin digging for the historic hoard of at least 36 British fighter planes in January.

...

The Spitfires, which used Rolls Royce Griffon engines instead of the Merlins of earlier models, are believed to have been put in crates and transported from the factory in Castle Bromwich, in the West Midlands, to Burma in August 1945.

However, when the war against the Japanese in Burma came to an abrupt end, the British South-East Asia command decided to bury them to ensure they could not be found by the enemy.

Mr Cundall believes the Spitfires are still wrapped in their original Castle Bromwich tar paper.
Cool story.

7 comments:

  1. bluesunNovember 30, 2012 at 10:52 AM

    That would be a neat change from the standard "Yeah, we found it burried in the bottom of a swamp/sea/icecap."

    to

    "Yeah, we found it all wrapped up in the original packaging, and just added some gas."

    Though I swear most of those warbird guys get a bigger kick out of endlessly searching for random little parts than they actually do seeing the airplane fly again...

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  2. NotClauswitzNovember 30, 2012 at 11:44 AM

    I LOVE the story, but am just having a hard time with the timeline, AND then there's the fact that it's Burma, a tin-pot dictatorship full of loons. Why bury then after you WON the war? What enemy are you hiding them from - the U.S.?

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  3. Old NFONovember 30, 2012 at 12:29 PM

    Bluesun, obviously you've never stood next to the hangar when a piece of history is rolling out to take off for the first time in however many years... I have, and have seen the tears in the eyes of those who worked on her, and envy in the eyes of those who aren't flying her...

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  4. bluesunNovember 30, 2012 at 1:02 PM

    NFO, for sure! Just a small exaggeration.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AaronNovember 30, 2012 at 4:09 PM

    Yep, its an awesome story and I hope they succeed in retrieving and restoring them to flying status.

    I'm just sad I missed the Powerball numbers. Had I won, I would have bought some for me and some select friends and then spent some considerable funds training to be able to safely fly it.

    Ah well.....

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  6. AnonymousNovember 30, 2012 at 4:16 PM

    They were obsolete back in 1944 due to this...
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Meteor

    ReplyDelete
  7. StretchNovember 30, 2012 at 8:30 PM

    I've seen and heard a Spitfire doing a low pass by the flight line.
    I hope they get the entire collection running and have at least one massed fly by.

    *Spitfire Prelude keeps playing in my head*

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