Burmese Spitfires back in the news...

[Sopwith]

Well said Mark5,I too think he deserves to have good luck with this for all the work put in and determination.Here's to a successful outcome.

[k5083]

Right now there is no direct evidence that there is a single Spitfire underground in Myanmar, in any condition.

That depends on what you mean by 'evidence'. If, over a period of several years, you were to interview half a dozen independent veterans, all of whome told you basically the same story about what they saw in Burma in 1945, without any contact with each other. If some of them had recall to the extent they were able to point on a map where they buried Spitfires in boxes in 1945 and you, acting on those accounts travelled to that location with ground penetrating radar equipment. If that equipments survey results, after scanning the area in question, revealed a buried orderley row of metalic objects, around four feet or so in width and twenty feet or so long.... would you then consider that evidence?

I believe the answer the that question is yes - not PROOF, but certainly compelling evidence.

Actually it depends what I meant by "direct," which I used in the legalistic sense. The closest to direct evidence would be the metal scanning results. The rest is circumstantial evidence and hearsay, however corroborated. Not saying it isn't evidence or isn't true; we have seen such things be true sometimes before, but also very much exaggerated.

Obviously this is a situation where it is very understandable that detailed evidence as the protagaonists have is kept tightly under wraps. That leaves us interested outsiders unable to evaluate whether it is any good. WallyB has said it best thus far, "we all want it to be true, but are afraid it isn't," so many of us will remain agnostic until we see pics of things coming out of the ground.

August

[bombadier29]

I'd be curious to know if anybody has gone through a list of known Spitfire numbers and their eventual demise. Is there enough of this model Spitfire that are unaccounted for that would account for the ones buried in Burma?

For what it is worth, I do believe the airplanes are there. Maybe not in the numbers they think and most likely not in the condition they hope, but maybe it will be enough to satisfy the man that has done the work and forked out the money. If nothing else, this could equate to finally knowing there's nothing here so on to the next rumored, buried airplane.

[Mark V]

I'd be curious to know if anybody has gone through a list of known Spitfire numbers and their eventual demise. Is there enough of this model Spitfire that are unaccounted for that would account for the ones buried in Burma?

Yes and yes - take a look over on Key Publishing's UK Aviation Forum.

[WallyB]

I'd be curious to know if anybody has gone through a list of known Spitfire numbers and their eventual demise. Is there enough of this model Spitfire that are unaccounted for that would account for the ones buried in Burma?

The entire Spitfire production list is on-line: http://www.spitfires.ukf.net

Using google advanced search for the terms ACSEA FRXIV and SOC returns these pages:

production page 102
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/p102.htm
production page 114
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/p114.htm
production page 081
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/p081.htm
production page 113
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/p113.htm
production page 097
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/p097.htm
production page 096
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/p096.htm

A quick look at them including those serials proposed as 'candidates' gives SOC dates in 1947. Although that seems a bit later than the funerals ( ) that could simply be a paperwork delay.

I can come up with a list of 50 or so from those pages. Which likely means...nothing.

[Sgt13Echo]

Here is a link to an updated story about the Spits in Burma.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219112/Dozens-spitfires-buried-British-Burma-WWII-excavated-following-16-year-hunt-aviation-enthusiast.html

[SaxMan]

It's amazing the turn this story took. I would have never guessed this would have been the end result in a million years. I guess the RAF boys really knew what they were doing! With the potential for the world's Spitfire population to triple, I wonder how many of those Spits will end up on our side of the pond?

It gives hope to the other "plane hidden in a barn" etc. reports, too. I wonder if this will spur additional expeditions to try to recover buried aircraft elsewhere.

[Mike]

It's amazing the turn this story took. I would have never guessed this would have been the end result in a million years. I guess the RAF boys really knew what they were doing! With the potential for the world's Spitfire population to triple, I wonder how many of those Spits will end up on our side of the pond?

It gives hope to the other "plane hidden in a barn" etc. reports, too. I wonder if this will spur additional expeditions to try to recover buried aircraft elsewhere.

I suggest you contain your excitement a while longer. Not a single airframe (or the remains thereof) has yet been recovered, or even proven to exist.

[Noha307]

Soooooo... It's the "end of the month", any finally been dug up yet?

Also, not sure how many people here play video games, but check this out (found it while searching for news on the Spits): Revealed: the wealthy backer helping the hunt for the buried Spitfires of Burma

Safely assuming at least one person here does not, Wargaming.net is a video game company that has developed the World of Tanks multiplayer online game in which users control a tank in battles against other people. They are currently working on a similar[ly spectacular] game called World of Warplanes that is now in the beta testing phase.

Now that I've sufficiently gone off topic, I'd like to close by saying: This is definitely one of the most interesting, unexpected, crazy developments I've ever seen in a warbird recovery story.

EDIT: Wargaming.net now has a blog on the topic, for more see this thread: The [Burma] Project Spitfire Blog

Last edited by Noha307 on Fri Jan 04, 2013 5:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[bdk]

Is it April first yet?

[Noha307]

More like: I would like a treat of Spitfires, but I feel like I'me being tricked.

[ZRX61]

I suggest you contain your excitement a while longer. Not a single airframe (or the remains thereof) has yet been recovered, or even proven to exist.

Spotted today in a certain hangar we both know

[Warbird Kid]

Not a very big box is it?

[ZRX61]

It's a kit

[JFS61]

While we're at, anymore about the Lancer in Australia?