Burmese Spitfires back in the news...

[Warbirdnerd]

An update from AvWeb:

The long-anticipated dig to unearth a cache of brand-new Spitfires that are believed to be buried in Burma is expected to start on Jan. 12, local press has reported. According to The Irrawaddy, archeologists first will spend about a week studying the site, then the digging can begin. Up to 36 pristine Spitfires, still in the packing crates they were delivered in near the end of World War II, are expected to be found. David Cundall, who located the burial site, said he has confirmed the airplanes are there by sending a camera through a borehole. "We went into a crate, you can see an object which resembles a Spitfire," he said.

The British troops buried the airplanes when they left Burma in 1945, Cundall said, because they didn't want to take them home but also didn't want anyone else to use them. The crates were tarred and placed on massive teak timbers to assist drainage, and a wooden roof was placed over the crates to protect them, Cundall said. The crates are buried about 30 feet deep in an area close to a runway at Mingaladon Airport in Rangoon. Cundall also has permission to excavate two other sites in Burma. At one of those sites, Cundall said he expects to find up to six crated Mark 8 Spitfires, a rare variation with only one copy still flying.

Found it here:
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#207904

[Russ Blow]

“We placed a camera down there to have a look. We went into a crate, you can see an object which resembles a Spitfire,”

I wonder why no camera footage or even a still shot has been shared?

[PeterA]

“We placed a camera down there to have a look. We went into a crate, you can see an object which resembles a Spitfire,”

I wonder why no camera footage or even a still shot has been shared?

Paper talk.

No images from the bore holes....but 1" of timber at 30' and 42' on two of the core samples.

Keep an open mind, we will all know one way or the other by mid January.

PeterA

[B-29 Super Fort]

An update from AvWeb:

The long-anticipated dig to unearth a cache of brand-new Spitfires that are believed to be buried in Burma is expected to start on Jan. 12, local press has reported. According to The Irrawaddy, archeologists first will spend about a week studying the site, then the digging can begin. Up to 36 pristine Spitfires, still in the packing crates they were delivered in near the end of World War II, are expected to be found. David Cundall, who located the burial site, said he has confirmed the airplanes are there by sending a camera through a borehole. "We went into a crate, you can see an object which resembles a Spitfire," he said.

The British troops buried the airplanes when they left Burma in 1945, Cundall said, because they didn't want to take them home but also didn't want anyone else to use them. The crates were tarred and placed on massive teak timbers to assist drainage, and a wooden roof was placed over the crates to protect them, Cundall said. The crates are buried about 30 feet deep in an area close to a runway at Mingaladon Airport in Rangoon. Cundall also has permission to excavate two other sites in Burma. At one of those sites, Cundall said he expects to find up to six crated Mark 8 Spitfires, a rare variation with only one copy still flying.

Found it here:
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#207904

Question on the above. If they were buried with roof protection and drainage timbers, were thinking of recovering later? Why the care taken in their preservation.

[PinecastleAAF]

I hope I'm wrong but the story seems to get more elaborate with each telling. Now it's 'massive teak timbers and a roof'. What's next a layer of crushed rock with a french drain under the teak timbers?

[43-2195]

Google earth shows the southern threshold for Mingaladon Airport to be located in what appears to be a line of swampy lakes, one very close to the south east and a whole series of them extending to the north west into a golf course. Hope they buried the Spits at the northern threshold! Also appears to be quite a few areas of scraped earth around the airport, so earthworks shouldn't be anything new (or challenging) to them. 2013's either going to be very exciting or one very big let down. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[Sgt13Echo]

The project has a blog from its sponsor and can be followed by visiting the link below. I hope it gets updated regularly.

http://worldofwarplanes.com/en/blog/pro ... tfire-blog

[Adam Kline]

Interesting, but the blog's layout is in my opinion hard to read. Dark and small font.

[Sgt13Echo]

I agree with the layout and as a programmer myself the user experience leaves something to be desired. Which is kind of surprising considering they develop software.

[k5083]

Don't have a problem with the blog layout myself, and I enjoy the travelogue segments posted thus far.

Looking at it more big-picture, it is nice to see someone from the video game industry investing in this type of project. Those of us who play historical flight sim video games know that it is not a high margin sector of the game market. The audience tends to be small, fickle, and hyper-critical about the accuracy of the performance and flight models, graphics and color schemes, historical scenarios, etc. The games, especially if they are realistic enough to satisfy that audience, are too difficult and unrewarding to appeal to the broader gaming market. They're expensive to develop and support, and one after another has sort of withered over the years. Overall, developing these kinds of games has been a labor of love with modest financial return relative to other uses of the same skill set, not unlike real warbird restoration in some ways. For a game company to build this bridge to real warbird activity, similar to what some of the warbird magazine publishers have done, is innovative and I wish them success. I imagine there is a Spitfire or two in it for the game company proprietor, if they exist, which raises the prospect of a World of Warplanes sponsored Spitfire on the circuit at some point. All good.

August

[Iclo]

Keep an open mind, we will all know one way or the other by mid January.

PeterA

Hum ? or not. How many time the dig was announced and later postponed ?
I hope nobody spend good time in good hotel with money of someone else, like an well know team seeking for Amelia shoes...

[Mike]

A trifle harsh Iclo. I doubt Peter A will be spending too much time "in good hotel with money of someone else"

[k5083]

Hey, don't knock spend time in good hotel with money of someone else if you ain't tried it.

August

[marine air]

My dad, was telling me that the vagueness of it all is because they purposely are protecting their treasure. First from the British govt. and now from competing groups that have sprung up and would love to snatch this man's find away from him.
Makes sense to me.

[DaveM2]

My dad, was telling me that the vagueness of it all is because they purposely are protecting their treasure. First from the British govt. and now from competing groups that have sprung up and would love to snatch this man's find away from him.
Makes sense to me.

The Brit Govt helped pave the way for this to happen with the subject being brought up during the recent PM visit with the Burmese authorities.
However there are certainly rival groups circling....

We can only wish Mr Cundall (and Peter) the best of luck. I guess we will know soon enough.

Dave

Last edited by DaveM2 on Fri Jan 04, 2013 12:09 am, edited 1 time in total.