Spitfires Buried in Burma to be Returned to UK

The Telegraph ^ | 14 Apr 2012 | Victoria Ward, and Rowena Mason

[Smokin' Joe]

Twenty iconic Spitfire aircraft buried in Burma during the Second World War are to be repatriated to Britain after an intervention by David Cameron. >snip< “They were just buried there in transport crates,” Mr Cundall said. “They were waxed, wrapped in greased paper and their joints tarred. They will be in near perfect condition.”

[Smokin' Joe]

Wow. According to the article, there are only some 35 of these planes flying today. What a find! Glad they are going home.

[Autonomous User]

Very cool!

[cunning_fish]

Tulsa’s burried Belvedere comes to mind.

[satan69]

‘Never in the history of mankind have so many owed so much to so few’,

[Smokin' Joe]

Opinions vary, but I consider it one of the most beautiful planes ever built.

[tomkat]

test .. disregard

[MARTIAL MONK]

While it doesn't have near the historical significance, there are hundreds of vintage cars buried alongside railroad tracks all over the west. Years ago much of the system was single track and when they had a derailment they could not afford to keep the line down any longer than absolutely necessary. They would scoop out a trench and push everything into it and cover it. Everything was written off as an insurance loss.

Old timers have told me that they buried dozens of new cars, most demolished but some with minor or no damage, after a derailment. I wonder how well they have survived cocooned inside the car carriers.

[Sparky1776]

http://youtu.be/FNB8VbFmlOY

[yank in the UK]

I’ve had the privilege of seeing these in flight at the Sunderland airshow. They also brought out one of the last Lancaster Bombers five years ago. 2 years ago they flew the Vulcan Bomber, that was an amazing aircraft to witness, and I’m fairly certain that there aren’t but 2 or 3 of those left in existence.

[Former War Criminal]

That was a great song. Vera Lynn?

[The_Media_never_lie]

Wow, neat info! Did your sources tell you where? I presume they were connected w/the the railroad.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

All sorts of freight was buried after derailments. Coal, grain, reclaimed rail ties and other bulk commodities were pushed into shallow pits and left behind.

[MARTIAL MONK]

The first time I heard it they were talking about a site just west of Winslow, Arizona but the conversation drifted to other locations, most of which I was unfamiliar with because they were talking in railroad lingo which describes stretches and geographical features instead of towns. They were railroaders as had been their fathers. From what they said it was general policy and a perusal of old news stories should pinpoint some locations. I brought this story up once elsewhere and was told that there were several major sites in Nevada.

I wonder what was in the other cars that they pushed in. Didn't think to ask.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

They wont be nearly in as good a shape.They were assembled with magnesium rivets back in the day and will have dissolved by now.Still its a great find if true.

[andy58-in-nh]

Here are two of the most beautiful fighter planes ever built, together:

[Sirius Lee]

Agreed!

[deoetdoctrinae]

WE'RE MILKING THIS FREEPATHON FOR ALL IT'S WORTH


Please consider becoming a new monthly donor.
When you do, a sponsor gladly kicks in a few extra bucks.

Click the Pic
Support Free Republic

[Chode]

brandy new and buried still in their shipping crates

[cuban leaf]

—Opinions vary, but I consider it one of the most beautiful planes ever built.—

Count me in. As a kid in the late 60’s I thought I was born too late. I wanted to be a Spitfire pilot.

‘Course, I discovered I probably would not have liked it. ;-)

[cuban leaf]

Based on that photo, they are in surprisingly good shape. I’m assuming they at least changed the oil first. ;-)

[Moltke]

There goes the Burmese Air Force!

[4yearlurker]

Years ago my dad told me that there was a lot of WW2 merchandise buried in the area of Fort Bouse,near Phoenix,AZ. After the war they buried jeeps,trucks,etc...as to not compete with the auto industry. I've seen the holes left behind after Jeeps have been removed. You can still see the rocks lined up for walkways and around tents the servicemen left behind. Lots of guys buried weapons to come back for them later. Many never returned.

[Doogle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6c3v9iihgw

crank it up!

[eartrumpet]

Looks like they are ready for that:

“I’m hoping the discovery will generate some jobs. They will need to be stripped down and re-riveted but it must be done. My dream is to have a flying squadron at air shows.”

[GreenLanternCorps]

Now if they can just find a B-29 and not catch it on fire...

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

A lesson in how NOT to recover an old warbird...

[spokeshave]

Yeah...and the flight of dual engine Mustang (P60?) variants that landed in the arctic and were recovered from under 60 feet of ice.

[Sparky1776]

Yep that was Vera singing, FWC. The scenes are from the movie “Battle of Britain” (1969). It was one of the first movies I saw in a cinema (the old Queen Anne’s in Norwell)as a kid, would love to see it again some day.

[spokeshave]

It was a squadron of P38’s...see at the link:

http://p38assn.org/glacier-girl-recovery.htm

[Sparky1776]

Great video Doogle.

[Rappini]

I had seen a picture on the net some years ago of the Military shoving P38’s into a large hole that looked like it was AZ after the WW2.

[The_Media_never_lie]

That is so cool. It would be like opening a time capsule to open one of these sites. However, it would be expensive, and time consuming to do the permitting, etc.

[Smokin' Joe]

You are priveledged, indeed. If I recall correctly, there is only one Avro Vulcan left flying. There is a foundation to support it.

A quick internet search found two aircraft: XL426 is preserved at Southend Airport, in shape for taxiing, but not flying, and XH558 is at Doncaster, having veen restored and made airworthy in 2007 and received a permit to fly in 2008.

XH558 is likely the plane you saw with a Lancaster Bomber (another of my favorites from across the pond). I have never seen either in person (although I have been on board a B-17 and a B-24). I built models of all 4 when I was younger,

There are support trusts for the continued maintenance, operation, and restoration of both aircraft which can be found with a quick Google search, and if anyone thinks the upkeep on the family car is expensive...

Yhere may be others out there, but the plane is a bit big for a future ‘barn find’.

[Smokin' Joe]

You are priveledged, indeed. If I recall correctly, there is only one Avro Vulcan left flying. There is a foundation to support it.

A quick internet search found two aircraft: XL426 is preserved at Southend Airport, in shape for taxiing, but not flying, and XH558 is at Doncaster, having veen restored and made airworthy in 2007 and received a permit to fly in 2008.

XH558 is likely the plane you saw with a Lancaster Bomber (another of my favorites from across the pond). I have never seen either in person (although I have been on board a B-17 and a B-24). I built models of all 4 when I was younger,

There are support trusts for the continued maintenance, operation, and restoration of both aircraft which can be found with a quick Google search, and if anyone thinks the upkeep on the family car is expensive...

Yhere may be others out there, but the plane is a bit big for a future ‘barn find’.

[Smokin' Joe]

Now if they can just find a B-29 and not catch it on fire...

I saw a documentary on that. I seldom cry, but that was really, really close.

[Smokin' Joe]

If it's on the right-of-way, anyone digging would have to have railroad permission. That, no doubt would complicate past settlements, and they would likely put the skids to the whole idea (Then go dig a few of their own).

A lot would depend on soil type and drainage and climate, and the desert would be the best place to look. If you find them, save me a '53 Buick Roadmaster, it's the Mrs. all-time favorite car (she had one back when).

[Smokin' Joe]

Vulcan links:

XL426 (being restored)

XH558 (flying)

[Smokin' Joe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUOPvtVZwo8&feature=related

[yank in the UK]

That's right, the Vulcan I saw is the only one that is still flight worthy. I thought that, but wasn't for certain. It is based at Doncaster. I think they flew it in 2008 at the Sunderland airshow, and again this past July. It was 2007 that the Lancaster flew (my wife's grandfather flew a Lancaster with the dambusters)
The Vulcan bomber was absolutely amazing to see it flying, it is a monster, one of the largest aeroplanes I have ever seen, and the noise of it was deafening.
The funniest part about it was watching the seagulls going berzurk when it flew over.. They were proper sh**ing themselves.
If you ever get a chance, I would highly recommend the Sunderland airshow, they have it every July, it's the largest free airshow in Europe, and last all weekend.

[Smokin' Joe]

Tremendous!

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

The number of people able and talented enough for the undertaking I can count on 2 hands.This will take years.

[WonkyTonky]

What a terrific story, I am glad they found them and they are being returned to the UK.