Spitfires In Burma Might Fly Again

[The_Munchmaster]

Wow, wouldn't that be something, to find 20 unassembled, possibly in very good condition depending on how well they were protected before being buried, Supermarine Spitfires!

 

Spitfires in Burma 'could be found'

 

British and Burmese authorities could work together to find 20 Spitfires buried in Burma at the end of the World War II, officials say.

 

The Spitfires were concealed by the RAF in 1945 to prevent them falling into Japanese hands

 

The case of the missing planes was raised when PM David Cameron met Burmese President Thein Sein.

 

A Downing Street source said it was "hoped this will be an opportunity to work with the reforming Burmese government".

 

The exact location of the planes is unknown.

 

The planes were buried in 1945 by the RAF amid fears that they could either be used or destroyed by Japanese forces, but in the intervening years they have not been located.

 

At the time they were unused, still in crates, and yet to be assembled.

 

Until a general election in 2010, Burma was ruled for almost half a century by a military junta.

 

It has been reported that experts from Leeds University and an academic based in Rangoon believe they may have identified the sites where the craft are concealed using sophisticated radar techniques.

 

On Friday, officials said President Thein Sein was "very enthusiastic" about the prospect of finding and restoring the planes.

 

A Downing Street source said: "The Spitfire is arguably the most important plane in the history of aviation, playing a crucial role in the Second World War.

 

"It is hoped this will be an opportunity to work with the reforming Burmese government, uncover, restore and display these fighter planes and get them gracing the skies of Britain once again."

[Flashermac]

<< buried in Burma at the end of the World War II, officials say. >>

 

Buried at the end of the war so the Japanese wouldn't capture them?

 

p.s The RTAF had Spitfires in the '50s. The Crown Prince is supposed to own two of them. Others are in the RTAF museum. 

 

My link

 

 

[Flashermac]

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

[Bar4]

Interesting:

 

In 1942, the Royal Tai Air force purchased twenty-four Tachikawa Ki-36 Ida trainers and designatewd them as Aircraft Type 89, now called Trainer Type 6 or nicknamed "Tachikawa"

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[TheCorinthian]

Wow! What a great thing to go find!! The seals would likely be just shit by now but those are easy easy to make and I bet still in production!! Would love to see them given a proper rebuilding!

[Flashermac]

This recovery fascinated me:

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNEmGaAplgI[/media]

[Guest lazyphil]

often see old planes like spitfires and lancaster bombers in the summer overhead since only a few miles from duxford war museum.....not unheard of for planes to fall out of the sky on display days mind you ....be fun if the fired up the huey and b52 from the yank hanger

[Flashermac]

At home in the States there is an annual air show about 70 miles away. I love it when I look up in the sky and see a B17 or a P51 Mustang flying overhead.

 

 

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK

 

Twenty iconic Spitfire aircraft buried in Burma during the Second World War are to be repatriated to Britain after an intervention by David Cameron.

 

The Prime Minister secured a historic deal that will see the fighter aircraft dug up and shipped back to the UK almost 67 years after they were hidden more than 40-feet below ground amid fears of a Japanese occupation.

 

The gesture came as Mr Cameron became the first Western leader to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy campaigner held under house arrest for 22 years by the military regime, and invited her to visit London in her first trip abroad for 24 years.

 

He called on Europe to suspend its ban on trade with Burma now that it was showing “prospects for change†following Miss Suu Kyi’s election to parliament in a sweeping electoral victory earlier this year.

 

The plight of the buried aircraft came to Mr Cameron’s attention at the behest of a farmer from Scunthorpe, North Lincs, who is responsible for locating them at a former RAF base using radar imaging technology.

 

David Cundall, 62, spent 15 years doggedly searching for the Mk II planes, an exercise that involved 12 trips to Burma and cost him more than £130,000.

 

When he finally managed to locate them in February, he was told Mr Cameron “loved†the project and would intervene to secure their repatriation.

 

Mr Cundall told the Daily Telegraph: “I’m only a small farmer, I’m not a multi-millionaire and it has been a struggle. It took me more than 15 years but I finally found them.

 

â€Spitfires are beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away in a foreign land. They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved.â€

 

He said the Spitfires, of which there are only around 35 flying left in the world, were shipped to Burma and then transported by rail to the British RAF base during the war.

 

However, advances in technology and the emergence of more agile jets meant they were never used and in July 1945, officials fearing a Japanese occupation abandoned them on the orders of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the head of South East Asia Command, two weeks before the atom bombs were dropped, ending the conflict.

 

“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.â€

 

The married father of three, an avid plane enthusiast, embarked on his voyage of discovery in 1996 after being told of their existence by a friend who had met some American veterans who described digging a trench for the aircraft during the Allied withdrawal of Burma.

 

He spent years appealing for information on their whereabouts from eye witnesses, scouring public records and placing advertisements in specialist magazines.

 

Several early trips to Burma were unsuccessful and were hampered by the political climate.

 

He eventually met one eyewitness who drew maps and an outline of where the aircraft were buried and took him out to the scene.

 

“Unfortunately, he got his north, south, east and west muddled up and we were searching at the wrong end of the runway,†he said.

 

“We also realised that we were not searching deep enough as they had filled in all of these bomb craters which were 20-feet to start with.

 

“I hired another machine in the UK that went down to 40-feet and after going back surveying the land many times, I eventually found them.

 

“I have been in touch with British officials in Burma and in London and was told that David Cameron would negotiate on my behalf to make the recovery happen.â€

 

Mr Cundall said sanctions preventing the removal of military tools from Burma were due to be lifted at midnight last night (FRI).

 

A team from the UK is already in place and is expecting to begin the excavation, estimated to cost around £500,000, imminently. It is being funded by the Chichester-based Boultbee Flight Acadamy.

 

Mr Cundall said the government had promised him it would be making no claim on the aircraft, of which 21,000 were originally produced, and that he would be entitled to a share in them.

 

“It’s been a financial nightmare but hopefully I’ll get my money back,†he said.

 

“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.â€

 

My link

[The_Munchmaster]

The Guardian, Wednesday 17 October 2012 17.47 BST

 

Dozens of Spitfire planes to be excavated in Burma

 

Agreement to dig up historic aircraft was signed by the Burmese government and an aviation enthusiast from Lincolnshire

 

Dozens of Spitfire fighter planes that were buried by British troops in Burma as the second world war drew to a close are to be excavated after an agreement to dig up the historic aircraft was signed by the Burmese government and an aviation enthusiast from Lincolnshire.

 

After 16 years of searching and lobbying, David Cundall, 62, has signed a deal to recover the lost RAF planes, which are believed to have been packed in crates and hidden by British forces on the orders of Earl Mountbatten shortly before the United States bombed the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

 

During his visit to Burma in April, David Cameron reached an agreement with President Thein Sein about the recovery of the missing aircraft. The British embassy in Rangoon said the newly signed deal was a chance to work with the new Burmese government "in uncovering, restoring, displaying these fighter planes".

 

Excavation work is expected to begin by the end of this month. The number of Mark 14 Spitfires awaiting discovery remains unclear, but Htoo Htoo Zaw, managing director of Cundall's Burmese partner, the Shwe Taung Paw company, said he estimated there were at least 60. Previous estimates have varied between 20 and 36. Even that number would represent a large increase in the global Spitfire population: while 21,000 were built, only 35 remain in a good enough condition to fly.

 

"This will be the largest number of Spitfires in the world," Htoo Htoo told the Associated Press. "We want to let people see those historic fighters, and the excavation of these fighter planes will further strengthen relations between Myanmar [burma] and Britain."

 

A local newspaper, Myanmar Ahlin, reported that the excavation agreement was signed by Cundall on behalf of his British company DJC, Tin Naing Tun, the Burmese director general of civil aviation, and Htoo Htoo.

 

For Cundall, it is a triumphant end to years of hunting for the fighters. He says he has spent £160,000 trying to locate the lost treasure, vying with potential rivals for the deal.

 

In April, he claimed he had secured financial backing for the planes' excavation from an anonymous investor, and in August told the Birmingham Post he wanted to see the aircraft return to the UK. "Spitfires are beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away in a foreign land," he was quoted as saying. "They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved."

 

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "We are pleased to hear that contracts have been awarded, which mean that the digging up of the Spitfires in Burma can begin. We've always said that we want to see these Spitfires back home in Britain – perhaps one day even flying over the skies of Britain – and today's news brings us another step closer to that."