OT but Holy catfish! Spitfires!

[DonL]

Have you seen this?

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9203822/Spitfires-buried-in-Burma-during-war-to-be-returned-to-UK.html

How neat is this?

[DonL]

20 of them!! New in shipping crates!

[DonL]

Oh please not some cruel April fools joke.

[HumanDrone]

It's not. I believe they are Mk II aircraft, and are reportedly very carefully preserved. The plan is to hopefully get a flying squadron out of the lot of them, plus some museum pieces!

 

Very cool!

Edited April 19, 2012 by HumanDrone

[RamblingSid]

Thanks DonL,

 

for this great story.

 

To find 20 is just stunning.

Hope the farmer makes a pile.

 

Cheers

[+Olham]

“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.”

 

This bit sounds most promising. Let's hope the Burmese climate and soil couldn't make

the transport crates rott away. And also, that the farmer finally will get back more than the

money he invested.

I bet, they could easily sell some of the craft for a lot of money to the some wealthy pilots

or groups, and keep a few others. Great find!

[shredward]

And if it turns out that they are Mk IIs. ......

Zowie !!!

[carrick58]

Holy %$#&, Maybe the greatest fine of the Century ( for aviation)

[DonL]

On further reflection I am thinking that these will be like the lost squadron under the ice in Greenland severly damaged and or corroded. Hopefully they will get several airworthy examples.

[JimAttrill]

Apparently they are Mk IV's with Griffon engines - rated as the best Spitfire of all by Geoffrey Quill and Eric Brown. Certainly a very pretty aircraft.

[+Olham]

So maybe sometime in the future we will see real flights of several of these beauties.