Spitfires!

[mustangman]

Has anyone heard anymore news about the burried spitfires?

[Pauli72]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/14/david-cameron-spitfires-buried-burma?newsfeed=true

Pretty cool.

The latest news on the recovery is pretty sparse. Apparently the typhoon season in Burma started in June and lasts for several months. A few news articles stated that it would be virtually impossible to unearth them with the ground in that condition.

The latest count is at 36 spitfires. But all is on hold until the ground dries out after the rainy season I guess.

The recovery group has a Facebook page if you want to stay up to date.

[mustangman]

Thank you pauli For the imformation!!! What part of wisconsin are you from? Mark

[Xanadu]

Please provide the link to the facebook page, I could not find it on the news site.

[Pauli72]

@ Mustang Mark. No problem bud. I've kinda been following this story with some interest too. It should be pretty neat to see what that recovery team pulls out of the ground after so long. I'm sure if those Spits were parted & crated for an ocean saltwater boatride, they will be packed full of cosmoline, and other anti-corrosion steps taken. I hope they look as good as the day they were burried. We'll just have to wait & see. As far as where I'm from, it's just south of Milwaukee. At any rate, here's another interesting article.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 748979.cms
One very interesting aspect of this story is that there are approximately 44 authentic flying Spitfires in the whole world right now, combined of the various types. This find will almost double that number. THAT is some pretty cool history!


@ Xanadu. Sure thing. Just log into Facebook & friend/group search: David Cundall's Spitfire Recovery from Burma. It is a group started in May that has all the latest news & info about the recovery effort. I'm not sure if any in the group are actually on the recovery team, but they have a very interesting FB page for anyone interested in this amazing historic find.

[mustangman]

South of milwaukee huh! When i used to go to milwaukee sometimes I would visit some of the hobby shops there! there was alot of older shops.. Prob closed now! Mark

[Pauli72]

Yeah, like anywhere, some of the older cool hobby shops have folded up. Fortunately there are still some pretty good ones that stock Guillows & others kits along with balsa building supplies. I would much rather spend my money at a local 'brick & mortar' hobby shop, even if it means driving a little out of the way, or paying a little extra.

Here's the next cool thing going on in Milwaukee. It happens just after the EAA fly in at Oshkosh.
http://www.milwaukeeairshow.com/schedule.cfm?id=10
http://www.starsandstripeshonorflight.org/

It's going to be a pretty cool few weeks here in Wisconsin.
Take care,
Pauli

[Pauli72]

----GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS-------

...I'll give you the bad news first.

The monsoon season in Burma is the very worst in years.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/au ... rma-floods
It usually runs from roughly late June, until late November. This makes recovering the crated Spifires virtually impossible because the ground is so waterlogged. Since they're burried around 40 feet deep, and you can't drive heavy equipment on that type of oversoaked ground to excavate them, we may be waiting quite some time before the first crated Spitfire sees daylight again. Hopefully they can start digging by Jan. or Feb. next year.

And now for the good news.....

THERE ARE APPARENTLY 124 SPITFIRES NOW!!! Way more than first reported.
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Do ... 608-1.html
I'm guessing that David Cundall, who spent 15 years, and lots of his own money ($200,000.00) to find these valuable warbirds, didn't want other recovery teams racing in and gypping him out of his find. He's just an average guy, who is a farmer, and heard a rumor and tenaciously followed up on it. I sure hope he's successful.

124 Spitfires x $ 2 million dollars each. = WOW!!!!

It should be interesting to see what happens.

[Charles_c]

I'm hearing that one of the burial sites is now a housing development. That will put a kabosh on some digging.

Charles