History Buried Treasure? WWII Spitfires o/t

Wonder how many dead bodies got buried in all those vehicles back then?

TRUE STORY:

I know an old guy that bought a few surplus cargo ships back then when they were doing that and made god knows how many trips back and fourth overseas salvaging stuff, just loaded it up for free pretty much. Ship after ship load. He's made many millions of dollars off of that stuff over the years, if not billions. One ship that he salvaged and towed to japan to strip brought over 1 million just for a ll the teak (wood) out of the interior. (In ww2 money) He owned pretty much the whole town that I live in at one time or another and has tunnels build underneath the town full of equipment and vehicles from ww2 and the korean war as well as multiple junkyards full of the stuff. My buddy bought a whole truck full of belly tanks from him one time that were cut long ways down the middle. (sold 'em) You wouldn't regonise him as a millionaire either, which is one of the things that makes him such a cool guy. He wears torn, tattered and dirty clothes and looks like he hasn't had a hair cut in years and drives a beat to **** early 90's Town car with the back bumper hanging off and the rear axes bent ony both sides. He drives his wobbley wheeled Lincoln about 15mph everywhere he goes and usually drives on the shoulder, not sure why but I have a hunch. He's the text book example of an eccentric millionaire, it's neater than a *****er peter. His house doesn't even have a working refridgerator, he keeps his milk and bag of Mcdonalds cheeseburgers in the the spare bedroom. He gets more interesting by the second the more time you spend around him. The world needs more interesting people like him.

 

Somehwere in my dreams I stumble upon an old WWII Hanger with a Spitfire Mk1, a P51D Mustang, a P47 Thunderbolt, an FW190 and an Me 262.

Then I wake up in a cold sweat shivering uncontrollably....

Rat

 

It's O.K. They were 'armless.

 

Here's the latest news in todays UK paper.It's not looking good for David Cundall!!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...gnites-a-british-battle-in-burma-7685290.html

 

You can keep the Anglia. The Spitfire is my favorite British hot rod.

 

My dad was a Hellcat carrier pilot and told me the same story. It was all he could do to be allowed to save out his leather flight jacket-which he still has.

 

One word ... actually two .... "Operation Crossroads". 1946 atomic bomb testing in the bikini islands. Thats where alot of the war surplus ended up, ships tanks, etc.

And as far as pushing planes off the side of a carrier after vietnam ... that was to make room for the refugees .... old news. It was never uncommon to ditch planes, etc off the deck during WW2 during a typhoon.

 

That might be true on a small scale but I think the US "transferred" alot of stuff, like planes, boats, etc to allies and smaller countrtries ... check out "Janes Book" as to the disposition of the Liberty Ships and even war ships and they ended up in the hands of many places like Uraguay, Turkey, etc.

The government called this "forgien aid" and put a monetary value on the item as a loan.

 

I certainly hope these aircraft are salvageable - any type of historic machinery is worth the effort to restore and preserve, particularly hot rod cars and hot rod aircraft. If you have the Velocity channel on your cable or satellite you might catch an episode of "Rennaisance Man" where the focus is on the development of the Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engine that powered the Spitfire and the P51 (the later models). Its a fascinating show, and the evolution of the superchargers on the Merlin power plant is cool to see. If you've ever heard one running it'll give you goose bumps- 1200 HP running through about an 8" exhaust manifold. On a side note, the BF109 was still being made in Spain for a few years after the war but it was no longer being made with the Mercedes engine. Instead they were built with the Merlin.

 

That Albatross is a clone (literally) of the one I restored at work a few years ago.

 

Haha, I have that same dream, then I just realise I'm at work.....

 

Supposedly these are about to excavated. Curious as to why there are still no actual pics of these seeing as they had been found some months ago....hope I'm proven wrong.

 

Jimbob, you have THE job!! I wont say I'm jealous because it's more insane jealousy!!
I used to volunteer at the Moorabbin Air Museum for a number of years before I joined the Army. Did a lot of work on the Ceres, but my babies were the Boomerang and the Beaufighter!

Doc.

 

Man Ramblur, you must have a cool job! Is that Kermit Weeks' place? He seems like a cool guy, we visited there a few years ago and he was just walking around chatting with guests and he got out his Fiesler Storch and gave a little airshow. Then he was letting kids look at the plane and get in the ****pit.

 

Any surviving axis aircraft after the war salvaged to help rebuild germany. Ironically many allied planes were too. I think I saw a dive bomber once at an air show my family used to run.

 

I worked for a company that manufactured large motors. In the 70's, Aramco - the Saudi oil company - ordered a huge lot of motors. I mean something like 45 machines, each over $200K in 1970's dollars. They were shipped, and they sat in Saudi for a year, then the project was cancelled. Our reps on site told us the watched as a huge pit was dug in the sand, the motors were dumped in, then it was all bulldozed over.

 

Makes you wonder how well they would be preserved (If at all) being in such a dry environment.

Doc.

 

nice!

 

Apparently they have upped the number of buried aircraft and everything is a go to start digging very soon, even the British PM got involved to help get everything in order, I sure hope its all true, even if it was only 1 Spitfire it would still be a great find!

 

Ever since I heard about this story I've been waiting for pics or a update,I hope something happens soon with this!!

 

Supposed to start digging by the end of the month.

 

I want one!!!!!

 

I'm interested in this find only because a friend of mine works on old restored aircraft for a wealthy owner up here . I'm wondering if that particular owner would want one ...he can afford it . But get the government involved and a hoard of lawyers , it'll surely be screwed up for everyone .....backstabbing , payoffs ...the usual **** when suits get involved .

T

 

UPDATE:

01/08/2013

YANGON, Myanmar - An excavation team searching for a stash of legendary World War II-era British fighter aircraft in northern Myanmar said Wednesday it had found a wooden crate believed to contain one of the planes, but it was full of muddy water.
It was not immediately clear how much damage the water may have caused, and searchers could not definitively say what was inside the crate.
But British aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall, who is driving the hunt for the rare Spitfire planes, called the results "very encouraging."
"It will take some time to pump the water out ... but I do expect all aircraft to be in very good condition," Cundall told reporters in Myanmar's main city, Yangon.
The single-seater Spitfire, which helped Britain beat back waves of German bombers during the war more than six decades ago, remains the most famous British combat aircraft.
Britain built a total of about 20,000 Spitfires, although the dawn of the jet age meant the propeller-driven planes quickly became obsolete.
As many as 140 Spitfires — three to four times the number of airworthy models known to exist — are believed to have been buried in near-pristine condition in Myanmar by American engineers as the war drew to a close.
The wooden crate located in northern Myanmar was found in Myitkyina in Kachin state during a dig that began last month. It is one of several digs planned nationwide, including another near the airport in Yangon.
Cundall said the search team in Kachin state inserted a camera into the crate and found it was full of water. It was unclear what was inside the crate, he said, but the water will be pumped out during an operation that could take weeks, he said.
The go-ahead for excavation came in October when Myanmar's government signed an agreement with Cundall and his local partner.
Under the deal, Myanmar's government will get one plane for display at a museum, as well as half of the remaining total. DJC, a private company headed by Cundall, will get 30 per cent of the total and the Myanmar partner company Shwe Taung Paw, headed by Htoo Htoo Zaw, will get 20 per cent.
During the project's first phase, searchers hope to recover 60 planes: 36 planes in Mingaladon, near Yangon's international airport; six in Meikthila in central Myanmar; and 18 in Myitkyina. Others are to be recovered in a second phase.
Searchers hope the aircraft are in pristine condition, but others have said it's possible all they might find is a m*** of corroded metal and rusty aircraft parts.
Cundall said the practice of burying aircraft, tanks and jeeps was common after the war.
"Basically nobody had got any orders to take these airplanes back to (the) UK. They were just surplus ... (and) one way of disposing them was to bury them," Cundall said. "The war was over, everybody wanted to go home, nobody wanted anything, so you just buried it and went home. That was it."
Stanley Coombe, a 91-year-old war veteran from Britain who says he witnessed the aircraft's burial, travelled to Myanmar to observe the search.
It is "very exciting for me because I never thought I would be allowed to come back and see where Spitfires have been buried," Coombe said. "It's been a long time since anybody believed what I said until David Cundall came along."

 

I think that is Kermit Weeks. If anyone would know I'm sure he has connections. Any updates?

 

Yes They had Rotol props Laminated wood

 

hey guys, sorry to burst your bubble, but there was a news article i read at dailymail (britain's news site) that all of this was a bunch of bull-puckey. these planes dont even seem to exist.

though that may not be 100% because the stupid news stations post stories about these finds years after they actually happen. so tracking these recovery stories (which i try to do) is nothing but a big pain in the ***. so once again that may not be true.

another popular story though is theyre sending out equippment right now to pull up a german bomber out of the english channel. so thats good.

 

This is sad.

This P-40 was lost and had to crash land stranding the pilot out in the Egyptian Desert with no hope of survival. The plane had a instrument failure.

Look closely at the instrument panel, note that what looks like the turn/bank indicator is busted. Undoubtedly done by the pilot after the crash.

How sad..... I hope they find him.

 

The P-40 video no longer works :-(

 

More info and pics: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/16627