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


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[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. ;-)