Buried Spitfires update

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/17/myanmar-signs-deal-to-dig-up-buried-wwii-planes/

Looks like they are finally going to start digging. Also, the number may be as high as 60 planes now!

sounds promising

There goes the market for old Spitfires

Oops, Sorry for RE POST above.

I am suggesting a GRM group purchase. I know better than to try to fly it. All I want for my buy in is a monthly buzz of my house.

Now lets see them dig up the p38's from the sandy graves the us aac left them in....

yamaha wrote: Now lets see them dig up the p38's from the sandy graves the us aac left them in....

THAT would be awesome. P38 Lightning and P51D Mustang are my favorite WW2 aircraft.

Regardless, they'll still need ten years and 10 million dollars to make them flyable.

I keep thinking about the Plymouth that was buried in Tulsa, and what it looked like after 50 years underground. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they can salvage anything.

yamaha wrote: Now lets see them dig up the p38's from the sandy graves the us aac left them in....

I flew for Epps Aviation. Pat Epps dug a P-38 out of a glacier in Greenland. It is quite a story to hear him tell it.

cdowd wrote:

yamaha wrote: Now lets see them dig up the p38's from the sandy graves the us aac left them in....

I flew for Epps Aviation. Pat Epps dug a P-38 out of a glacier in Greenland. It is quite a story to hear him tell it.

Sorry Chris I am using your computer, Pilotbraden

In reply to cdowd:

The glacier girl is one hell of a story too......iirc from the documentary, wasn't the p38 kinda a consolation prize since the b17's were crushed beyond recognition?

stuart in mn wrote: I keep thinking about the Plymouth that was buried in Tulsa, and what it looked like after 50 years underground. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they can salvage anything.

I was there to see the Buried Belvedere brought to the surface. I'd give about a month's pay to see the boxes the Spitfires are in opened up live.

stuart in mn wrote: I keep thinking about the Plymouth that was buried in Tulsa, and what it looked like after 50 years underground. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they can salvage anything.

I bet you'll be surprised. First, these were packaged for salt water shipping when they left the factory. Should make a huge difference. Second, it is truly amazing what someone who knows what they are doing can do with something cosmetically unimpressive. Our local air museum got an SBD from the Navy that had been at the bottom of Lake Michigan for 50 years. When it first arrived, I thought they wasted a lot of time and effort recovering it. It looked worse than the Plymouth by a long shot. Anything wood, leather or rubber was pretty much useless (but relatively easily remanufactured) but everything else was able to be brought back amazingly well. (Except, IIRC, any parts made out of magnesium, seems like there was some sort of chemical reaction with the lake water that corroded them severely) Don't get me wrong, it will take years and cubic dollars, but you'll see a lot of these flying some day.

yamaha wrote: In reply to cdowd: The glacier girl is one hell of a story too......iirc from the documentary, wasn't the p38 kinda a consolation prize since the b17's were crushed beyond recognition?

The P-38's were the goal of the expedition. They had hoped that more than one could be saved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6c3v9iihgw&feature=related

Perhaps this will not be as rare inn the future, 16 Spitfires in formation.

pilotbraden wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6c3v9iihgw&feature=related Perhaps this will not be as rare inn the future, 16 Spitfires in formation.

That made my day. Thanks!