Crated WWII Spitfires buried in Burmese

Until we actually see the photos, I scoff the "perfectly preserved" part. They haven't even unearthed them yet, so the condition is unknown.

The wood and magnesium used in Spitfire construction is not very likely to have fared well over time, regardless of how pristine they may have been the day they were buried.
 
From AvWeb http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Dogfight_Burmese_Spitfires_206608-1.html

April 29, 2012
Dogfight Brewing Over Burmese Spitfires
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Dogfight_Burmese_Spitfires_206608-1.html?type=pf
By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

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British farmer and aviation history buff David Cundall now says there are 124 new Spitfires buried in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and he knows where 60 of them are. As we reported two weeks ago, Cundall stunned the aviation world with news that he had found at least 20 crated, brand-new Spitfires wrapped in protective paper and tar to preserve them. Whether he'll be able to capitalize on his stunning discovery is in question, however, as treasure hunters from all over the world race against each other and the impending monsoon season to dig the pickled aircraft up. In an email exchange a week ago, Cundall told AVweb he was having problems with financial backers who now may be rivals for the treasure trove. Cundall has not returned subsequent email and phone messages from AVweb. He did, however, claim in an interview with the Independent that a British businessman is trying to hijack the project with the help of the country's prime minister.

Cundall told AVweb he had originally struck a deal with an American backer to fund the recovery of the aircraft but it fell through. He was then approached by Steve Boultbee Brooks, a land developer and aviation buff who owns a two-seat Spitfire. He alleges Boultbee Brooks, who accompanied Prime Minister David Cameron on a trade and political mission to Myanmar two weeks ago, used his attendance on the trip to engineer discussions between Cameron and Myanmar President Thein Sein on repatriation of the aircraft. Brooks does indeed appear to be assuming a lead role in digging up the planes.

In an email to AVweb, Brooks' public relations consultant Elizabeth Tagge declined an interview but said there will soon be public access to news on the effort. "The team is entirely focused on the next stage of the project at this point and won't be giving interviews just yet," Tagge said. "However, there should be a Facebook page up soon, which we'll update when there is news to help keep everyone aware of progress."

Meanwhile, Brooks himself told the Independent that he hopes Cundall will be "on board" with the recovery effort. Cundall says he'll be involved all right, as the holder of all the important cards in a high-stakes game that involves cutting the Myanmar government in for 40 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the aircraft. "We were issued a permit to dig, which is still a valid and exclusive agreement," he said. "The President of Burma wants to do business with me." Cundall said he has a buyer who will take all the aircraft at about $1.5 million each. Boultbee Brooks said it would be a shame for the aircraft to end up anywhere but Britain and he noted there are other groups in the U.S., Israel and Australia hoping to claim the aircraft. "What a terrible day this is when the prime minister has gone out and got a British team, we put a British team together, and then we squabble so much that we allow other nations to walk in and take the Spitfires from under our noses," he said.
 
Wow, what a find it would be if indeed they have fared well buried.

Condition unknown, of course, but it's still neat to see!
 
This is really a shame. Cundall has spent over 200k of his own money, been searching and taking a dozen trips to Myanmar that he financed himself, done all the research over 15 years himself, and has found the planes, has the best intention of returning them to England and getting them restored and flying once again, began the inroads and negotiations with the government to recover the planes, and now others who have more money, more backing or pull, are trying to trample all over his dream.

Found this in the Telegraph:

"To get the aircraft out Mr Cundall needs money, about half a million pounds. That is where Steve Boultbee Brooks came in.

Mr Boultbee Brooks, 47, is a self‑confessed Spitfire lover and owner of a trainer version of the fighter. He is also very rich, the result of a career in property investing. In need of a backer, Mr Cundall approached Paul Beaver, a former defence journalist, now in public relations, who suggested Mr Boultbee Brooks. There was a meeting, an agreement in principle to proceed and a fairly rapid falling‑out.

Mr Cundall was presented with a “memorandum of understanding”, which effectively placed his activities in Burma under the control of Mr Boultbee Brooks’s company, Spitfire Display Limited. Mr Boultbee Brooks then took off for Burma to lobby support from David Cameron, who was making a landmark visit to the country as part of its slow reintroduction into the international community. The Spitfire story provided Number 10 with a stirring example of future Anglo-Burmese co-operation. Cameron met with Boultbee Brooks and duly climbed on the bandwagon, waxing lyrical about Spitfires gracing the skies. The millionaire was also allowed a ride home on the prime ministerial jet. Mr Cundall says he knew nothing of the trip until contacted by Mr Boultbee Brooks from Burma. He was also appalled at the terms of the memorandum, calling them an insult.

“I had an hour with him [Boultbee Brooks]. He didn’t say yes, he didn’t say no. He had all the information he wanted to make up his mind. People tell me he was on television making claims that it is his project. Last Sunday he said if we didn’t come to an agreement, the Prime Minister would close the door. I can do it without Brooks, I can do it without anybody. I’ve been digging up aircraft for 35 years. I’ve pushed the boat out financially. I’ve struggled like hell to keep it going. I’ve dug up Burma before, and I don’t need them.”

Mr Cundall has already moved on, however. He has secured new backing from an anonymous investor, who wants to buy all the Spitfires recovered from Burma. Under the deal, Mr Cundall and the Burmese government each net 40 per cent of the sale proceeds, while Mr Cundall’s agent in the country gets 20 per cent.
“He [the backer] wants to buy all the aeroplanes,” says Mr Cundall. “He’s putting half a million pounds into the project for me to go over, dig them up, and I will then sell them to him. The Burmese have agreed to sell their share to him. My agents have agreed to sell their share to him, at a fair and reasonable price. Between £1.25 and £1.5 million.”

Undeterred, Mr Boultbee Brooks is proceeding with his own recovery project. “It is a massive project, and it is between two nations that haven’t traded for 50 years. We think it is an opportunity that just can’t be passed off: to bring these machines back to England and get them flying again. We train pilots to fly Spitfires, we train engineers to build them, so yes, we would love to. We will keep this project on the road.”

The race is on. Mr Boultbee Brooks says: “I would dispute that we got the information [from Mr Cundall]. He didn’t pass anything across to me. He assured me thaMr Cundall says he has given the millionaire detailed information about the whereabouts of aircraft so far detected, which should not be acted upon because it is his intellectual property.

Time is running out. The monsoon breaks at the beginning of June and the ground in Burma will be so waterlogged as to be unworkable until the end of the year. A temporary holiday on sanctions against Burma means the recovery work should soon be deemed lawful. Mr Cundall is counting on his ties with the Burmese, cultivated over many years, to see him through. "

I'm rooting for the farmer.
 
Starting to sound like a typical salvage operation where money is involved. Someone does the leg work and initial investment then others who did nothing step in and attempt to get their hands on it.
 
Hacker15e said:
To be fair, they probably didn't fly these particular aircraft....
Click to expand...
Gee, ya think, considering the discovered aircraft are crated. They were supposedly not flown yet. By "these" aircraft, (referencing the video I posted of the Battle of Britain) I meant Spitfires in general, and specifically the pilots and aircraft flown during the Battle of Britain and not the ones buried in Burma.
 
(takes deep breath) Yes, I realize that, but I believe these particular aircraft (at least the first 20 discovered) are supposedly "new" from the factory and these specific planes had not been flown in the war yet, and are the MkXIV's. At least this is what has been reported from several sources. http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Lost_Spitfire_Squadron_206526-1.html

"Although we initially reported that the aircraft were Spitfire Mk II, the aircraft are Mk XIV with possibly some Mk VIII as well." (as stated by Mr. Cundall in subsequent interviews) It is now estimated that as many as 120 of the iconic World War II fighters were buried in the country at the end of the war, with the locations of around 60 said to be known.

I hope I have been detailed, specific, exact, precise, particular and concise enough for now. National NitPick Day is not until July. lol
 
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