British Farmer finds brand new Spitfires (Zero Hours) in their shipping crates after 15 years of searching in Burma

[glx2.8]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...-in-Burma.html

crazy story

[Gern_Blanston]

Saw that a couple of days ago in one of the aviation forums. It'll be interesting to see what they look like after being underground for nearly 70 years. Very cool. They guy went all Indiana Jones and spent a bunch of time and a bunch of money finding the damned things.

[Brendan@bwalkauto]

It would be amazing to get all 20 back in the air. It never ceases to amaze me that while they built tens of thousands of them, so few remain. While subsequent generations look back in awe at that time frame, at the feats mankind did, and the technological marvels that were bred by necessity, it's easy to forget that most who lived through wanted that chapter closed, and to move on to the brighter future.

At least I've seen an airworthy Zero in person.

[chrismkay3]

i wish they would show pictures from when they found the containers with the spitfires. I wonder how the inhibiting has held up thorughout the years.

it seems as though the machines were properly inhibited from the factory, could be the ultimate barn find.

[Gern_Blanston]

I suspect 6 decades underground in a the tropics will have taken quite a toll.

[Brendan@bwalkauto]

I'd say they would have had a fighting chance if they were upcountry in the mountains, but if they're down by the Bay of Bengal or the Andaman Sea, they're going to need a LOT of work to get airworthy.

[glx2.8]

I'd say they would have had a fighting chance if they were upcountry in the mountains, but if they're down by the Bay of Bengal or the Andaman Sea, they're going to need a LOT of work to get airworthy.

but at the same time... zero hour griffon engines!!

it would be worth trying, still would be less work than finding them in a lake you'd think...

[Brendan@bwalkauto]

Given the scarcity of the planes, and especially those engines, I think it's 100% worth it.

[unimogken]

Wow really cool!

[spockcat]

I suspect 6 decades underground in a the tropics will have taken quite a toll.

Like the Tulsa time capsule Pontiac.

[l5gcw0b]

Chrysler perhaps?

[spockcat]

Chrysler perhaps?

LOL, Plymouth Belvedere actually. My error. Still the same point though. Metal buried in a moist environment will not survive in good condition.

[turbinepowered]

LOL, Plymouth Belvedere actually. My error. Still the same point though. Metal buried in a moist environment will not survive in good condition.

Difference here being the packing. That car looks like it was just buried, probably exposed to the elements beforehand. The planes were packed for shipping over water: sealed, coated, tarred, packed, and crated.

I imagine that they'll be in better shape than most would assume, but I certainly don't think they'll be "put it together and fly" condition.

[glx2.8]

updates:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/w...ree-years.html