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To anyone with an interest in aviation history this comes as (potentially) good news! 
There are only about 35 Spitfires, worldwide, in an airworthy state these days. I just wonder though what condition the ones in Burma will be, assuming they are found of course.... after being buried for 67 years?
Excellent indeed, let's hope they can sort it out.
Ooh Arhh Tony....
We 'ave 'ere a proim example of post neanderthaaaal burial techniques, but the data from geofizz is not really conclusive. So we are goin' to put a trench across 'ere to ascertain whether we are in the roight place before we start ecavatin'.
Jungle conditions seem to destroy pretty well anything, whereas the desert seems to preserve.
One old friend told me that planes and parts were buried in a lot of overseas airfields at the end of the war because they couldn't be bothered to take them back to the UK.
Quote: Jungle conditions seem to destroy pretty well anything, whereas the desert seems to preserve.
They might be lucky - the report says that they were still crated up so I guess it depends on how good quality the crates were and whether or not the parts were well greased up for transportation by sea.
Oh, I hope this leads to something. The sight and sound of a Spitfire is something you never forget.
In the mid 60s, as a kid of about 10, I was taken by my father to Glasgow Green to see a Spitfire (I can't remember what the occasion/event was). When we got there we saw that there was a ladder up to the cockpit. The man in charge asked if I wanted to sit inside. Well, to this day I can still remember the intense excitement I felt that day. I was allowed to sit in the cockpit for as long as I wanted whilst the man explained what the various controls did. A wonderful and happy day that will live with me always.
I once got some aircraft washers that were packaged in 1943 - packed in talc instead of grease. No corrosion at all.
If air and moisture are excluded, there should be no corrosion, but aluminium and magnesium alloys do not last well if not protected. I would be surprised if they ever flew again, but rebuilds for displays should be ok.
Nick
The Spitfires are apparently Mk.2s which are extremely rare these days, so it would be especially interesting to see at least some of them in the air.
Also the Mk2 used the earlier Merlin engines, variants of which found their way into the Lancaster bomber and the Hawker Hurricane, one of which and some of which are still airworthy so I imagine that 'new' spare engines would be a godsend, if the aircraft turn out to be no use for anything but spares.
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