talk about a find !!!! w0w


Its increadable what they can do to rebuild those old machines,There is so much work goes into them. Yesterday I saw a spitfire flying in formation with a mosquito bomber and a P40. Then took my nephew and his mate for a wonder around the workshops where they are restoring some old steam engines. Made the boys day including the biggest boy, me.
 
A friend of mine that goes out & finds WW1 & 2 airplanes dug 1 up in Perry, Fla. about 25 yrs. ago. The only thing he got was part of the Fuselage from the engine back behind the cockpit & part of the L/H wing & the whole engine w/the prop. He toured all over the south w/it on a flatbed trailer until he sold it about 5 years ago. Him & 2 other guys(son-in-laws)had to dig about 15 ft. down just to get to it. It took him about 3 years to finally get it above ground. 2 years in a row he got rained out(filled up the hole) & he was right next to the river. It took him about 5 years to get all of the documents & permits to dig it up.
 
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This friend has been trying for about 30 years to get permission to dig up a B-17 that crashed at the Sebring Airport in 1944 & then was buried on the spot.
he's getting up in age now(80)& I think he has lost interest in digging up anything else, plus he's had 3 massive heart attacks in the past 8 years.
 
b-17 @ sebring airport ,?? wheres that ?? larry . someone or another group must have some interest in digging it up
 
blackz28 said:
b-17 @ sebring airport ,?? wheres that ?? larry . someone or another group must have some interest in digging it up
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Quite a few groups have had an interest in digging it up, but at the present location of the plane is under a large hangar. At 1 time the hangar was going to be torn down & the plane was going to be dug up, but, then a co. decided they could repair the hangar & it's in use again. So, some years from now when that building is falling down & the B-17 is completely rusted away they will decide to dig it up-politics!!
 
There's stories of equipment being buried all over the world. Here in British Columbia, and The Yukon there's stories of military trucks, jeeps, bulldozers and other equipment being buried after the construction of the Alaska highway during WW2. Most of the equiment would be rusted away to almost nothing by now.
I doubt that even if they were to find complete spit's in Burma, after 60 years in a tropical climate would there be much left
 
CNR Glen said:
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I doubt that even if they were to find complete spit's in Burma, after 60 years in a tropical climate would there be much left
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Seeing as how they were build of aluminum, and duraluminum, there would be a great deal left.

Remember they found a P-38 buried under 60' of ice in Greenland several years ago? They uncovered it and rebuilt it, and now its flying.
 
Originally Posted by CNR Glen
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I doubt that even if they were to find complete spit's in Burma, after 60 years in a tropical climate would there be much left

Seeing as how they were build of aluminum, and duraluminum, there would be a great deal left.

Remember they found a P-38 buried under 60' of ice in Greenland several years ago? They uncovered it and rebuilt it, and now its flying.
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I spent 15 years in the aviation maintance industry and trust me, nothing corrodes like aluminum. The P-38 that was rescued in Greenland was under ice and the cold conditions preserved it, the aluminum in the Spitfires has been in a tropical climate than unless it was packed very solidly with grease and other perseving agents would deteriorate quickly. But of course time will tell when they open the crate.
 
Cjcrescent said:
Seeing as how they were build of aluminum, and duraluminum, there would be a great deal left.

Remember they found a P-38 buried under 60' of ice in Greenland several years ago? They uncovered it and rebuilt it, and now its flying.
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Spitfires used a lot of plywood in their construction. The wings, especially were wood.
 
Herman Green said:
Spitfires used a lot of plywood in their construction. The wings, especially were wood.
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Herm, I was under the impression that the Spitfires originally were built with wooden wings, but after the BoB, with increasing supplies from America, the later models were built of Aluminum.
 
Actually the Hawker Hurricane MkI had wooden wings initially, not the Supermarine Spitfire.

The Hawker Hurricane MkI was just an enlarged monoplane version of the Hawker Fury bi-plane. The wings were wood framed and canvas, and the fuselage behind the pilot was also wood framed and canvas. The fore fuselage was metal. Later versions of the MkI onwards of the Hurricane were converted to metal winged but until the end of production had the wood and fabric rear fueslage.

The Supermarine Spitfire was all metal construction from the beginning design.
 
Thanx Ceresco. I used to be up on this stuff, back when I was building a lot of plastic airplanes and ships. I should have saved myself the trouble and looked it up in my WWII library.
 
Ceresco2063 said:
Actually the Hawker Hurricane MkI had wooden wings initially, not the Supermarine Spitfire.

The Hawker Hurricane MkI was just an enlarged monoplane version of the Hawker Fury bi-plane. The wings were wood framed and canvas, and the fuselage behind the pilot was also wood framed and canvas. The fore fuselage was metal. Later versions of the MkI onwards of the Hurricane were converted to metal winged but until the end of production had the wood and fabric rear fueslage.

The Supermarine Spitfire was all metal construction from the beginning design.
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You guys are indeed correct. I was confused (age related?) with my facts and should have verified before posting.

Sorry,

Herman
 
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