yeah well the last info I saw was that they were crated and underground, so in theory, unless they had massive water infiltration or collapses of the crates themselves they shouldn't be too bad, the air in the boxes might be a bit stuffy for sure ;-)

800k is just a ballpark figure, but then again it's also maintenance costs.. just to give you an example, a single propeller blade might cost up to $40k, so you'd better know how to land the thing properly ;-)

so yes, you might need two powerballs ;-)

Thanks SternjaegerII, kind of what I expected to hear. It's the same story here in the US, as you intimated. A classic aircraft is found, then... silence. A few years later the plane emerges freshly restored with a new owner after much money changes hands.

The same is often true for very high end collector cars.


Ciao.

It's the good ol' "boys and their toys", although in the case of the Burma Spits there's a fair chance of a huge profit margin, those babies won't sell cheap, that's for sure.. yeah, high end collectors would do the dirtiest tricks to ensure the stuff they want ends in their possession.

The case of the 109 that I mentioned before though is an example of media attention as well: soon after the news were released, the specialised magazines and media went silent for a specific reason..
It sounds terribly conspiracy theory, but in some cases there is a will from the sector media to keep some news secret, and not just for promotional reasons, but because there's a distinct will to keep these planes in the west, where they're more likely to be restored/flown.

Which government department in the UK is responsible for the current ownership of the Burma Spits?
Surely a concerted effort with some of the more conservative (jolly ol' Britain what!) press would keep this in the public sphere?

This article is somewhat worrying:
http://news.discovery.com/history/wo...ne-120502.html

"2-year-old Cundall claims he was pressured into abandoning his claim to the 67-year-old fighters by Brooks, a British version of Donald Trump who presented him with a "memorandum of understanding" that took control of his overseas activities, the Vancouver Sun said."

Gad-damned tories and their big business brown nosing...

They were literally up for grabs, the Government was only involved because of the embargo on Burma.

Once Cundall's claims were proven true, Brooks stepped in and asked Cameron to sort that out for them, so that he could do whatever he wanted with the Spits. A couple of bribes here and there, and the Burmese government is happy for whoever wants to recover the Spits to proceed.
Cundall should have kept it quiet and asked for more funds, in this way he lost all the investment he made and is left with nothing. It's disgusting, but unfortunately there's nothing he can do about it.

As I said, the warbirds entourage is not all roses...

Absolutely no such thing has occurred. You won't hear anything more about this except in a year's time when one of our broadsheets will pick up on a "whatever happend to those Burmese Spits" story and surprise, surprise.....it will all have been pie in the sky.

A very reputable source in the entourage guaranteed me it happened, besides you wouldn't have had such a turmoil for a load of baloney..

From The Times, May 1990.http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h.../Toys03211.jpg

Wonder where all those lovely Lancs went?

yeah, I remember hearing that story, and I remember being told that as they started digging they actually went through them: they had managed to locate them with radars, but albeit having preserved the original shape, the aluminium had deteriorated so much over the years that they were unsalvageable.

This time we're talking about crated and preserved stuff, not just wrapped and buried.