Buried Spitfires Update

[Bill Greenwood]

bdk, you say a crate would not survive "having all that dirt piled on it". We don't know how much dirt, if any was put on these crates, if they were in fact buried there. You are correct that dirt is heavy, but there is no reason that these crated would be buried deeply. A wooden coffin can and has survived intact when it is only a few feet below the surface.

I have an RAF style crate for a Merlin engine, and it is fairly substantial, though I have never tried burying it. I am almost certain it could take 2 feet of earth on it.

I have a lot of doubts if there were ever any planes buried in crates in cosmoline, but if there were, I'd bet there is much, if not most preserved. I'd buy one on that basis if the price is right.

The story of the "core samples" sounds dubious. If you really thought that there was a crate with a factory complete Spitfire down there, would you risk drilling a hole right through the middle of it? I wouldn't, I would carefully dig down to find what was there.