A Warning to All Searching for Buried Aircraft

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Member for

11 years 2 months

Posts: 41

http://blogs.motortrend.com/rusty-recovery-tulsa-unearths-its-buried-belvedere-treasure-754.html

A car is built like a tank compared to an aircraft. This vehicle was protective wrapped, boxed, then buried.

Original post

Member for

11 years 2 months

Posts: 41

Also, notice the water pump and lines in one of the main photos.

Member for

18 years 5 months

Posts: 233

She cleaned up well with a little work. There was no plan to restore it to roadworthy condition or totally rebuild it, like has been done for many vintage aircraft. I think expecting buried aircraft in pristine condition is overly optimistic.

http://www.tulsarama.de/bilder/bild56a.jpg

Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

But to be honest, Chrysler products of that vintage were infamous for rusting.
Still it's in better shape than one that spent a few years in the Northeast U.S.
Almost as bad as 60s Fiats with Russian steel. :D

Member for

16 years 5 months

Posts: 152

Plus, the recovery team had a pretty good idea where it was.

Not only did they have a pretty good idea where it was, they knew it was there.

Some may say "Just like Burma". Others may disagree.;)

Member for

14 years 11 months

Posts: 894

So, the moral is, if you're going to bury a British aircraft, don't put an American car in with it.

Member for

19 years 11 months

Posts: 1,988

aluminium + steel = bimetallic corrosion anyway

Member for

17 years 8 months

Posts: 199

Did they have a good look? That Belvedere probably has three Spitfires in the boot/trunk and another one in the glove box!

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17 years 5 months

Posts: 8,980

I seem to remember the chamber leaked and it filled with water, hence it deteriorated.

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18 years 3 months

Posts: 705

It was featured in an episode of Boyd Coddington's American Hot Rod series (repeats running again on Quest, Channel 38, 6.00 pm weekdays). The idea was the Boyd Coddington team would have it running within 24 hours. Some recovery photos in here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr6aoM8eG0c

Member for

12 years 5 months

Posts: 797

American Cars.

Why bother to bury them...? Much easier to build the scrapyard right next to the factory and wheel them straight in....:diablo:

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 256

But the car was buried within a concrete chamber - concrete in proximity to steel = rust in copious amounts.

Hardly comparable to aluminium buried within wood ;)

I smell Troll.

Member for

12 years 9 months

Posts: 759

They should build buried aircraft like this Chrysler model ......Resurrected so many times ....

.....I bet it would even stand a long term burial .......

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,183

They should build buried aircraft like this Chrysler model ......Resurrected so many times ....

.....I bet it would even stand a long term burial .......

Wasn't that one a Plymouth?

Adrian

Member for

12 years 9 months

Posts: 759

Chrysler , Plymouth , Dodge , de Soto , Imperial , Eagle ....same thing ...with other long forgotten names ,,,,,

Member for

11 years 8 months

Posts: 569

People are kidding themselves if they think the spitfires can be dug out the ground in mint condition like an artefact from a Pharaoh's tomb. I just did a little research, it would appear Burma receives on average 3.5x as much rain each year than Oklahoma :D

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if another car time-capsule was buried to be opened in 2057 (on the 150 year anniversary) with a modern day Chrysler equivalent? They could turn it into a semicentennial tradition.

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

Wasn't that one a Plymouth?

Adrian

A Fury, as I recall from the book. Although, according to something I read about the making of the film, they weren't all Furies as they were tres expensive to buy, so another model was substitued.

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12 years 9 months

Posts: 759

Some Belvederes & Savoys were turned into look alikes for the crushing , crashing & burning scenes ....." Bad to the Bone "

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

Yeah, that was it. I couldn't recall the actual names.