Late seventies Indian Spitfire/Tempest imports

Am I correct that after those disposals and aircraft in the care of the Indian Air Force Museum, there are still some Spitfire airframes surviving in Universities (similar to the Hurricane). I remember seing a pic some years ago showing a Hurricane and Spitfire wing lying among bushes in India. And in Spitfire Suvivors around the world (still looking forward to see the updated version) it was mentioned that some Mk XVIII’s were still about. Were there any attempts to search, but India is vast country of course.

Cheers
Cees

what batch of spitfires came out of india first,doug arnolds or the haydon baille batch?

Doug Arnold’s

Mark

what batch of spitfires came out of india first,doug arnolds or the haydon baille batch?

DB

I seem to remember going to India in 1976 with Doug Arnold, when the Tempests were first on the disposal tender.

Mark

Go steady, whatever may or may not have happened was 30 years ago, the preservation scene was considerably different then. As none of us know the ins and outs of the deal then it is unfair to accuse anybody of being selfish. Doug Arnold did an awful lot for aircraft preservation long before most other people even considered it.

I believe the Tempests were all of a similar nature . I think some of the reasoning behind it was to maintain values i.e not flood the market hence some were supposedly buried/scrapped on site. The elevators seemed to have become a rarer from leaving India as well!

Thats gotta be the most selfish and absurd idea I have ever heard of.

People are now digging wrecks out of Russian mud…..

I can sort of forgive them for putting them in storage (as marked control), but if they actually scrapped aircraft 😮

This was not a government move, but a move from warbird enthusiasts…..I hope its just a rumour.

There was an in-depth article on the 1977 Spitfire recoveries in Aeroplane magazine either that year or 1978. I have the article in the house somewhere.

I believe the Tempests were all of a similar nature . I think some of the reasoning behind it was to maintain values i.e not flood the market hence some were supposedly buried/scrapped on site. The elevators seemed to have become a rarer from leaving India as well!

Cees,

I don’t think Ormond or Wensley Haydon-Baillie were involved with the Tempests.

Doug Arnold acquired a number and possibly disposed, as the rumour went at the time, of the residue as not worth shipping.

His imports are well documented by the Typhoon/Tempests aficionados.

Mark