Spitfire UB431 (ex IDFAF 20-26)

This one must be it.

Cheers Paul,

“15 February 1961 A Republic of China Air Force PB4Y was shot down by Burmese fighter aircraft, near the Thai-Burmese border, killing the crew of five. “

A very informative site and one to bookmark.

Mark

Elliott,

I am 99% sure it was a ‘Privateer’.

That would account why I thought it was a B-24, similar and family and you thought it was four engines, a tall single fin and looked like a Warwick.

What say you?

Mark

That would be more like it!

PB4Y-2 Privateer

http://home.sprynet.com/~anneled/ColdWar.html

Also see:

http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_346.shtml
http://www.heroinflight.com/planes.html

and

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=burma+%22sea+fury%22+1961&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&selm=7eeec948.0403131856.7de5469f%40posting.google.com&rnum=3

The latter 3 all say B-24 but I reckon Privateer (definately Consolidateed not Vickers!)

It came to me over lunch.

Elliott,

I am 99% sure it was a ‘Privateer’.

That would account why I thought it was a B-24, similar and family and you thought it was four engines, a tall single fin and looked like a Warwick.

What say you?

Mark

Elliott

http://www.drugtext.org/library/books/McCoy/book/29.htm

The above will be a bit heavy for most but if the CIA were funding the KMT through Taiwan I think a B-24 would be more probable than a Warwick.

The pilot of the Seafury was either P/O or F/O Peters who would be I guess Anglo-Burmese. He shot the ‘aircraft’ down before crashing landing one side or the other of the Burma/Thai border. He is their greatest Air Force hero.

Mark

Yes, that’s right it was Peters and very proud of him they were too. I don’t suppose the Burmese Air Force have many kills to their credit after all 😉

Well, just remember the many exotic types that ended up in China (Curtis Condors, Demons etc., Gloster biplane types to name a few) and the fact that Wellingtons were used against the Japanese it’s not impossible.

More likely it is a B-24 but you never know – the aircraft in the painting DID look like a Wellington/Warwick.

‘Spooky’

Hello Mark

I visited the diorama a few weeks after you and I recall (i may be wrong as it seemed EXTREMELY exotic for that part of the world) that the smoking aircraft was a vickers warwick! This was a fair while ago and there were so many wonderful distractions in myanmar I wouldn’t put any money on it, but it did stick in my mind.Elliott

Elliott

http://www.drugtext.org/library/books/McCoy/book/29.htm

The above will be a bit heavy for most but if the CIA were funding the KMT through Taiwan I think a B-24 would be more probable than a Warwick.

The pilot of the Seafury was either P/O or F/O Peters who would be I guess Anglo-Burmese. He shot the ‘aircraft’ down before crashing landing one side or the other of the Burma/Thai border. He is their greatest Air Force hero.

Mark

Bruising from the storm in the 1970’s would be my guess.

Mark

Hello Mark

I visited the diorama a few weeks after you and I recall (i may be wrong as it seemed EXTREMELY exotic for that part of the world) that the smoking aircraft was a vickers warwick! This was a fair while ago and there were so many wonderful distractions in myanmar I wouldn’t put any money on it, but it did stick in my mind.

Elliott

The damage to the l/edge of the tailplane is interesting. Deliberate for the display, or a witness mark for other ‘work’?

Bruising from the storm in the 1970’s would be my guess.

Mark

The damage to the l/edge of the tailplane is interesting. Deliberate for the display, or a witness mark for other ‘work’?

Mark,

Great information, thanks for clearing that one up

It does make you wonder as you say where the rest of it is (or went to) though…

Thanks again

UB431 – Rangoon

JBS

UB431 was on display at the Royal Lakes in Aung Sang Park, Rangoon until damaged by a storm in the early 1970’s. It was reported as scrapped but I believe it was removed and dumped in an ‘Army compound’ and forgotten, as happens in Myanmar.

To commemorate a glorious military action in Burmese history, when the new Defence Services museum was opened in 1995/6 a crash scene diorama was created of this action between the UBAF Seafury UB466 and from memory a Taiwanese B-24. Replicating a posted press photo of the time, a reduced scale Centaurus was placed in perspective and the Seafury tail group and rear fuselage was represented using a section cut from a Mk IX Spitfire.

After much pressing and asking I was told that the section came from the ‘Army Compound’ and was from the former display machine. It is logical, but I would only put 95% certainty on it. It begs the question – what happened to the rest of it – and this is in hand but it is hard work in Myanmar with all their troubles.

Mark

UB431 photo by George Errington – taken in 1956