Squadron of 'lost' spitfires could be flying again in three years The extraordinary treasure hunt was described as a "story of British determination against all odds." Surveys undertaken at one of three sites in Burma have shown that large areas of electrically conductive material are present underground at a depth of around 10 metres. An electromagnetic survey at the site in Burma The location and depth is consistent with eight eye witness reports given to Mr Cundall that the rare Mark XIV Spitfires were buried there in August 1945. "We put a camera down a boorhole and went into a box and through two inches of Canadian pine," Mr Cundall disclosed. Yes, we did see what we thought was an aeroplane. Mr Cundall was first told about the fighters in 1996 and spent two years researching the claims. He found eight people who "told the same story" about the crates being buried and at what depth, all pointing to the same spot. A Spitfire and Auster aircraft in Rangoon after the war He has since been to Burma 16 times conducting surveys and negotiating with the authorities. When sanctions forbidding the movement of military materials in and out of the country were lifted earlier this year, he knew his dream could be realised. "Hopefully, they will be brought back to the UK and will be flying at air shows," he said. We have had offers from British companies to restore them and put their logos on them which is acceptable to me. We should get something back, if we are lucky, in the springtime. It should take two to three years to restore them so we should see something in the next three years or so. David Cundall Under an agreement signed with the Burmese authorities, Mr Cundall will be entitled to a 30 per cent share of the discovery, his agents to 20 per cent and the Burmese to 50 per cent, which is expected to be put up for sale. Although three groups have been allowed to look for the planes, only Mr Cundall has managed to find anything and has now been given exclusive rights to the three sites. The January dig, using two diggers, a crane and a bulldozer, will involve taking off and examining a layer of soil at a time. Andy Brockman, the lead archaeologist, said: "If we don't see anything, we take off some more soil. We will work down from the known to the unknown. The Spitfires, which used Rolls Royce Griffon engines instead of the Merlins of earlier models, are believed to have been put in crates and transported from the factory in Castle Bromwich, in the West Midlands, to Burma in August 1945. However, when the war against the Japanese in Burma came to an abrupt end, the British South-East Asia command decided to bury them to ensure they could not be found by the enemy. Mr Cundall believes the Spitfires are still wrapped in their original Castle Bromwich tar paper. The dig is being financed by Viktor Kislyi and his company, Wargaming.net which got involved after Tracy Spaight, its director of special projects read about Mr Cundall's quest in the Daily Telegraph in April. Mr Brockman acknowledged that the complex project could yield nothing. But he added: "We are interested in converting the speculation and rumour into facts on the ground. At the end of it, we will have a cracking story to tell. What that will be, we don't know.