Saddam Hussein had a gold-plated jewel-encrusted personal Spitfire aircraft and you can buy it
Former dictator of Iraq Saddam Hussein was well known for his collection of gold-plated Kalashnikov rifles but it has recently come to light that he also owned a flyable gold-plated Spitfire. The World War II vintage aircraft is a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX formerly flown by the Royal Egyptian Air Force and gifted to the leader to celebrate the announcement of a 1981 trade agreement. The aircraft was apparently not to the dictator’s tastes and it was fitted with an additional 550 kg of gold, platinum and precious stones. After modification the aircraft was still flyable but reportedly limited to flights below 100 mph.
The aircraft was previously last seen in 1988 but until January 2021 its location has been unknown. During building work in the town of Kalam Farigh in West Iraq, contractors uncovered the buried aircraft carefully wrapped in tarpaulin. After display in a local museum the aircraft has been moved to Baghdad and will be auctioned in May. It is estimated to be worth around $34 million dollars.
Hush-Kit 
It’s April’s fools because there is no such aircraft in Iraq or in any Iraqi museum (I’m Iraqi BTW). Also, ‘Kalam Farigh’ means ‘Bullshit’ in Arabic.
Nice one hahahahaha.
BTW, I’m still waiting your book.
Don’t tell that guy who was looking Spitfires in Burma he might go to Iraq and try and find it.
This magnificent spitfire continues the rich tradition of gold-plated vehicles powered by Rolls Royce engines. Apparently, it also fired silver bullets. True story.
Hmm, am looking at that, “After modification the aircraft was still flyable but reportedly limited to flights below 100 mph.” and wondering what the aircraft’s stall speed was.
Ah, Jeff Ethell, I’ll take his word for it,
“The aircraft stalls like a Piper Cub. Though a wing tends to drop, there isn’t the slightest mean streak in it unless you cob the power, which produces a very violent torque roll. Power off, gear and flaps down, main fuel tanks full, it stalls at 65 kts, which is ridiculously slow. Add a slight bit of power and that drops to 60 kts. ” https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/supermarine-spitfire-134209906/
–> Now the question is, what does an additional half a ton of weight do to the stall speed?
Fuck you and your April Fools Joke! I actually went and googled this you bastards 😜
I was scrolling through past stories some weeks after April and forgot to check the date on this story…. 🤣
I’m honoured.