Creative minds needed

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

A friend was geocaching in fairly remote woods and came upon a crashed R/C (radio controlled) airplane.

 

There is no identifying mark, no owner ID where RCers normally put it, and the local RC Club says they have had no reports of a similar lost airplane.

 

As best we can figure winds took it aloft and moved it along, because it was miles from any field big enough to launch and recover a plane this size.

 

So she gave it to me to make a geocache out of.

 

Cool! It has about a 40" wingspan, stands about 10" tall, and has a hollow body cavity just right for a 10"x3"x2" cache container.

 

It was pretty badly crashed, so I removed all of the electronics, the motor and control mechanisms and glued the prop and wheels back on. It looks good but will never fly under its own power again.

 

So... what would you do with it?

 

I'm thinking something with a rope and pulley system where the plane could be hidden up high somewhere and lowered on a line that ran say 100' at an angle... made to 'fly' down to the cacher somehow.

 

Ideas?

[+TwoSox Trekkers]

I'm thinking something with a rope and pulley system where the plane could be hidden up high somewhere and lowered on a line that ran say 100' at an angle... made to 'fly' down to the cacher somehow.

 

That's a pretty spiffy idea right there, I think. Really ties in with the object itself, and I think would be a rather fun hide for anyone getting to hunt it.

[+bittsen]

Does it look like this?

 

 

The best way I can think of is to find a pendulum point and then hoist it up to another point where a pulley would connect to a rope running down.

 

To keep the plane level it would only have to be hung from the middle as opposed to the tail.

 

Unfortunately this would not "fly" towards the person releasing the plane but away.

 

 

Also, remember, with all outdoor pulley systems it would need to be weather resistant in the long term.

Edited April 13, 2010 by bittsen

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Does it look like this?

It's a Hobby Zone Super Cub

 

[+catsnfish]

You could use eyebolts or screws in the top center of the wing and the side of the tail as guides and another at the back for a release line. String the "flight line" through the eyes and anchor at each end of the flight path. The release line would connect to the eye in the tail section and run back to a plastic pulley near the beginning of the flight path, this line would need to be longer and tied off or attached to the point you want the cacher to be at, so that it could be released letting the plane begin the descent. Pulling on the release line would haul the plane back up to the pulley and allowing it to be reset.

A possible problem with this would be release line whip and or tangling, rate of descent could be somewhat controlled by the angle of the flight line and some sort of stopper would be need to prevent crashing into the lower anchor point. The flight line would need enough strength and durability for the load, but the release line could be lighter.

[+Knight2000]

I have a cache on a plane. It is hidden in plane sight. No one seems to get it though. It kind of defeats the purpose of my cache idea.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Huh, no ideas other than variations on mine?

 

There's gotta be something else I can do with this plane.

[+Chrysalides]

I have a cache on a plane. It is hidden in plane sight.

Hidden in plane sight? I think that's a flight of fancy. Time to get your head out of the clouds. I think it is hard for such an idea to take off.

 

Hey, he started it.

 

(and sorry, no clever ideas here. No one ever accused me of being creative)

[GOF and Bacall]

Fill it with rubber snakes? Paint it up like Air force One? Cut it in half and hang the front on one side of the tree and the back on the opposite side?

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Cut it in half and hang the front on one side of the tree and the back on the opposite side?

Cool! I like that one! Thanks!

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Huh, no ideas other than variations on mine?

 

There's gotta be something else I can do with this plane.

Mount it in the top of a tree and make folks climb to it.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Mount it in the top of a tree and make folks climb to it.

Thanks, but I'm a one-legged old fat guy, I couldn't get the plane up there nor check on it for maintenance, which is why I never did anything with the rope and pulley ideas, I couldn't do it on my own.

 

Good idea though, and I'm not opposed to ideas I can't physically do, I can always give the plane to a local cacher who wants to do it.

Edited April 15, 2010 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+catsnfish]

same rig as I described before but use it's own movement to trigger a release to drop several preform "bombs"

one of which would have the log in it

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

same rig as I described before but use it's own movement to trigger a release to drop several preform "bombs"

one of which would have the log in it

How would I get the log back to the plane?

 

I do have the radio receiver, servos and engine so something electronic could be rigged I suppose.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Mount it in the top of a tree and make folks climb to it.

Thanks, but I'm a one-legged old fat guy, I couldn't get the plane up there nor check on it for maintenance, which is why I never did anything with the rope and pulley ideas, I couldn't do it on my own.

 

Good idea though, and I'm not opposed to ideas I can't physically do, I can always give the plane to a local cacher who wants to do it.

You could turn it into a Travel Bug!! Or...you could bust it into a million pieces, and have the Cache writup detail all the news of a famous Plane Crash, scatter the pieces around and let the urban legend begin

 

ooh, ooh...find a big hollow tree, mount the tail on the outside, and the rest on the inside!!

Edited April 15, 2010 by WRITE SHOP ROBERT

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

You could turn it into a Travel Bug!!

I already have an airplane TB, http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=653912

 

 

Or...you could bust it into a million pieces, and have the Cache writup detail all the news of a famous Plane Crash, scatter the pieces around and let the urban legend begin

That could be interesting.

 

ooh, ooh...find a big hollow tree, mount the tail on the outside, and the rest on the inside!!

Sorta like Goff's idea, but this thing is huge, it would take one heckuva hollow tree!

[+simpjkee]

It doesn't look like you are in to puzzle caches, but you could hide the cache out in the woods and call the cache "The Unusual Disappearance of Flight 2675" or something like that.

 

Then on the cache page create a story about how this plane was flying in the area and heading in a certain direction. They made a radio call saying they were getting disoriented and were going to remain on a bearing at a certain speed at a certain altitude. Then explain that their last radio call was at a certain coordinates and they said they were out of fuel and falling at a rate of whatever. With that info the cache seeker could determine the location of the crash site and solve the mystery of the disappearance.

 

Something along these lines. As you cache owner, you'd have to figure out the details.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

It doesn't look like you are in to puzzle caches, but you could hide the cache out in the woods and call the cache "The Unusual Disappearance of Flight 2675" or something like that.

 

Then on the cache page create a story about how this plane was flying in the area and heading in a certain direction. They made a radio call saying they were getting disoriented and were going to remain on a bearing at a certain speed at a certain altitude. Then explain that their last radio call was at a certain coordinates and they said they were out of fuel and falling at a rate of whatever. With that info the cache seeker could determine the location of the crash site and solve the mystery of the disappearance.

 

Something along these lines. As you cache owner, you'd have to figure out the details.

Love it, great idea! You're right, I don't do puzzles because I usually can't figure them out... as this thread proves imagination is not my forte, but I could sure make one like that.

 

In fact however the actual hide works out I may incorporate your puzzle idea into the find experience.

[knowschad]

It doesn't look like you are in to puzzle caches, but you could hide the cache out in the woods and call the cache "The Unusual Disappearance of Flight 2675" or something like that.

 

Then on the cache page create a story about how this plane was flying in the area and heading in a certain direction. They made a radio call saying they were getting disoriented and were going to remain on a bearing at a certain speed at a certain altitude. Then explain that their last radio call was at a certain coordinates and they said they were out of fuel and falling at a rate of whatever. With that info the cache seeker could determine the location of the crash site and solve the mystery of the disappearance.

 

Something along these lines. As you cache owner, you'd have to figure out the details.

Love it, great idea! You're right, I don't do puzzles because I usually can't figure them out... as this thread proves imagination is not my forte, but I could sure make one like that.

 

In fact however the actual hide works out I may incorporate your puzzle idea into the find experience.

I'm not a puzzle guy, either, but I must say that is one very cool idea!

[Clan Riffster]

Off the top of my head I'm thinking multi...

 

Maybe paint the plane black, decorated with a large # 3?

 

Call it "The Search for Amelia Earnhart"?

 

Bust it up a bit...

 

Maybe faux tail numbers incorporated into abbreviated coords? "N123/W456"? (just the last three digits of the N/W coords)

 

Half a wing with a bison tube glued on to look like an external fuel pod with coords inside?

 

Some sort of small action figure in the cockpit holding a mini clipboard with a message on it?

 

"Ejected the payload at N33* 12.345 W85* 67.890. It was a large green box. Contents unknown"

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Off the top of my head I'm thinking multi...

 

Maybe paint the plane black, decorated with a large # 3?

 

Call it "The Search for Amelia Earnhart"?

 

Bust it up a bit...

 

Maybe faux tail numbers incorporated into abbreviated coords? "N123/W456"? (just the last three digits of the N/W coords)

 

Half a wing with a bison tube glued on to look like an external fuel pod with coords inside?

 

Some sort of small action figure in the cockpit holding a mini clipboard with a message on it?

 

"Ejected the payload at N33* 12.345 W85* 67.890. It was a large green box. Contents unknown"

Coolness! Great ideas!

[7rxc]

It doesn't look like you are in to puzzle caches, but you could hide the cache out in the woods and call the cache "The Unusual Disappearance of Flight 2675" or something like that...

 

Love it, great idea! You're right, I don't do puzzles because I usually can't figure them out... as this thread proves imagination is not my forte, but I could sure make one like that.

 

In fact however the actual hide works out I may incorporate your puzzle idea into the find experience.

 

Following the lead of some of the 'radio' hide ideas listed elsewhere, some sort of mock ELT to track...

using broadcast radio freq's... localize by signal strength (apparent)... requires a commonly available radio receiver for cachers...

 

As for the container... those things have a prop or 'air screw'... cut appropriately the cache container could be revealed by un 'airscrewing' the prop on a long lag screw... and having the container move outside the fuselage proper... think lipstick container... or the whole back end come off... etc.

 

Doug

[+DocDiTTo]

Plane crash sites have always intrigued me, although I've never actually been to one (other than the Flight 93 memorial in Western PA).

 

It might be cool to write up a fictional history of a plane crash and in the writeup tell other cachers that this plane, which had been missing for a long time, was recently found. Mysteriously, there were no bodies in it. However, this cache would take them to the actual plane crash site where they could see the wreckage for themselves.

 

Of course you'd never mention that it was a model airplane....

 

And then you could use the "plane through the tree" idea someone else mentioned earlier.

[+Geoides]

Having a background in R/C that type of plane most likely belonged to a beginner...sad news for that person(s).

 

In keeping with the 'bomb-drop' idea, you can easily rig a sailboat 'winch' servo to lower a container/log to the ground using a single channel on the Tx/Rx system.

 

Depending upon what receiver type was installed you could pick up a used transmitter (cheap if 72 MHz), power the plane's electronics with a small NiMh pack (and keep it charged with a small solar cell) and hide the TX somewhere on the ground.

[+psychobob808]

I keep thinking Oceanic flight 815... You could do a puzzle cache where cachers have to find a way off the island by finding the plane... Sorry I've had LOST on the brain lately.

[+JBnW]

You could try to find a Google Earth photo that shows an over-flying airplane, paint yours to match, place it at the appropriate coords, and send everyone looking for the "long abandoned wreck of Flight 123...", complete with lots of intrigue, mystery, conspiracy, and the like.

[+KDotBlueDot]

Going off of what others have suggested I think, a story line involving a plane crash could be interesting. I am thinking a multi staged (puzzle) cache.

 

Perhaps the location of the "assumed" sole survivor is the first stage. The cacher goes to the location of where previous rescuers discovered the victim, who is incoherent in the hospital, and offering no help to the investigators. He is babbling some incoherent nonsense (which, of course, would be a clue to one of the stages or to the final). Through a flight manifest, found at the scene you discover that there were additional passengers on the plane.

 

The cacher's mission is to find and rescue the survivors, through a series of clues.

 

I am thinking you could use the manifest to also include hand written notes from the survivors, you know...Jim hurt badly, the three of us heading to... on a bearing of...etc etc etc (don't ask me about projecting waypoints... haven't the foggiest, still a newbie, but this weekend's mission is to complete a cache involving projection)

 

Anyways at the new location they get split up, or someone gets hurt, whatever. The trick is to figure out a story where the coordinates could be left behind as breadcrumbs for their rescuer to find.

 

Of course no rescue is complete without emergency medicine. Pictures of your survivors receiving proper medical attention could be fun. Either include figures in the cases, or better yet, the cachers have to play the survivor roles themselves.

 

Hope this makes sense. I could suggest more, but then I would just be more jealous of the awesome potential of having a model airplane cache.

Edited April 16, 2010 by KDotBlueDot