TonyAir Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Hello fellow Geocachers, I first want to thank everyone who helped me when I had the trespassing issue, but the day of forest-clearing has come sooner than we all expected. GC332EF, one of the only Geocaches hidden in an airplane, had to be archived. Today, I recieved the following Email from an individual: "From: Tom To: tpilotr Sent: Fri, Jun 22, 2012 1:26 pm Subject: Cup of treasures Hi Tony Air? I found your email in a treasure chest of sorts in an old airplane of my grandfather's. We are planning to haul it away in the near future. Not sure what to do with this cup of notes... Tom" Through intensive googling and thanks to you all, I discovered, according to the Hopewell Planning Department, GZ and the entire forest it's in is slated to be completely cleared and leveled. It was such a fun year to have people from all over visit my first Geocache, especially having it labeled as one of the Best in Central Jersey in 2011 by the Central Jersey Geocachers, and I thank you all for coming back to see this plane. Happy caching! Quote Link to comment
+The VanDucks Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Wow! What an original idea - that must have been so much fun to find! I'm sorry you had to archive it, but at least you found out about it before the airplane was taken away. Did the family member who e-mailed you say where they are taking the airplane? Wouldn't it be great if they put it on display nearby and let you keep a cache inside? Too bad that the forest is being cleared away! I hope you can find another good spot to hide another cache, although it won't be the same as this wonderful one, of course! Quote Link to comment
+Dan2099 Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Sorry you lost your cache, and it looked to be an awesome one, EXTREMELY sorry to hear another forest will soon be gone. Seems like the grandson who sent the email is a stand up guy though being polite enough to shoot you an email. Quote Link to comment
knowschad Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 That is a true shame. You had a very enviable cache location for a while there. I can't believe they are just hauling that plane off like that! I have a cache in an area that until recently had 150 year old railroad tracks running by it. The tracks hadn't been used at all since 1980 and had large trees growing up between the rails. All of that has recently been torn up and paved for a bike trail. Quote Link to comment
+StripyJules Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 What an excellent place for a cache! A bit far away (we're in the UK) but we would have loved to have found that one. A couple of years ago (pre-geocaching for us) whilst out shopping for dog food we came across the cockpit of an old plane sitting in the car park of the pet food store, which was on the edge of an old WW2 USAF base. Noting its registration number from a photo we took, we spent an interesting evening on the internet tracing the plane's history, finding photos of it in various ownerships and roles and reading about its crashes, near-misses and trips back and forth across the Atlantic. We'd probably have done the same with this one! Shame she's gone (and the cache too). Do you know what the family plan to do with her? Quote Link to comment
TonyAir Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 I met with the man and picked up my Geocache and its final contents. He is a very nice man and I think I might have got him in to Geocaching! As for the plane, he said it is entirely up to his grandfather (The former airport owner, William Weasner). They are most likely going to scrap it. Some more information on the plane for those who are interested: It is a Beechcraft C-45G built in 1953. Records indicate it was used as a bomber trainer for the U.S Air Force until the '60s where it was used by Engle Flying Service of Bristol, PA for whatever would bring a profit out of the also abandoned 3M airport. It was then sold to Mr. Weasner in the 1970s. Following a mandatory service bulletin, this plane has been sitting in the same spot since 1970. Rest in peace, N7615C. Quote Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Sorry to see it go. Looked like a very interesting spot. Have you looked for the one in West Milford? Quote Link to comment
+Sagefox Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Some more information on the plane for those who are interested: It is a Beechcraft C-45G built in 1953... Following a mandatory service bulletin, this plane has been sitting in the same spot since 1970. I used to do a bit of skydiving in the 90s and really wanted to jump out of a 1950s Beachcraft twin, I don't know the model numbers. They were verey popular for skydiving back then but only a few left in service in the 90s. During my time the Beachcraft KingAirs were hot along with the de Havilland Twin Otters. I would LOVED to have visited your cache at this site. Sorry to hear it has to be retired. Quote Link to comment
+terratin Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 That's a shame Tony. It looks like a great cache to find! Btw, we found a 'black box' in a crashed plane earlier this month and really enjoyed it. Check out: GC2JW68 Mrs. terratin Quote Link to comment
4wheelin_fool Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 That was a really fun find! We had no idea that there was an airplane there when it was published! (and before the page was edited) Just missed FTF, but stumbling upon that plane buried in the woods was amazing. Quote Link to comment
+slackpacker Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Looks like a very cool cache - sorry to hear that it will be archived. And what a positive interaction with the grandson - great to hear stories like that. On a related note, we have many old plane wreckage remnants in the mountains of NC - always a somber and sobering sight when you come across one. Here's a link to some photos from one along the Appalachian Trail, just north of the NC/GA border:Raven Rock Cache . Scroll down to my "note" log of December 2009 for the photos and history. Edited June 23, 2012 by slackpacker Quote Link to comment
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