AeroCaching - for Pilots / Aviators

[AeroHeli]

A E R O C A C H I N G

----------------------

A new concept for the adventure sport of Geocaching...

 

When your "Travel Bug" Absolutely, Positively has to go by air!

And, An alternative to the $100 hamburger..

________________________________________________

 

I would like to get everyone's thoughts on a new Geocaching concept called AeroCaching. For years, pilots have embarked on the $100 hamburger flight as an excuse to fly. It's time to add a twist to the aviation community (and Geocachers alike) by replacing the old $100 hamburger concept with a new and exciting reason to fly.

 

I have placed the first Geocache / AeroCache at Franklin County Airport in Louisburg, NC. Listed on the Geocaching.com website as "AeroCache - KLHZ" (GC86A4), it is accessible to all Geocachers and aviators alike.

 

If this new AeroCaching concept takes hold, over time Geocachers worldwide will enjoy the speed at which their Travel Bugs navigate the planet..

 

Be a part of Aviation History and help establish an AeroCache at a General Aviation airport near you!

 

AeroCaching - an alternative to the $100 hamburger

[BassoonPilot]

Well, it's been done before, and the same problems exist now that existed then. (I do note that you requested and received permission to place your cache from the controlling authority in your area.)

 

1. The cache can't be hidden so that people would intentionally or accidently cross the flight line. Their presence would be illegal. Since all airports, public and private, are regulated by the Federal Government, I'm not sure if your local controlling authority actually has the power to authorize such an activity.

 

2. As you know, both the Federal Government and AOPA have requested that pilots and employees at all airports immediately report any suspicous activity or person(s) believed to be acting suspiciously in the vicinity of any airport.

 

Other than that, sounds like fun. There are currently a few caches placed well within walking distance of GA airports, though I don't believe they are listed as "fly in" caches.

[Oh! Bandeirante]

... in the middle of the jungle further north in Brazil - after all, EVERYONE there is engaged in suspicious activity so I guess the odd geocacher wouldn't stick out TOO much. Of course, this might bring to the fore the subject of carrying arms when out in 'the woods'

[AeroHeli]

Thanks for the input..

quote:

---

1. The cache can't be hidden so that people would intentionally or accidently cross the flight line. Their presence would be illegal. Since all airports, public and private, are regulated by the Federal Government, I'm not sure if your local controlling authority actually has the power to authorize such an activity.

---

 

Naturally some common sense applies to all Geocaching. An AeroCache (at a "public" airport) would need to be placed on the "non-security" side of the facility so that all Geocachers would have easy access - And, probably a difficulty level 1 or 2 (ie. Lockbox, mailbox, etc.) with clues for the lock or other creative idea.

 

Also, Only airports receiving Federal/State funding are (somewhat) controlled and become "public" by nature. The airport grounds/access are maintained locally. Private airports (such as ours) are not controlled - except by the landowner. (However, I wouldn't necessarily advocate placing a cache at a busy tower controlled airport (B,C,D).

 

Most FBO and Airport managers/authorities I have spoken with about this new concept welcome the idea, and are "bugging" me to place a cache at their facility to increase GA traffic.

 

Lets Fly..

AeroCaching - an alternative to the $100 hamburger

[dssoren]

Just got a new site published near our airport. Easy walking distance for a fly-in. Just off airport property but the airport management is informed and welcomes the idea.

 

This cache has an aviation theme, both military and civilian/GA as we're located near the largest F-15E Air Force base in the world.

 

Airfield: KGWW

 

Cache: GC15NBE

 

Enjoy.

 

Daren

Edited September 11, 2007 by dssoren

[+baloo&bd]

Tell us more. Are these near or in the facilities? How did you approach the managers?

[+Mule Ears]

AeroCaching - an alternative to the $100 hamburger

 

Don't want to take this too far off topic, but I have a question: Last year I investigated the possibility of chartering a helicopter to snag a cache on top of a remote mesa. Seemed like it'd be a lot of fun and I anticipated getting some great photos. Even found a pilot with a great hourly rate on the R-22, same 'copter as your avatar. The fly in the ointment was that the pilot didn't not have the appropriate FAA certificate to land and discharge a passenger. (I said I'd jump or rappel out if that made a difference, but no dice.) Bigger charter operators that had the appropriate cert only operated big helicopters with big hourly rates. So I abandoned the idea.

 

For those of us who are curious, what technical/regulatory issues would be involved in taking a helicopter ride to a wilderness cache? Many caches are potential aerocaches

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

AeroCaching - an alternative to the $100 hamburger

 

Don't want to take this too far off topic, but I have a question: Last year I investigated the possibility of chartering a helicopter to snag a cache on top of a remote mesa. Seemed like it'd be a lot of fun and I anticipated getting some great photos. Even found a pilot with a great hourly rate on the R-22, same 'copter as your avatar. The fly in the ointment was that the pilot didn't not have the appropriate FAA certificate to land and discharge a passenger. (I said I'd jump or rappel out if that made a difference, but no dice.) Bigger charter operators that had the appropriate cert only operated big helicopters with big hourly rates. So I abandoned the idea.

 

For those of us who are curious, what technical/regulatory issues would be involved in taking a helicopter ride to a wilderness cache? Many caches are potential aerocaches

I placed our Psycho Urban Cache #13 -- Impossible! Give Up Now! via a chartered Robinson R22 helicopter, and have done subsequent maintenance visits in the same. However, in this case, landing was out of the question, due to the presence of a 12 foot tall tree growing on the concrete apron atop the pier. Rather, we hovered a few feet above the platform while I did my work (I built a large switchable electromagnet on a 20 foot line for retrieval; the cache has been attached to a mass of ferromagnetic steel rings to allow magnetic retrieval and replacement.) My total bill for each of the visits to the pier -- located about 24 map miles from the airport -- was for just 0.7 hours of billable time per trip, and better, I was given a 10% discount because I am a pilot; it may have also helped that the owner of the charter facility is a geocacher and had already heard of me via the geo world.

 

And, one of the DNFs on the same cache was scored by an out-of-state team in a larger (4 person) chartered helicopter; the team leader told me that the pilot totally freaked when he got within a half-mile of the vertical pier and was able to see it and realized that he would be expected to hover above it, just 100 feet above the river and only a few hundred yards from forested shoreline banks to the N and S which rise well above the top of the pier, and 100 yards from a railroad trestle to the east which also is higher than the pier. In fact, about 97 out of 100 helicopter pilots quickly decline this one when they really understand what is involved, and that the entire operation must be done while operating under the Dead Man's curve, surrounded by obstacles, and above a raging river.

 

BTW, sometimes the added cost of using a larger 4-person helicopter (or even larger and heavier craft) is offset to a large degree by the fact that the larger choppers are usually capable of significantly higher speeds, and thus can reach the cache hide site much more quickly, thus keeping total billable hours rather low.

 

BTW, I noticed that you live in AZ. I love AZ; I spent 9 days there in June on a field trip, and I could not help but notice all the inviting mesas and plateaus begging for a cache!

Edited September 11, 2007 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+Jeep_Dog]

Even found a pilot with a great hourly rate on the R-22, same 'copter as your avatar. The fly in the ointment was that the pilot didn't not have the appropriate FAA certificate to land and discharge a passenger. (I said I'd jump or rappel out if that made a difference, but no dice.) Bigger charter operators that had the appropriate cert only operated big helicopters with big hourly rates. So I abandoned the idea.

 

For those of us who are curious, what technical/regulatory issues would be involved in taking a helicopter ride to a wilderness cache? Many caches are potential aerocaches

 

Mule Ears, you had what you needed, right under your nose. I have a commercial RW certification - next time we'll just rent the bird, and both of us can log the cache. Just don't wiggle the controls while I'm out logging the cache...

Edited September 12, 2007 by Jeep_Dog

[+mtn-man]

AeroCaching - an alternative to the $100 hamburger

 

Don't want to take this too far off topic, but I have a question: Last year I investigated the possibility of chartering a helicopter to snag a cache on top of a remote mesa. Seemed like it'd be a lot of fun and I anticipated getting some great photos. Even found a pilot with a great hourly rate on the R-22, same 'copter as your avatar. The fly in the ointment was that the pilot didn't not have the appropriate FAA certificate to land and discharge a passenger. (I said I'd jump or rappel out if that made a difference, but no dice.) Bigger charter operators that had the appropriate cert only operated big helicopters with big hourly rates. So I abandoned the idea.

 

For those of us who are curious, what technical/regulatory issues would be involved in taking a helicopter ride to a wilderness cache? Many caches are potential aerocaches

Keep in mind that you are responding to a five year old post. This user has not logged in since June 09, 2007. You might want to send him an email through his profile, or maybe someone else will post.

[dssoren]

Tell us more. Are these near or in the facilities? How did you approach the managers?

 

They're outside the property of the airport, but within easy walking distance.

 

I talked to the airport and FBO manager and explained everything. They thought it was a great idea and even asked if they could help hide the cache.

[+Mule Ears]

Keep in mind that you are responding to a five year old post. This user has not logged in since June 09, 2007. You might want to send him an email through his profile, or maybe someone else will post.

 

Wow, missed that entirely. Thanks. Looks like others have jumped in to provide the answers I was looking for, though.

[+Mule Ears]

Mule Ears, you had what you needed, right under your nose. I have a commercial RW certification - next time we'll just rent the bird, and both of us can log the cache. Just don't wiggle the controls while I'm out logging the cache...

 

Excellent! I have exactly two heli flights* under my belt, but as I recall I wasn't the least bit tempted to interfere with the controls, so I guess I'm qualified. Just have to pick a suitable objective, now that I've done Table Mountain the hard way.

 

*AF days, 20+ years ago. I volunteered to play 'downed airman' in a SAR exercise. Rode out to the middle of the Mohave in a UH-1; 24 hours later rode back in same. On the return, got to sit next to the door gunner and hang my feet in the breeze. Yee-ha!

[+Mule Ears]

I placed our Psycho Urban Cache #13 -- Impossible! Give Up Now! via a chartered Robinson R22 helicopter, and have done subsequent maintenance visits in the same. However, in this case, landing was out of the question, due to the presence of a 12 foot tall tree growing on the concrete apron atop the pier. Rather, we hovered a few feet above the platform while I did my work (I built a large switchable electromagnet on a 20 foot line for retrieval; the cache has been attached to a mass of ferromagnetic steel rings to allow magnetic retrieval and replacement.) My total bill for each of the visits to the pier -- located about 24 map miles from the airport -- was for just 0.7 hours of billable time per trip, and better, I was given a 10% discount because I am a pilot; it may have also helped that the owner of the charter facility is a geocacher and had already heard of me via the geo world.

 

And, one of the DNFs on the same cache was scored by an out-of-state team in a larger (4 person) chartered helicopter; the team leader told me that the pilot totally freaked when he got within a half-mile of the vertical pier and was able to see it and realized that he would be expected to hover above it, just 100 feet above the river and only a few hundred yards from forested shoreline banks to the N and S which rise well above the top of the pier, and 100 yards from a railroad trestle to the east which also is higher than the pier. In fact, about 97 out of 100 helicopter pilots quickly decline this one when they really understand what is involved, and that the entire operation must be done while operating under the Dead Man's curve, surrounded by obstacles, and above a raging river.

 

BTW, sometimes the added cost of using a larger 4-person helicopter (or even larger and heavier craft) is offset to a large degree by the fact that the larger choppers are usually capable of significantly higher speeds, and thus can reach the cache hide site much more quickly, thus keeping total billable hours rather low.

 

BTW, I noticed that you live in AZ. I love AZ; I spent 9 days there in June on a field trip, and I could not help but notice all the inviting mesas and plateaus begging for a cache!

 

Thanks for the info. Yes, I'd guess that it'd be tricky hovering above a 100-foot-tall pillar like that, as it's my understanding that hovering is difficult outside the ground effect. Plus all of the hazards you mention--not much room for error.

 

Man, it is great out here in AZ. Lots of challenging geography for caching. I've avoided the angst-of-spew problem by specializing in just remote/difficult caches. Only manage a couple a week, but they are rewarding.