Helicopters & Geocaching
 

Howdy,

Are there any other pilots out there who are also Geocachers? For those who aren't familiar with Geocaching...
You can learn more about Geocaching on the Geocaching Website (click here). Before GPS came along, "letterboxing" was pretty big in the UK (and still is from what I've read). Anyway, I've been thinking about creating a "Helicopter Only" Geocache... something on a pinnacle or rooftop heliport where you would need a rotorcraft to get to. Aircraft have been used in Geocaching before, but not as the only way to get there. The first person that found this cache (click here) got a $1000 prize. And this link (click here) shows the folks that left that Geocache using a helicopter for placement (note the Huey in their profile). There are some crazy cache locations, like this one (click here) in Antarctica (still unclaimed - I wonder why).

My questions and comments are... Are any other pilots Geocaching? What do you think of a helicopter only Geocache? Hmmmm... perhaps I just let too much of my geekiness slip out.

R2

Now you done it.....nearest cache is 0.7 miles away....another way to keep idle minds busy!:{

Funny this post comes up right now. There I was rained out for two days and searching the internet and just joined a few days ago. So I have not found any yet or placed any, but had the same idea. Here is one that I found while searching the site
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache...2-78367ec1189b
As for a helicopter only Geaocache, I was thinking of doing the same thing, but here in Kauai it would be hard for people to get the permits for off airport landings. (We have a few regulatory "issues" that we have to deal with out here.

Thanks, Gordy... I didn't know about that one. Most caches are some kind of physical box, but some (like the one Gordy posted) can be a little different. Hey SASless, according to the Geocache posted by Gordy, all you need is to grab one of the GPS units out of that slick you sometimes fly and take a digital picture of your own airfiled with GPS in hand. That'll be one down your first day!

Actually, I wonder how many of you have been to most of the airfields or heliports listed on that cache already?

The type of cache I linked to is a Locationless (Reverse) Cache.
"Locationless caches could be considered the opposite of a traditional cache. Instead of finding a hidden container, you are given a task to locate a specific object and log its coordinates. A scavenger hunt of sorts, it involves collecting waypoints of various objects around the world. Due to the nature of locationless caches they do not come up on the nearest cache page. You can find them at their own location. "
Check out the different types of caches here

http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx

There are even webcam caches---is this cool or what!!

I cache, but not with a helicopter.

I've pretty much left geocaching.com for terracaching.com. The head frog is a little too arrogant for me, and his moderator frogs are no better. The terracaching site is growing faster than the frog site did in the same amount of time.

GA Aiport Security - No Challenge?
 

Okay, so I'm in the area by KGAI and thought that I would try this "reverse" Geocache thing where you log an airport by taking a picture and showing the coordinates. It's not the normal Geocache where you find a box of goodies under a tree for your kids or something, but I thought it would be fun to share with my fellow Geo-Nerds anyway... especially since this one (click here) was aviation related.

So, here I am at Montgomery Airpark (GAI) just a few minutes north of Washington, D.C. I have a camera in one hand and a GPS in another. I was wandering around the area taking pictures and getting coordinates from my GPS. I fully expected to be questioned by someone in the area, but nobody seemed to care.

Now, I wasn't acting sneaky... I was in plain sight and dressed casual. So, I suppose it would be natural for nobody to really take notice. HOWEVER, I start walking though towards the flight area... taking pictures and holding a GPS in the air to get readings. The flight area had a fence around the perimeter, barbed at the top, with a security code to open the gates.

So, I walk RIGHT THROUGH an open security gate, which was supposed to remain closed, taking pictures and holding a GPS in the air... and NOBODY looked at me twice. At this point, somebody should have asked me who I was, what I was doing, and to present some I.D. At least, that's what I expected to happen. Doesn't anybody pay attention to the GA Airport Watch Program (click here)?

http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/log...4891c28789.jpg

P.S. Thanks, Gomer Pylot, I'll check that group out, too.

RDRickster, or should I say "Mighty Tiggers".
Hey I just checked what you posted on geocaching, (cool find). There is an easier way to find if someone has logged the location already, download this program---it works really well.

http://factsfacts.com/geocachingsoft/locationless.htm

Aloha

I don't see the point of worrying about someone having a GPS around an airport. After all, the FAA publishes the coordinates of every airport, and the associated runways and navaids, and it's freely available on the web. Why bother to wander around with a GPS when you can get the numbers from anywhere? The TSA has gone overboard.

Gomer Pylot, normally I would agree; however, the security gate was open to all the aircraft and I was able to just waltz in. The only reason I had a GPS was because it was part of that cache requirement (to display coordinates of the field in the picture). The thing was that nobody even challenged me, and my behavior given the circumstances was out of the norm.

Gordy, I had to change my Geocache name after the whole family started getting into it, including the wifey. The little ones get pretty excited about "looking for treasure."

RD, I don't think your actions were at all out of the norm. I see people wandering around airports with cameras all the time, and a handheld GPS can easily be mistaken for a cell phone, which everyone has these days. Granted the gate shouldn't have been open, but at small airports there just isn't the money for professional security, nor really the need for it. How much damage can a terrorist do with a C172? We're badly over-reacting, and need to get on with our lives.

Good points, but if there is an GA Airport Watch Program - we should endeavor to participate. Most of the things that the TSA does is total window dressing anyway, but I would rather do something voluntarily then be mandated to the level of ridiculousness. Recently, they almost made small GA aircraft participate under the same security screening program that commercial airlines follow for checked baggage! There is no significant threat from small aircraft, but that hasn't stopped the TSA from regulating GA aircraft. If we demonstrate that we take aiport security seriously, then it is better for everyone concerned... right? Is it really an over-reaction to ask someone for I.D. and to follow the bare minimum concerning security protocols?

So I knew I would find a way to combine the two!!!!
Helicopter is AS350B2 left seat PIC

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.a...9-35e2bb6e2541

Now that's one helluva first find, helocat... and in an AS350!
It's probably never been done that way in Geocaching before.

here's a few geocopter cache logs from oz

http://ideology.geocaching.com.au/senwen
http://ideology.geocaching.com.au/endurance
http://ideology.geocaching.com.au/yerranderie
http://ideology.geocaching.com.au/comin

Awesome photos of "Geocopter" caching (nice term)!

Now, I want to see a cache on a high degree pinnacle or something where you would HAVE to use a helicopter (unless you are some kind of lunatic rock climber with a death wish). Anybody?

Before the demise of virtual caches I did look at trying to create one that you could do from the London heli routes but not from google earth. Unfortunately virtuals disappeared before getting round to do it.

And here we have one more person who actually demands to be surveilled. Then people wonder why we have the kind of world we have :ugh:

One despairs. :rolleyes:

I am planning on landing at this one on m way out to contract next year:

Helicopter please

Been geocaching a while now but not by helicopter as yet. I'm led to believe there was once a cache on an offshore installation in the North Sea. I could always leave one out there one day for a laugh, i'll keep a Nano in my flight suit I think.;)