DEPARTURE! South Omaha Airport Traditional Cache
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DEPARTURE! South Omaha Airport
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A historical (Memorial) cache dedicated to the South Omaha Airport. Easy find for most. Original contents include some airplanes, and an evil "nano" for the First to Find!
When I was younger (much younger!) I always wanted to fly out of the South Omaha Airport. Alas, I was too late!
--This is an excerpt from "Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields"
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This small general aviation airport was evidently established at some point between 1945-48 (like hundreds of other general aviation fields across the U.S.), as it was not yet depicted on the September 1945 Lincoln Sectional Chart. The earliest depiction of South Omaha Airport which has been located
was on the September 1948 Lincoln Sectional Chart. It depicted the field as having a 2,400' unpaved runway.
Two B-25 Mitchell bombers sat at South Omaha Airport for years:
“The B-25s arrived at South Omaha airport in 1959 with the intent to be converted to tankers. Due to unknown circumstances, they sat untouched for several years. I can't remember the company name or the individuals who purchased the planes, but they were known as 'The B-25 King'.”
“The Cub was the local trainer belonging to Harry McCandless who was the FBO. He relocated from the former Council Bluffs Airport [in IA].”
According to Nelson Carpenter, “Two B-25 bombers had sat idle along the edge of the airfield for years. The original owner of the bombers was going to convert them into tankers for fighting forest fires. That never matured. The planes were sold to a movie company that retrofitted new engines and made them airworthy for flying off the sod field.”
David Gurkin provided additional details about the B-25s at South Omaha Airport:
“My brother was stationed at Offutt AFB in the early 1980s.
I was visiting with him in November 1980 when one of his friends mentioned there are 2 B-25s at South Omaha Airport
being readied for a ferry flight to California. We grabbed our cameras & drove to the airport where there was a small group of people gathered to witness the event. B-25 N3442G was the 1st of the planes to fly. N3442G departed South Omaha airport in late afternoon with only enough fuel to fly to Eppley Field, Omaha's main airport. The pilots said they wanted the maintenance crew to inspect the aircraft after the short flight
and if all was well, they would top the tanks & head west.
I can't recall when the 2nd aircraft was ferried from South Omaha.”
Mike Zimmer recalled, “While stationed at Offutt AFB,
I often rented a 152 or 172 from the South Omaha FBO.
The people who ran the operation were a husband & wife team. He was a Lt Col who flew the E-4B (emergency airborne command center) at Offutt and his wife handled the books (very nice folks). During the summer, they would organize a mass launch from South Omaha to any nearby fly-in breakfast.”
Mike Zimmer recalled, “The Lt Col [who operated South Omaha Airport] retired from the Air Force in the summer of 1985 and they moved to MN where he flew for Northwest Airlines. The FBO was shut down but the field remained operational for the people who hangared their planes there.”
According to Nelson Carpenter, “The airport closed in the mid-1980s following the early death of Harry McCandless. The soon-to-be developer of Eagle Ridge had bought the airport leaving it open for a very short period until he finally closed it.
Apparently there was a better return on his investment with the construction and sale of new houses.”
The South Omaha Airport was closed by 1986,
as it was no longer listed among active airfields in the 1986 Flight Guide (according to Chris Kennedy).
Mike Zimmer recalled, “By the time I left Offutt in 1987, the planes [at South Omaha Airport] were gone as well as the hangars & FBO building.”
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If you stand just to the east of the cache, at the coordinates listed, and look to the southeast (Heading 150 for you pilots), you will be taking in a view similar to what a pilot getting ready to take off on runway 15 (later runway 14), albeit, without all the houses.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur obggbz pbzrf bss. Vg bayl tbrf onpx ba bar jnl.