USFS SEAPLANE BASE Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Located in Semer's Park within the city of Ely,MN. THERE ARE NO DOGS ALLOWED IN THIS PARK. The terrain to this cache does not make it suitable for young children or people who have any medical condition which prohibits walking/climbing on rough terrain. Wear stong sturdy ankle supporting foot wear. You will be climbing on and over roots, loose pine needles, rocks, moss- a BW portage experience in a city park and be glad you aren't hauling a canoe with you. ACCESSIBLE FROM LAND. BYOP
From this cache site you can see the USFS SEAPLANE BASE, ELY MN. .I WILL DELETE ANY SPOILERS (LOGS/PICTURES) THAT INDICATE WHERE THE CACHE IS LOCATED or of the CONTAINER.
I would highly recommend the book BUSH PILOTS (from which I took part of my historical notes) by Bob Cary and Jack Hautala to read about the early days of float planes and the importance they and their pilots played in the history of the area.
By the 1920’s, the era of the bush pilot began, when someone figured out how to put floats on an airplane. “Bush” refers to the wilderness country between northern Minnesota and the Arctic.
The “golden age” of floatplanes in the Ely area was from 1930—1970’s. “There were more floatplanes and bush pilots operating out of Ely than anywhere else in the world.” P.4. They hauled fishermen, canoeists, hunters, and guests of wilderness resorts and supplies to the resorts and people living in the wilderness. Eventually the environmentalists forced the floatplanes to be eliminated from flying into the wilderness except USFS patrol planes. “But while the floatplane era lasted in Ely, it generated some of the most exciting, crazy, funny and sometimes tragic incidents in the history of the northland.” P. 4.
The first floatplane base, the Leithold Seaplane Base, was located on Sandy Point (GC1QYGB). It had about a dozen planes and included about 2 miles of shoreline from just west of the current base to Sandy Point to the east. In 1941, the USFS established the base where you see it now. It was soon realized that planes were better at spotting fires than the Ranger manned fire towers that were scattered through the forest, and so the fire towers were eliminated.
The local kids used to hang around the seaplane base- swimming at the docks, and getting chased away by the pilots. If the kids were lucky and didn't get spotted- they would wait for a plane getting ready for take off. Then they would dive beneath the water and come up inbetween the floats of the plane- out of sight. When the pilot turned the engine on the kid would grab the spanner bar which held the floats apart and hang on for a ride- letting go when they felt they had had enough. If caught, the punishment was worth it to them.
After trying several types of aircraft, the USFS settled on the DeHaviland Beaver for its fleet of planes, which are the white and red planes you see at the dock. Beaver 1, 2, and 3 are the only planes allowed to fly under the permitted 4,000 ft. elevation and land on the BWCAW waters. Other planes must maintain a minimum ceiling of 4,000 ft above sea level and cannot land in the wilderness. These are the original Beavers- about 57 years old. These 3 planes are the only Beaver DeHavilands owned by the USFS and are only in NE Minnesota.
(visit link)
The number one job of the pilots today is fire spotting and fighting. Each plane can be equipped with a 125-gallon water tank, the water being sucked up from lakes by an attached snorkel. The airplane snorkel which is used today by all USFS planes and other fire fightling planes was developed at this Ely base by pilot Chick Beel and his crew in about 1956. Other duties of the pilots are to perform search and emergency rescues (about 10-15 a year) of people from the wilderness, seeding trees, animal counts, and other such duties relating to the wilderness.
In May of 2010 the USFS ELY SEA PLANE BASE PILOTS were given “a prestigious national aviation safety honor award.” (Ely Echo May22, 2010). The award is giving for professionalism and leadership when safely flying under challenging situations. In this case, they were recognized for flying under adverse conditions related to forest fires- including low level drops, as many as 25 take offs and landings in an hour in congested airspace.
Quote Jim Norman, Asst. Forest fire Manager: the pilots have hauled hundreds of canoes and fire fighters in support of fires. They have also hauled thousands of pounds of cargo – pumps, hose, gas, food, and supplies. Some of these items can weigh over 80 pounds and are often loaded and unloaded by the pilot from a slippery plane float on rocky or muddy shore line o into a tipsy canoe.”
Our 3 pilots have flown a combined total of more than 21,000 miles without and accident. The three pilots, who left various avionic careers to join the Ely unit, are Wayne Erickson, who joined in 1989; Dean Lee, who joined in 1991; and our local guy, Pat Loe, who came to the base in 1998. We are proud of them and their service and know when we see those Beavers (our eyes in the sky), that someone up there is watching for our safety- be it spotting a fire or out on a rescue mission. Congrats on your award guys- you certainly deserve it.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oynpx ovfba 2sg bss tebhaq va fcehpr