GC2AQ0B AV8 - Aretz Airport (Traditional Cache) in Indiana, United States created by jziulkow (Jon & Susan)

This cache has been archived.

Hoosier_Reviewer: Since there has been no response to my previous note, I am archiving the cache.

While we feel that Geocaching.com should hold the location for you for a reasonable amount of time, we cannot do so indefinitely. In light of the lack of communication regarding this geocache, it has been archived to free up the area for new placements. You will not be able to unarchive this listing. If you haven’t done so already, please pick up this geocache or any remaining bits as soon as possible.

"If a geocache is archived by a reviewer or staff for lack of maintenance it will not be unarchived."

Thank you,

Hoosier Reviewer
Community Volunteer Reviewer - Indiana

GC2AQ0B ▼

A cache by jziulkow (Jon & Susan) Message this owner

Hidden : 6/23/2010

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This the THIRD in a series of Aviation inspired geocaches, placed by pilots, designed to educate cachers about the Aviation field!

All of the other AV8 caches are listed below:

GC1G8NT	AV8 - GPS killed EARLE!
GC29K1T	AV8 - BOILER Cache
GC2AQ0B	AV8 - Aretz Airport
GC37NR8	AV8 - Home Hospital Heliport

Welcome to the old Aretz Airport!

Aretz Airport (3AR), Lafayette, IN

Aretz Airport was opened at some point between 1946-1953. The earliest reference to Aretz Airport which has been located is the 1953 United States Flight Chart. The airport was owned and operated by Capt. L. I. Aretz and his wife. Capt. Aretz was an aviation enthusiast and local pilot. Capt. Aretz was the operator and lessee of the Purdue Airport during the mid to late 1930's. He was friends with aviation legend Amelia Earhart during her time at Purdue. The following pictures (courtesy of Purdue) show Capt. Aretz with Amelia at Purdue.

Capt. Aretz's airport began to take shape during the second half of the 20th century. By 1960, Aertz Airport was listed in the 1960 Jeppesen Airway Manual, a book of all national airports published for pilots use, as having 2 unpaved (grass) 3,000' runways. The runways were listed as Runway 7-25 and Runway 11-29. The image showed the runways along with a cluster of small buildings on the west side of the field. The airport was listed as being owned by Aretz Flying Service. (image below)

During the next 20 years the airport became more widely used as general aviation flourished in the United States. Sometime between 1962 and 1982 (the publishing of the Aeronautical charts), Runway 7-25 was paved with asphalt. By the time of the 1982 AOPA Airport Directory, Aretz had a 2,800' asphalt Runway 7-25 & a 2,900' turf Runway 11-29. In addition to the paved & grass runways, the field had a total of five hangars connected by paved taxiways. (image below)

In addition to the Aretz flight school, Aretz Airport (3AR) was also home to Purdue Pilots Inc. (PPI), the Purdue flight club which still exists today at Purdue Airport. PPI is different from the Purdue aviation program. The pictures below show one of PPI's planes (still flying today) "N31862" at Aretz in front of the main hangar in 1995. This hangar is still in existence today; however, it is now home to semi trucks and trailers rather than aircraft. The second photo is of "N31862" on short final approach to Runway 7 at Aretz. (images below)

Aretz Airport (3AR) closed as a public-use airport in about 1997 and became a private field. Aretz Airport closed at some point between 1999-2002. It was no longer depicted at all (even as an abandoned airfield) on 2002 aeronautical charts. According to Terry Aretz (a relative of the owner of Aretz Airport), after Mrs. Aretz retired in 2004, she tried to sell the property as an airport. It could have been re-opened as an airport if the purchaser filed all of the proper paperwork with the FAA. Unfortunately she was not successful. She eventually sold the land to a non-aviation business. This is the building you see on the property today. In Terry's words, "Tough times for small airports anymore." As an aside, Terry Aretz pointed out that the closing of Aretz Airport was noted by Paul Harvey on his national radio show as, "a sad day for private aviation." The image below shows how the airport looks today (as you will see when you visit the cache).

ON TO THE CACHE...... it is NOT located within the building complex and does not require you to go into locations used by the business located in the vicinity of the old airport! Please keep in mind that this is NOT an active runway anymore and you will not be in danger of getting "landed on" by planes. Cache is a micro container and contains a log - but no pen BYOP! Parking is available at the listed parking coordinates, they will lead you to a church parking lot across the street. Please be careful of traffic when crossing the street. I have also included "trail head" coordinates that should help you "enter" the location. Please return the cache as you have found it when you have signed the log.
One Final note...Keeping with the aviation theme, the cache container is considered F.O.D. (a phrase well-known by pilot's) FOD stands for Foreign Object Debris. It is defined by the FAA as, "any object that does not belong in or near airplanes and as a result, can damage airplanes."
Happy caching, Have fun, and hopefully this has given you some insight into another neat aviation cache location!
Information Sources:
- Freeman, Paul. "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Northern Indiana." Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. 6 May 2010. Web. 24 June 2010 .
- Purdue Photographs. Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, West Lafayette, IN.

Congratulations to guillermospapa for the FTF on this one!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Pyrnerq gb Ynaq, Ehajnl 25

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)