This cache is not at the listed coordinates! Solve this puzzle to find the actual coordinates:
F4F-3 Height: 1X ft 1Y in
The actual cache location: N41 23.88X W88 40.31Y
This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
F4F Wildcat
This stubby but rugged little plane was the main fighter for the U.S. Navy during the hard-fought first year of the war. It saw action at the Coral Sea, Midway, and the Solomons Campaign. While the F6F Hellcat in most Navy fighter squadrons replaced it during 1943, the Wildcat continued to be used from jeep carriers until the war’s end.
The Wildcat was outperformed by the Mitsubishi Zero, its major opponent in the early part of the Pacific Theater, but held its own partly because, with relatively heavy armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, the Grumman airframe could survive far more damage than its lightweight, unarmored Japanese rival. Many US Navy fighter pilots also were saved by the Wildcat’s ZB homing device, which allowed them to find their carriers in poor visibility, provided they could get within the 30 mile range of the homing beacon.
In the hands of an “expert pilot” using tactical advantage, the Wildcat could prove to be a difficult foe even against the formidable Zero. After analyzing Fleet Air Tactical Unit Intelligence Bureau reports describing the new carrier fighter, USN Commander “Jimmy” Thach devised a defensive strategy that allowed Wildcat formations to act in a coordinated maneuver to counter a diving attack, called the ”Thach Weave”.
Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat Technicals
General characteristics-
Crew: 1
Length: 28 ft 9 in
Wingspan: 38 ft
Height: 11 ft 10 in
Loaded weight: 7,000 lb
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-76 double-row radial engine, 1,200 hp
Performance-
Maximum speed: 331 mph
Range: 845 mi
Service ceiling: 39,500 ft
Rate of climb: 2,303 ft/min
Armament-
Guns: 4 × 0.50 in AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 450 rounds per gun
Bombs: 2 × 100 lb bombs and/or 2 × 58 gal drop tanks
Survivors-
Airworthy-
F4F-3 Wildcat, BuNo. 12260 owned by Lewis Fighter Fleet LLC in San Antonio, TX.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 16203 owned by Michael Gillian in Downers Grove, IL.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 47030 owned by Training Services Inc. in Virginia Beach, VA.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 47160 owned by FM-2 LCC in Lewes, DE.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 55627owned by the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, CA.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 74560 owned by Chino Warbirds Inc. in Houston, TX.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86564 owned by the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86572 owned by the Warhawk Air Museum in Boise, ID.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86581 owned by the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in Kalamazoo, MI.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86680 owned by Mustang Aviation Partners Inc. in Wilmington, DE.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86690 owned by John Dimmer in Tacoma, WA.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86741 owned by the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86746 owned by the Antiques and Classics in Champaign, IL.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86754 owned by the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86777 owned by Howard E. Pardue in Breckenridge, TX.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86819 owned by the Commemorative Air Force in San Diego, CA.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86956 owned by the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, TX.
On display-
F4F-3 Wildcat, BuNo. 3872 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
F4F-3A Wildcat, BuNo. 3956 at the Patriots Point Naval Museum in Mount Pleasant, SC.
F4F-3A Wildcat, BuNo. 3969 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
F4F-3 Wildcat, BuNo. 4039 unrestored in an underwater diorama at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
F4F-3 Wildcat, BuNo. 11828 at the San Diego Aerospace Museum in San Diego, CA.
F4F-4 Wildcat, BuNo. 12114 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.
F4F-3 Wildcat, BuNo. 12297 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY.
F4F-3 Wildcat, BuNo. 12320 at the Chicago Airport in Chicago, IL as a memorial to Butch O'Hare.
FM-1 Wildcat, BuNo. 14994 at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL.
FM-1 Wildcat, BuNo. 15392 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 16089 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 16161 unrestored at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 74161 at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredricksburg, TX.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86747 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
Under restoration-
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 74512 by the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 86774 by Skyway Aero Inc. in Reno, NV.
FM-2 Wildcat, BuNo. 87773 by the Bruce Roberts in New London, PA.