Cache is not at the posted coordinates or at any of the listed reference points.
Have you ever wondered how pilots know where to fly? Aside from following instructions from Air Traffic Control that keep them away from other aircraft, nowadays they generally follow pre-defined GPS points. But before the days of GPS, navigation was done largely by using radio signals from ground-based radio transmitters. To a lesser extent, these are still used today. There are a few different kinds of transmitters that aircraft navigational equipment can use to determine location.
One important navigational aid is the VOR. That stands for VHF Omni-directional Range. “VHF” stands for Very High Frequency radio, which is a band of radio frequencies that includes the radio stations you pick up in your car – except in this case, a VOR doesn’t transmit music but information that can be decoded with the right equipment. What information? “Omni-directional Range” means that the radio signal can tell you what radial (or bearing) you are from the VOR. If you know where the VOR is, that can be very helpful information.
How does this help to pinpoint your location? Well, there are two main ways:
- A VOR can be combined with radio-based Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) to project a waypoint based on distance and bearing.
- Alternatively, if you can pick up signals from two VORs, you can use the intersection of the two radials to determine your exact location.
Toronto actually has two VORs, named YYZ and YTP (I have waypointed their locations). If you’re interested in seeing what a VOR actually looks like, the posted coordinates are about as close as you can get to the YYZ VOR.
To find the cache coordinates, listen to this recording of some radio interaction between a pilot and Air Traffic Control.
Different ways of solving this puzzle have produced slightly different results. Let me know if you run into problems.