![]()
This is a multi cache that requires you to:
(1) at home or in the field, watch the short video by clicking on the picture above
(2) visit the posted coordinates to collect some information
(3) do some simple math
Douglas World Cruiser circumnavigation
Four modified Douglas DT-2 aircraft, the Seattle, Chicago, Boston, and the New Orleans, left Santa Monica, California, on 4 April 1924, for Sand Point, Washington, near Seattle, Washington, for the official start of the journey to attempt to fly around the world.
On 6 April 1924, the four Douglas aircraft began the journey of the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. They left Seattle for Alaska. After reaching Prince Rupert Island, the lead aircraft Seattle, needed repairs and remained behind. When it was repaired, the crew attempted to catch up with the other three aircraft, but on 30 April, Seattle crashed in dense fog into a mountainside near Port Moller, Alaska on the Alaska Peninsula. The crew survived and were picked up on 10 May, but the aircraft was destroyed.
The three remaining aircraft continued, with the Chicago assuming the lead. Taking off from the Aleutian Islands, the flight traveled across the North Pacific archipelago. Avoiding the Soviet Union, which had not given permission for the expedition to cross into their airspace, they crossed Japan, Korea, the coast of China, Hong Kong, French Indochina, Thailand, Burma, and India, and proceeded into the Middle East and then Europe.
During the mission, due to a broken connecting rod, the Chicago was forced to land in a lagoon off the Gulf of Tonkin in French Indochina (now Vietnam). The aircraft was considered a novelty in this region of the world, so missionary priests supplied the pilots with food and wine and locals climbed aboard the pontoons to see the biplane. The other flyers searching for the Chicago by boat found the crew sitting on the wing in the early morning hours. Three paddle powered sampans with local crews towed the aircraft for 10 hours, and 25 miles (40 km), to the city of Hue, where repairs were effected. This was "the fastest – and undoubtedly the first – engine change that had ever been made in Indochina." Misfortune was again to strike the Chicago as later in the mission, while inspecting the aircraft in Calcutta, a crew member slipped and broke a rib but insisted on completing the mission.
The flight arrived in Paris on Bastille Day, 14 July. From Paris the aircraft flew to London and on to the north of England in order to prepare for the Atlantic Ocean crossing.
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge inspected the planes when they landed in Washington DC toward the end of the tour in September, 1924.
On 3 August 1924, while flying across the Atlantic, Boston was forced down. The Chicago was able to contact a navy destroyer and dropped a note about the troubled aircraft, tied to the Chicago's only life preserver. While being towed by the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Richmond, which had picked up the crew, the Boston capsized and sank.
The Chicago and the New Orleans continued and crossed the Atlantic via Iceland and Greenland and reached Canada. The original prototype airplane, now named Boston II, reunited with the Boston's crew in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and from there the three aircraft flew on to Washington DC. After a hero's welcome in the capital, the three Douglas World Cruisers flew to the West Coast, on a multi-city tour, stopping briefly in Santa Monica and finally landing in Seattle on 28 September 1924.
The trip had taken 175 days, and covered 27,553 miles (44,342 km). The Douglas Aircraft Company adopted the motto, "First Around the World – First the World Around".
TO OBTAIN THE FINAL COORDINATES:
AT HOME OR IN THE FIELD - Watch the video:
v-1. With how many countries did the State Department coordinate permissions with?
v-2. There were large crowds in India and Japan. What was the largest crowd size?
AT POSTED COORDINATES:
At the posted coordinates you find a globe on top of a column which is situated in the center of a roundabout. You will need to circumnavigate this work of art either by car or by foot as you need to collect information from all sides.
WARNING: THERE IS A LOT OF TRAFFIC HERE. WATCH FOR CARS AND LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT. NO NEED TO VISIT UP CLOSE. STAY ON SIDEWALKS. DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR PHONE OR GPS WHILE CIRCUMNAVIGATING.
c-1. How many airplanes do you see circumnavigating the globe?
c-2. On each side of the column you see words and a number. Note down the numbers.
c-3. How often did you see the word DOUGLAS.
CALCULATE SOLUTION:
1. Add up the eight numbers obtained above.
2. Take the first 5 digits, subtract 1125. This gives you the last 4 digits of the latitude (N33 4X.XXX)
3. Take the last 4 digits, add 891. This gives you the last 4 digits of the longitude (W118 0X.XXX)
The final is a short walk from the posted coordinates. Pay attention to traffic, this is a busy area, especially during lunchtime and shift changes.