✈️This geocache is dedicated to Frank Stites (1882-1915). He was an early aviation pioneer. In 1914, Stites was contracted with the Abbot Kinney Company, to bring more people to the city of Venice, California. At 2:30PM on Sundays, Stites would do exhibitions over Venice Beach, amid the waves of clapping and handkerchiefs waving. He always took off on the sand north of the then Ocean Park Bath House, where Clubhouse Avenue meets the beach. It's the exact same place where the current Venice Beach Live Cam is located.
On March 14th, 1914, Stites landed his plane in the surf on Venice beach when his plane and a breaker wave met at the same time. "The aviator's feet were soaked and foam dashed around his hip pockets."
On May 10th, 1914, Stites successfully dropped parachutist William N. Morton from a height of 2,500 feet, witnessed by 20,000 people. "It was one of the prettiest parachute drops ever seen...Immediately he was surrounded as was Stites by thousands who wanted to congratulate him."
Stites was seriously injured on June 19th, 1914 in Venice when he purposely crashed into a one story brick building to avoid people on the beach. The building had to be partially demolished after this smashup. He was performing a “loop a loop” stunt. Stites' engine went dead at 200 feet and the beach-goers kept cheering for him, thinking it was a part of the stunt. Stites was unconscious when rescued and had a broken leg below his knee.
“...escaped death in Venice, California in one of the most dramatic accidents in aviation history. Falling from an estimated height of 250 feet...Frank Stites narrowly escaped death this afternoon when his aeroplane plunged into the ocean several hundred foot from the shore. The cool-headed aviator climbed into the rig of his air craft as soon as the engine trouble began and managed to lift the elevator vanes by hand. This saved him from crashing into the Ship Cafe, which he cleared by fifty feet. The Plunge was Terrific!” -The Grand Forks Evening Times
Frank Stites himself stated to “several newspaper men” while soaking wet with the Pacific ocean dripping from him still:
“I am bound to have trouble with my engine, but I’ll not disappoint the crowd...The downward rush and the plunge into the ocean took but a minute. I saw that the only thing to do was to turn my elevator vanes by hand. I shorted the vanes this morning, so when I tried to trip them up from my seat I found it impossible. That is why I left the wheel and clambered back to the rear. I felt confident that I would clear the Ship Cafe and I felt no fear at the prospect of striking the water. I jumped to avoid the possibility of being hit with the engine.”👨✈️
🌎 The geocache you're looking for is a magnetic nano cache. It is now painted as the color of the host (no longer gray as pictured). It has a high muggle rating because of the amount of people around the cache. This will be easier to get at night or dawn/dusk hours. I placed the cache around 7am for example. Bring your own pen!🌍