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Sky Harbor Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

palmetto: Archiving, if the cache is replaced you can contact me through my profile to unarchive.

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Hidden : 2/23/2003
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is sitting right in the middle of the touchdown point of Grand Central Airport's main runway number four... that is, if it were 1931. Today, it’s a forgotten part of the Weedon Island Preserve.

Weedon Island was, at one time, the hub of aviation in the Tampa bay area.  In 1929, Grand Central Airport was constructed on Weedon Island.  The airport consisted of three runways over 528 acres of land . Eastern Air Transport  (later Eastern Airlines ) began running mail routes to Grand Central in 1929 and added passenger service in 1931. That same year, Eastern Air Transport made Grand Central its base of operations. Unfortunately, Grand Central faced competition from Albert Whitted Airport near downtown St. Petersburg. This competition, coupled with poor access to the island and the financial constraints of the Depression, forced the City of St. Petersburg to foreclose on the property.

In 1941, Clarence Ludwig purchased the old Grand Central Airport and renamed it Sky Harbor. US Army Air Corps pilots trained there during World War II.  After the war, Ludwig continued training pilots and producing air shows. In 1953, the new St. Petersburg/Clearwater Airport eventually drove Sky Harbor Airport out of business.

Your coordinates should put you on the back porch of the terminal building.  Red tiles adorn the waiting room floor.

1. Find the number of sides to a complete tile.

2. Subtract the number of Wright brothers who were pilots.
  Place the result in the blank below:

Cache Latitude: N27º 50.81__

3. Go to the concrete steps leading to the front porch.  Find the number of sides on the short concrete post just west of the steps.

4. Multiply this by the number of palm trees inside the white picket fence.  Place the result in the blank below:

Cache Longitude: W82º 36.__29

Airport Terminal Building and Control Tower, circa 1931

Aircraft Hanger 

Grand Central Airport looking South East, circa 1930

Aerial Photograph with former Runway, Hanger and Control Tower indicated

Click here for a TRAIL MAP of the Weedon Island Preserve ( .PDF format )

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fbhgu fvqr bs gur genvy, fbhgu fvqr bs n cnyz gerr

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)