Orchard Park Army Airfield Traditional Cache
Orchard Park Army Airfield
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Yes, Army airfield (abandoned)
What better place for a fifty cal. ammo box.
At some time in 1946 or 1947 a small general aviation facility was established in Orchard Park NY. The earliest map to depict this was a 1947 aeronautical chart.
In 1948 a USGS topo map showed an 1800' unpaved runway at the Orchard Park Airport.
The airfield next shows up on an aeronautical chart dated Nov. 1954. It is listed as "Orchard Park (ARMY)"
In May of 1957 charts showed the "Orchard Park AAF"
In 1960 the "Orchard Park AAF" was shown with a 1950' grass runway. Super imposed on this runway was a 1500' steel mat runway for use in wet weather.
It appears that the field reverted to civilian use at some time between 1963 and 1965. It was not in a 1963 civilian airport guide. In 1965 it was listed on aeronautical charts as a private airfield.
A 1982 airport directory listed the "Orchard Park Airport" as having a 2400' turf runway. The operator was listed as "Quaker Flying Service, Inc." and as offering fuel, repairs, tiedowns, flight instruction, and plane rental.
In 1993 the field was shown in directories to have been expanded to 2400',but still unpaved.
In 1995 a USGS aerial photo shows several planes parked on the grounds. Another USGS aerial photo "circa 2001-2005" shows the field with no planes and in disrepair, indicating that the field was abandoned at some point between the two photographings.
Today parts of the airfield are covered by a shopping plaza and an apartment complex.
I have no idea what the military uses of the airfield were. One of the possibilities that come to mind are the testing and manufacturing of helicopters by Bell that took place in the area. Many of the early advances in military and civilian helicopters took place not far from this field in Gardenville, but that is a story for another cache.
Close to the cache is an old section of the steel mat runway, an interesting piece of history. Not much remains of the old airfeild except a few concrete tiedown pads and some foundations and debris from the old buildings. It would be hard to tell what was here if you didn't know about the place.
The cache is not that hard to find but, it can be very wet back here. Bug spray is recomended in season as some spots remain wet much of the year. Good place to breed super skeeters. Watch your step on the uneven terain, no way I would land a plane here today even if I could fly one.
Access the area from the parking lot behind Tops.
To the south is posted property.
To the north is an appartment complex.
Be careful and have fun.
MickEMT, through sources of his own, has added the following to the history of this cache. "I asked an older member of the local aviation community about the airfield's history and he believes the US Army used it for support of the local Nike Bases." Thank you MickEMT.
The first to report for duty was...
DLKEMPF.
Way to go.
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