This Cache:
The history of aviation is littered with people who had important, but largely unmentioned roles in man's first attempts at flight. One such character is Ernie Buehl, "The Flying Dutchman." Ernie was a German immigrant who was a airplane mechanic and co-pilot. In 1920 he was allegedly on board the first U.S. coast-to-coast air mail flight from New York to California. A few years later in 1922, Ernie assisted explorer Roald Amundsen prepare for an attempt to fly over the North Pole. That expedition literally never got "off the ground," because their airplane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. But the stories outgrew the facts, as legends often do.
Later, in 1928, Ernie established Somerton Airport and The Flying Dutchman Air Service, located east of Bustleton Ave at Tomlinson Road. The airport was described as a 116 acre, irregularly shaped field, and having a 2,900 x 2,600 foot sod runway and landing strip. Two checkerboard-roofed hangars were situated along the northwest side of the field, and wooded areas surrounded the outskirts. At the time, Ernie boasted that Somerton Airport was, "one of the largest Airports in the east which now has a capacity to store over 45 Planes."
Pressure grew from land developers who wanted to build on the site. Though Ernie resisted corruption and refused to bribe public officials, Somerton Airport was closed in early 1952 when Ernie flew his 1927 Challenger from there to Buehl Field in Penndel.
Today, virtually no trace remains of this once busy Flying Dutchman airport, and the land is now a residential neighborhood. The cache is located in Somerton Woods, among what is possibly the rubble of the razed airplane hangars. But like the legend of the Flying Dutchman, we can only speculate!
This Series:
This cache is part of the SPACE 2081: A Geocaching Odyssey challenge.
This challenge contains one cache of each difficulty and terrain combination, plus a final cache which can be found only after finding all 81 caches that are part of the series. Each of those 81 caches will contain a code, which you will use as part of the puzzle to solve the FINAL CACHE.
All the members of the space team are actual cachers who are remaining anonymous for the moment. You can find more info on the series, as well as a complete list of released caches HERE. Please do not post hints or spoilers in your logs. Also, each cache must be signed by any individual cachers going for the final.
Good luck, may the force be with you, live long and prosper.
Space Online: