Father Of American Aviation LbNA #69394
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Add Location| Owner: | Silver Eagle    |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Nov 6, 2015 |
| Location: | Grapetown Schoolhouse |
| City: | Grapetown |
| County: | Gillespie |
| State: | Texas |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | MonarchATX |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Dec 31, 2022 |
| Status: | FFFF |
| Last edited: | Dec 24, 2015 |
My 800th Letterbox
Terrain Difficulty: Easy (flat, 50 yards RT)
Status: alive
You might think this box is about the Wright brothers, who made a manned, powered flight in 1903, but a man in Texas may have performed this feat almost 40 years earlier. Jacob Brodbeck moved from Germany to Fredericksburg in 1846, and while sailing across the ocean he watched sea gulls gliding over the water, giving him the idea of building an air ship to do the same thing. He bought a farm in Luckenbach and also became a teacher, but continued to work on his idea. In 1863 he built a model that flew, powered by a clock spring, and by 1865 he had built a full-size air ship. In September, friends and investors gathered on a ranch near Boerne (now part of the Cibolo Nature Center and Farm) to see whether it would fly. According to published reports, the air ship managed to skim along about 12 feet off the ground for maybe a hundred feet before the coil came unwound and it crashed into a chicken coop. The crowd and his investors drifted away, and he moved back to Luckenbach where he flew his air ship one more time. Unfortunately, no pictures were taken and publicity was minimal, so his efforts were not well known outside of the Texas Hill Country. However, in 1967, Governor John Connally declared Jacob Brodbeck "the Father of American Aviation", and that is good enough for me. He is buried in the inaccessible Brodbeck Family Cemetery, so I hid this letterbox at nearby Grapetown Schoolhouse.
Directions:
From Hwy 290 go south on Old San Antonio Road about 7 miles to the Grapetown Schoolhouse on the left and park in front of it.
Clues:
Walk around right side of school to back corner and head northeast 70 steps to a cedar tree at fence surrounded by Yucca plants. Minibox is hanging in nearest branch about 4 feet high half way to trunk. Leave attached and just unscrew top to stamp in.
Hike length: 0.1 miles
Terrain Difficulty: Easy (flat, 50 yards RT)
Status: alive
You might think this box is about the Wright brothers, who made a manned, powered flight in 1903, but a man in Texas may have performed this feat almost 40 years earlier. Jacob Brodbeck moved from Germany to Fredericksburg in 1846, and while sailing across the ocean he watched sea gulls gliding over the water, giving him the idea of building an air ship to do the same thing. He bought a farm in Luckenbach and also became a teacher, but continued to work on his idea. In 1863 he built a model that flew, powered by a clock spring, and by 1865 he had built a full-size air ship. In September, friends and investors gathered on a ranch near Boerne (now part of the Cibolo Nature Center and Farm) to see whether it would fly. According to published reports, the air ship managed to skim along about 12 feet off the ground for maybe a hundred feet before the coil came unwound and it crashed into a chicken coop. The crowd and his investors drifted away, and he moved back to Luckenbach where he flew his air ship one more time. Unfortunately, no pictures were taken and publicity was minimal, so his efforts were not well known outside of the Texas Hill Country. However, in 1967, Governor John Connally declared Jacob Brodbeck "the Father of American Aviation", and that is good enough for me. He is buried in the inaccessible Brodbeck Family Cemetery, so I hid this letterbox at nearby Grapetown Schoolhouse.
Directions:
From Hwy 290 go south on Old San Antonio Road about 7 miles to the Grapetown Schoolhouse on the left and park in front of it.
Clues:
Walk around right side of school to back corner and head northeast 70 steps to a cedar tree at fence surrounded by Yucca plants. Minibox is hanging in nearest branch about 4 feet high half way to trunk. Leave attached and just unscrew top to stamp in.
Hike length: 0.1 miles