CONCRETE ARROW QUEST : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons

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M38A1Driver

New member
Your Welcome. I'm not sure where the generator was located. The site was really clean. There were two somewhat flat areas nearby that could have had a structure. Would of had to be built with a wood floor because there was no slab or concrete footings.
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
ARROW QUEST : The Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 10

Thanks to a post that M38A1Driver made here not too long ago, I was reminded of an airway beacon out in the Mojave Desert that I had known about for quite some time but wasn't sure if you could actually get up to it. Fortunately for us, we were planning to be in the area and on New Year's Day, we decided to go looking for it along with a few of our friends. And, what we ultimately found was nothing short of amazing! Here are some pics from the site, I hope you enjoy.

Pulling up to the remains of the airway beacon and concrete arrow.
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A few shots of the arrow looking east.
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View looking to the west. Of all the concrete arrows we've see so far, this is the very first that still had a generator shed standing on the tail of it.
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Here are a few shots of the generator shed. As you can see, the sides of it have been covered in plywood but you can still see some of the original clapboards underneath.
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The door to the shed.
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A look inside.
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We didn't find much in terms of broken glass from old bulbs or lenses but we did find a few pieces.
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To the best of my knowledge, there are only about 4 airway beacons that I know of in California that still exists as concrete arrows, this makes the 2nd that we've been able to see. :cool:
 
JAGS

JAGS

Hooked
That was awesome being able to find it and get up there. Definitely worth the exploration. [emoji106]
 
jesse3638

jesse3638

Hooked
Was that the one you had mentioned during the 2013 kick off run that you were trying to find? Is that I-15 running in the background..;)?


Edit: Had I only gone back a page to begin my reading I would have known it was the I-15..haha
 
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M38A1Driver

New member
WOW! That's cool. I'm amazed that the wooden shed is still there. That area takes a beating from the wind & snow etc. With the extra poles and hardware there I wonder if it was used as a radio transmitter site for a while after the tower was removed. I will check it out in the near future. Thanks for the pic's. :thumb:
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
CONCRETE ARROW QUEST : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 11

It's been a while since Cindy and I had a chance to go looking for concrete arrows and while it wasn't really our plan to go looking for any on our way home from our recent trip to Moab, it was kind of hard to pass one up that we had been meaning to find out near the Nevada/Utah border. I mean, who knew when would be the next time we'd be out in this area, right? The only problem was, we only knew the general location of where this transcontinental beacon should be and previous searches on Google Earth turned up a whole lot of nothing. But, being that we were in need of a break and itching to do something other than sit in a Jeep and drive, we pulled up to a hillside that we thought was right and started hiking. After hoofing it for a while and making a few educated guesses, we found what we were looking for or at least, remnants of it anyway.
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Here's a few shots of the collapsed beacon tower that found.
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Here you can still see traces of the orange and yellow paint that it would have been covered in.
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A lock still securing the generator shed door.
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Being that the ruins of the tower was situated low in the hills where it would have been hard to see and that that there was no sign of a concrete arrow, footings for the tower or foundation of any kind, we started to think that this may not have been where it originally stood. Taking a guess that it may have stood on higher ground and that maybe it was pushed over or blown down to where it sits today, we decided to start climbing. And, as we neared the top, we encountered this gargoyle standing sentry over the hillside.
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At the top of the hill, we found the first of the evidence we were looking for - concrete footings.
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Looking down the hill, you can see the tower ruins below.
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And, after looking through the brush along the hilltop, we found even more proof of this being the original location of the tower - broken bits of beacon lenses.
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View from the top looking east.
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And here's a view looking west.
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If you'd like to see more concrete arrows and transcontinental airway beacons that we've found over the years, simply click on this link:

CONCRETE ARROW QUEST : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons

:cool:
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
That gargoyle is a very cool find! The icing on the awesome cake of finding the beacon. Thanks for sharing!
 
Linebacker

Linebacker

Caught the Bug
This is a very cool find and a tribute to early intercontinental pilots who probably flew with a constant pucker factor of 9.8+.:thumb:
 
S

Supercharged

New member
How old are the beacons and the paintings that you guys have been seeing and sharing in photos? Were they for early flight patterns? The answer may be elsewhere in other posts that I haven't found yet.
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
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