hbkid22
Member
Actually WY. Halfway between Cheyenne and Laramie. There are a few scattered about in CO but mostly west in the Mtn or South. The rest have been destroyed or removed.
CONCRETE ARROW QUEST : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons
- Thread starter wayoflife
- Start date
Actually WY. Halfway between Cheyenne and Laramie. There are a few scattered about in CO but mostly west in the Mtn or South. The rest have been destroyed or removed.
Actually WY. Halfway between Cheyenne and Laramie. There are a few scattered about in CO but mostly west in the Mtn or South. The rest have been destroyed or removed.
This thread has motivated me! I am now on a mission to find ones near me first and then venture further out, I really want to start finding these!
I haven't read thru all the posts in this thread (YET) but I wonder if anyone has tagged any of them with gps coordinates so they are somewhat easier to locate.....
Nick
hbkid22
Member
Where are you at as I am exploring them when I can and if I ever head your way I'll let you know.
And I also have website that I found that I will post on here next week that has GPS coords of a bunch all over the U.S. just choose your state.
killthebunnys
Member
I know this sounds terrible but as a kid, my cousins took us to some of the arrows up north. My main memory is that I had to pee on each one. I feel bad being older by at least twenty years know that I urinated on history....but I did the same on the Comstock load in Virginia city too so I can't feel too bad...right?
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using WAYALIFE mobile app
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using WAYALIFE mobile app
I'm down in Colorado Springs. Definitely let me know if you go searching for this as I would love to tag along! I found one site that showed we have 3 Beacon sites with in 30mins of me but no arrows....
Nick
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 5
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 5
This is a concrete arrow that I've known about pretty much since I first heard about the transcontinental airway beacons. While I have been meaning to check it out for a long time now, I suppose I kept putting it off being that it's so close to Las Vegas and somewhat easy to get to. I mean, being that I'm always in the area, I figured I'd get to it sooner or later and as luck would have it, that later happened on New Year's Day 2015. After spending some quality time with Cindy's folks, we drove to the south end of town, parked our Jeep and went on a short hike up a small hill to see this very well preserved concrete arrow.
View of what it looks like from the air. Notice how it has a course correction in it.
Shot of the concrete arrow looking back toward the west. As you can see, this air route eventually became the Interstate.
In this photo, you can see the footings of the tower that once stood in the center of the arrow.
Upon a closer look, you can still see a bit of yellow paint still on the concrete footings.
Here's a shot looking to the east - the direction the concrete arrow is pointing toward. As you will notice, the Las Vegas strip can be seen in the distance.
View of the concrete arrow looking to the south.
Here's a panorama of the concrete arrow.
Standing at the back of the concrete arrow looking to the southeast. Here you can see the course correction in the arrow.
Don't know if this is original or not but, I thought it was cool to see the remnants of an old windsock here.
And last but not least, I have no idea what this old rusty piece of thin metal with an embossed cross riveted to it is but, I found it on the hill and thought it was cool enough to post up
I hope you enjoyed the photos from our 5th Concrete Arrow Quest.
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 5
This is a concrete arrow that I've known about pretty much since I first heard about the transcontinental airway beacons. While I have been meaning to check it out for a long time now, I suppose I kept putting it off being that it's so close to Las Vegas and somewhat easy to get to. I mean, being that I'm always in the area, I figured I'd get to it sooner or later and as luck would have it, that later happened on New Year's Day 2015. After spending some quality time with Cindy's folks, we drove to the south end of town, parked our Jeep and went on a short hike up a small hill to see this very well preserved concrete arrow.
View of what it looks like from the air. Notice how it has a course correction in it.
Shot of the concrete arrow looking back toward the west. As you can see, this air route eventually became the Interstate.
In this photo, you can see the footings of the tower that once stood in the center of the arrow.
Upon a closer look, you can still see a bit of yellow paint still on the concrete footings.
Here's a shot looking to the east - the direction the concrete arrow is pointing toward. As you will notice, the Las Vegas strip can be seen in the distance.
View of the concrete arrow looking to the south.
Here's a panorama of the concrete arrow.
Standing at the back of the concrete arrow looking to the southeast. Here you can see the course correction in the arrow.
Don't know if this is original or not but, I thought it was cool to see the remnants of an old windsock here.
And last but not least, I have no idea what this old rusty piece of thin metal with an embossed cross riveted to it is but, I found it on the hill and thought it was cool enough to post up
I hope you enjoyed the photos from our 5th Concrete Arrow Quest.
Linebacker
Caught the Bug
The embossed cross? Probably, if you're flying the arrows a little extra help would not hurt.:yup:
TheStick
Member
My guess is they used these through the desert due to lack of other landmarks, just a guess though...
Hack12
New member
Yeah, and if I remember reading Eddie's original post correctly, they started in New York and were scattered across the entire country.
However, I have a hard time believing the ones on the east coast are still in tact.
TankerDriver77
New member
Up & Down the I-5 route there are beacons that were used to Guide Pilots.
boardsurfer
Active Member
TankerDriver I have to thank you for reviving this old thread, I would have never seen it otherwise. Very cool pictures and story from Eddie.
I cant believe the things I just learned. I decided to do a little googling to see if there was anything near me that I might take a little adventure this summer to see. That led me to this website. I searched around and found one somewhat near a plot of land that I own in Southern Colorado. Its a couple hour drive from there that briefly dips into New Mexico, and would appear to require a hike to actually get to. But Google Earth shows the structure and tower in really good shape - no concrete pad though. It's here if you're curious
Anyway, a little more googling and I find this website. This site uses google maps and plots hundreds of locations of these nav beacons. Seriously, go check it out, there is probably something near you.
It turns out, I have been driving past one of these beacons for about 30 years. When I was 10, my dad bought this plot of land that we used for camping, shooting and generally being rowdy out in the middle of nowhere. All thats left is the shack which is less than a mile from our camp, and is visible in the background of many of my pictures from when I was a kid. My jaw nearly hit the floor when I clicked the GPS coordinates and zoomed in and realized what I was looking at. No tower or concrete pad. I've stopped and explored the shack many many times and my dad and I always wondered what the heck it was. It's just a little red and white building in the middle of nowhere.
So thank you Eddie for indirectly leading me on this little quest. Now when I take friends camping and they inevitably ask what the heck that lonely little building is on the hill, I can tell them exactly what it is. :thumb:
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 6
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 6
On our way back to SoCal from our recent Epic Trek to Moab, we decided to make a stop along Interstate 15 just west of the town of Mesquite, NV to see if we could find an concrete arrow that I hear about. Being that this was an unplanned trip, I wasn't 100% sure of it's location but the group was willing to go along for the ride and here are a few photos of what we found.
Pulling off the Interstate to look for a concrete arrow.
Assuming the concrete arrow was on top of the nearby hill with all the communications towers, we climbed to the top of it but didn't find anything other than a great view of the desert.
Disappointed, we started to make our way back down to the Jeeps when our friend Stephanie took note of something made out of concrete near to them.
How ridiculous is that?! All we needed to do was look at what was right in front of us instead of looking up toward the hill.
This concrete arrow was in really good condition.
Not sure if it's related to the beacon that was once here or not but, we did find a really old spark plug here.
Group shot!
After getting back home, I looked it up on Google Earth and found it clear as day.
Hope you enjoyed our recent find and I hope I will have more to post up in the near future.
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 6
On our way back to SoCal from our recent Epic Trek to Moab, we decided to make a stop along Interstate 15 just west of the town of Mesquite, NV to see if we could find an concrete arrow that I hear about. Being that this was an unplanned trip, I wasn't 100% sure of it's location but the group was willing to go along for the ride and here are a few photos of what we found.
Pulling off the Interstate to look for a concrete arrow.
Assuming the concrete arrow was on top of the nearby hill with all the communications towers, we climbed to the top of it but didn't find anything other than a great view of the desert.
Disappointed, we started to make our way back down to the Jeeps when our friend Stephanie took note of something made out of concrete near to them.
How ridiculous is that?! All we needed to do was look at what was right in front of us instead of looking up toward the hill.
This concrete arrow was in really good condition.
Not sure if it's related to the beacon that was once here or not but, we did find a really old spark plug here.
Group shot!
After getting back home, I looked it up on Google Earth and found it clear as day.
Hope you enjoyed our recent find and I hope I will have more to post up in the near future.
OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
Awesome! I would love to see one of these.
JAGS
Hooked
Yeah, like before we hiked up the mountain. Lol. But will say it was pretty cool to see. And considering how out in the open it was, am glad it was in in such good condition.
If you ever get a chance to spend some time up here again, there are a few we can go see. :yup:
LOL!! too funny but at least we did find it
