
Concrete Airmail Arrows: Accessing the Bay Area’s Unique ‘Double Arrow’ Set - IntronExon
https://99percentinvisible.org/article/concrete-airmail-arrows-accessing-bay-areas-unique-double-arrow-set/
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sologoub
Shame these are unmaintained as a historic landmark. I bet it would completely
change how kids see the world to understand that people used to rely only on
visual clues to navigate not too long ago.

It’s one thing to read about it in a textbook, it’s another to be able to see
and touch it.

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watersb
The key to Superman's arctic Fortress of Solitude is disguised as a yellow
aviation arrow.

So, yeah. One of these.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Solitude](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Solitude)

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Stratoscope
Holy aviation arrows, Batman, you are right!

You know, your comment was a good lesson for me. At first glance I thought to
myself, "This is pretty weird and how can it possibly be true? I'd better
downvote the comment right now!"

Fortunately, I came to my senses and actually clicked the link, and sure
enough, Superman's key to the Fortress really was a yellow aviation arrow (or
disguised as one).

I think you have taught me to not jump to conclusions quite so fast. Thank you
for making this interesting connection!

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mc32
To me they look smaller than I imagined. Undoubtedly they were set away from
built up areas but have since been encroached on.

I guess they also flew much lower than planes do now, even if towers served as
indicators for the arrows.

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11thEarlOfMar
From Wikipedia: "Many arrow markings were removed during World War II, to
prevent aiding enemy bombers in navigation, while 19 updated beacons still
remain in service in Montana."

You can browse photos and Google maps here:

[http://www.dreamsmithphotos.com/arrow/contrib_photo.html](http://www.dreamsmithphotos.com/arrow/contrib_photo.html)

Doesn't look like there are any towers that have survived or been preserved,
unfortunately. Noted in the article that they were dismantled in WWII for
steel.

I was looking for towers to learn if they lighted the arrows at night, in
addition to the beacon. Just curious.

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jcrawfordor
In my area (the southwest), it's not unusual for modern municipal airports to
have their standard airport beacon mounted on a tower that was originally
installed for an airmail route beacon. Sometimes the tower has been moved, but
sometimes it sits on the original base, usually sans arrow as it seems that
intermediate fields (which were often later turned into municipal airports)
didn't always have an arrow installed. My old home of Socorro, N.M. has such
an example, and although I have not been able to properly confirm this it
appears that the airport beacon there is actually the original airmail route
beacon with lenses and electrics replaced. It nicely matches the drawings I've
seen of the beacon lights. Many, even most, of the municipal airports in the
southwest date back to CAA intermediary fields often placed along beaconed air
routes, so keep an eye out in AZ, NM, TX. I'd guess this is true of other
fairly rural states as well.

In Grants, N.M. there is a particularly interesting example at the municipal
airport. There, there's a fully intact and nicely painted generator hut and
beacon tower. It's been restored and is now operated by a historic society.
Unfortunately, it had to be moved from its original location on a nearby
hilltop into town because the actual beacon once located at the present site
of Grants airport was removed many years ago. Still, one of very few I know of
that is being preserved as a museum piece.

To my knowledge the arrows were not lit. In many places there are beacons
without arrows, my understanding is that this was done because, at night, the
next beacon was supposed to be visible by the time you flew over the previous
beacon so that you knew which direction to head. During the day the arrows
could be placed less frequently, generally only at turns, since pilots could
see the direction and the towers in between would serve as confidence markers
that they were on course.

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watersb
Wow. I almost learned to fly at KONM ... didn't know that the beacon was
originally an airmail tower. I will ask my (former) neighbor and original of
the current Socorro Civil Air Patrol wing. Thanks for posting this!

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chiph
Found one near where I grew up. It was on a airmail route run by Pitcairn
Aviation between Atlanta and New York City. Pitcairn was sold to a firm that
became Eastern Air Transport, which eventually became Eastern Airlines.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_Mailwing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_Mailwing)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines)

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adfm
From airmail to email, the bay area has a rich communications history.

From the Wikipedia page on Airmail: "Starting in 1903 the introduction of the
airplane generated immediate interest in using them for mail transport. An
unofficial airmail flight was conducted by Fred Wiseman, who carried three
letters between Petaluma and Santa Rosa, California, on February 17, 1911.[5]

The world's first official airmail flight came the next day, at a large
exhibition in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India."

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airmail](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airmail)

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jcrawfordor
San Francisco's position at almost the most extreme west point of the country
has given it a lot of interesting distinctions in aviation history. Crissy
Field, now a rather pleasant park just off the Presidio, was once an army
airfield and the ending point of the first transcontinental flight completed
in one day, dawn to dusk. There's a small plaque there commemorating the
event. For many ears in the early 20th century it was a stopping point for air
mail flights. A few of the buildings along there, now under NPS management,
are old hangers from its previous use. Treasure Island also used to be a major
seaplane airport, even after aviation use of the island itself ended (it had
once been slated for the location of San Francisco International Airport, as a
bit of trivia).

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s0rce
Most extreme west point is actually in Washington state (Cape Alava).

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pbhjpbhj
'Arrows on the ground to guide aeroplane pilots.' might be a better title.

The arrows are concrete, though they were built in 1920s with metal too.

