Object Details
- Physical Description
- Airway Beacon Light, last one operational in USA. A 24" rotating beacon light, with coded red signal light and control units. Top five feet of tower included. Removed from Crestline, Whitewater, California (near Palm Springs).
- Alternate Name
- Airway Beacon and Tower
- Key Accomplishment(s)
- Last Operational Air Beacon in the U.S.
- Brief Description
- Night flying presented special hazards for air mail pilots. In the 1920s, the Post Office established a system of lighted airways marked by powerful rotating beacons. Placed 16 km (10 mi) apart, they rotated every 10 seconds and were visible 60 km (40 mi) away.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the Federal Aviation Administration
- Inventory Number
- A19730705000
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- EQUIPMENT-Ground Control Apparatus
- Materials
- Steel, aluminum, copper, glass, paint
- Dimensions
- 3-D: 185.4 × 172.7 × 454.7cm, 438.6kg (73 in. × 68 in. × 14 ft. 11 in., 967lb.)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
- Exhibition
- America by Air
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19730705000
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9ee4848b6-eed9-445c-b0b1-4b4542a7a199
