Pre-GPS navigation

GuiltyFix.com has an article about some old navigation aids:

I don’t know about you, but I have a terrible sense of direction. Thank goodness for cellphones and GPS because, without them, I’d be completely lost. How did people manage without them? Well, turns out that the answer was right under our noses all along. If you’re planning a trip across the country you might be surprised to learn that the only map you need is right in the ground in front of you.
These seventy-foot concrete arrows can be found all across the United States. They were all built by the US Postal Service’s Air Force to direct postal planes towards the east or the west, as needed. Back then, radio wasn’t reliable and guiding by sight was the best pilots could do:

 

This stamp shows an early control tower. It was just a person waving the plane in the right direction:

The arrows (along with the occasional beacon) guided the pilots from New York straight through to San Francisco:

The beacon towers were fifty feet tall and powered by gas. Their lights were visible up to ten miles away. Below is a model of one of the beacon towers and one of the early planes:

World War Two advanced radio technology to the point in which the beacons and arrows became largely outdated:

But history buffs have started campaigns to restore some of the old stations, like this one in New Mexico:

The arrows remain, inviting you to seek out adventure:

Some of the arrows are hard to spot, while others are popular roadside attractions:

Wouldn’t this be a cool spot for a quick picnic?

There’s a certain beauty to the arrows even in their disrepair:

This arrow has a square space for the now destroyed beacon and transmission station:

The arrows make for great photo opportunities:

Kids who find this must have a blast pretending they are on a treasure hunt:

The stations attached to the beacons seem almost cozy:

This one looks like it fell right off a clock into the ground:

Rico says that, even if he'd seen one, he wouldn't have known what it was... (And our thanks to the gummint for GPS, but who knew the USPS had an Air Force?)